Saddles that suit IdxTB/ISH's/Irish Draught's

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silverstar

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I maybe getting a new horse (fingers crossed for the vetting) and shes more like a purebred Irish Draught. I was just wondering what make of saddle/width of gullet you all use for your IDxTB's/Irish Draughts and what have you found suits them better.

I know each horse is different but Id just be interested to know.
 
I have Saddle Company saddles for my ID at the moment but am in the process of having my very old dressage saddle converted to a semiflex tree as it fits me better.
 
My mother's id/conn has a saddle company saddle which he is very happy with. My old id/tb had an albion. Plenty of people have problems with them but it was just right for him.
 
I've got a purebred ID & he's in a Wow. I think I've got a no 5 headplate in at the moment, could be a 6.

Personally the problem has never been finding a wide enough fit, there are wider cobs on the yard. What has been difficult was getting a wide enough gullet, comfortable fitting over very muscled withers & something that he didn't throw about as soon as he started to work through from behind. It wasn't helped by the fact that he's very sensitive to his saddle fit, even now if the saddle needs a slight tweak you'd be forgiven for thinking it was miles out!
 
My Irish mare has a Wintec 2000 GP that fits her beautifully. I can place it on her back any old way and it will just slide back into exactly the right position behind her shoulder and it just... fits! My saddler was very pleased with its fit even before he'd played around changing the gullet plate! She's normally a medium-wide, although she has been a medium when particularly un-muscled along her topline or a wide when she was particularly fat.
I was shocked to find she didn't need a wider gullet though, I imagined she'd be at least wide if not extra-wide. She is surprisingly withery!
 
Have 2 horses one of my horses is 16.2 I.D x .T.B but he looks mainly I.D , (they both dressage )and they both have Amerigo Deep Seat Dressage, the 16.2 has a +1 fit which is slightly med-wide and the other is 17.2 I.D X T.B X Clydesdale and he has +1.5 which is med/wide fit.

My 16.2 also has a G.P which is med/wide fit- with him its really odd, I have to make sure he is totally free over his back and shoulders in whatever saddle I have on him as he can't stand feeling restricted in anyway!- I think it was just finding a saddle with a tree that suits him.

Albions (Apart from K2 Jump Saddle) have never worked on either of them, neither has Passier. Whe I used to jump my 16.2, forward cut close contact saddles didn't work well on him as he didn't like the points too far forward- hope your mare isn't as fussy!! I've lost count of all the saddles I've ever used on him!

Good luck though.
 
My last horse was an ISH and he was a nightmare to get a saddle to fit not helped by the fact that he had muscle atrophy on one muscle. She's more of a purebred, chunkier than an IDxTB. Havent
got much money at the moment and I prefer jumping saddles as I've got long legs. May just have to go with a bog basic gp tho I dont want to sell my existing jumping saddle but it may have to go. Im jumping the gun here tho as vettings not till tomorrow (anxious wait).
 
Both my previous RID mare and my ISH mare have used the same Wintec VSD saddle with an extra wide gullet fitted. I find the IDs need quite a straight cut saddle that doesn't hinder their big shoulders. Sorry can't recommend a leather saddle but a friend had a treeless one for her RID mare.
 
I have a 17.1hh IDxTB (50/50) who has quite a high wither. I actually had the saddler out yesterday and bought him a Harry Dabbs Elegant dressage saddle in a medium although saddler thinks he will muscle up so much in it over the next three months or so that he'll need the tree widening to a MW.

My Wintec bog standard GP fits in a MW with a sheepskin half pad under the front (as recommended/fitted by saddler).
 
Depends on whether he has a wither, and the profile of his back. My ISH with a HUGE shoulder, normal wither is a medium in most saddles, and the best fits on him have been Ideal and Barnsby
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It really does depend on her size and shape of her back, as well as the state of her topline and whether she is likely to change size dramatically.

I find full IDs to be very broad - and they are typically an XW+ fitting. I have fitted quite a few Saddle Company saddles for young IDs and even as 4 year olds they have been XW or XXW and then when they have been in work for at least a year, moved right up to XXXW. After that point, the back of the panels will no longer fit the horse and the tree will actually banana.

I dont find ID difficult to fit - provided you are working with a tree that is suitable for flat backs.

I would look at Ideal or Barnsby - they are both usually quite good for flat backs as have specific trees. If your horse is going to change shape, and you want a leather saddle then you could consider a Saddle Company saddle. If going for synthetic, a thorowgood will be more suitable than a wintec, which really only suits something with more of a TB shape.
 
i have had two irish sport horses and have had thm both in bates saddles- they are the leather version of the wintec

they are also great for youngsters as you can change the width with different gullets.

also if you get the cair version you will never have to have it flocked and the pannels will change with your horses shape- unlike flocked which sets to when you first buy it.
 


also if you get the cair version you will never have to have it flocked and the pannels will change with your horses shape- unlike flocked which sets to when you first buy it.

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Im sorry but "cair pannels" will not "change" to your horses shape. The saddle still needs to fit your horse!
 
hello there i was very pleased to see your reply to the question saddle fit for ID
my saddlers comment was Pure bred ID are you sure havnt met one of those for long time !! argh only saddle that fit him was wintec wide but not sure i like it seems very hard but saddler felt horse would loose width as grows from your reply i think this is not now correct
his previous saddle was ideal wide doesnt fit him now If he is going to change so much he is a RID 4yrs march 2009 17hh now appears xw or xxw now i am confused what is the right step to take i cant afford to keep changing saddle should i try the wintec made for wides or look at treeless can i jump and event in these help please i am so confused
i lie hereford worcestershire shropshire boarders
 
KTP - I am not a fan of treeless saddles as I dont like what it does for the horse's shoulder (overdevelops it) and also I personally cant ride in them as have an old hip injury. I wouldnt dream of jumping a decent height in one either but I am sure treeless fans have.

With one of the ID I recently fitted, I first saw the horse last year, around July. He was just 4 and about 16.2hh. He was quite fat (lives out) and was not in work due to no saddle (owner had tried a HM vogue and kept falling off). She decided to go for a treed saddle. I made a SC WH model for her horse. This suited her for what she wanted to do (mostly flatwork with little jumps) and the horse was an W/XW at the time. He had lots of fat but no topline but I fitted the saddle slightly wider to allow the topline to develop.

2 months later he had been in work (schooling, hacking) and the topline came out - he was a proper XW. In December I went back out again. He had started jumping by then, and again more topline but lost loads of weight. He is now an XXW. However, he is now rising 5 and 17hh and have levelled up. His body has changed so much in that time, and as you can see he is wide then narrow then wide, depending on the work and the growth.

It may be that your horse is on the large side, and the saddler means that once it has muscled up and become more toned, it will be a narrower fit?

I personally havent fitted a wintec to an ID but I have for a flat backed cob (owner bought the saddle) and although better than a standard wintec, I didnt really like it.

If you need to look at synthetics, perhaps try a Thorowgood. If you post a thread on here about good saddlers in your area, I am sure someone could recommend someone to come out and have a look at your current saddle, and maybe have a selection of 2nd hand ones for you to try?

Youngsters are a nightmare for changing shape - I swear my CB changed on a weekly basis and I was forever fiddling about with his saddle until he stopped growing!
 
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