Saddles

[zoeh1066]

Hello

Im new to the forum so apologies if im posting this in the wrong place....
I have a traditional Gypsy cob who is very round, flat backed & has no withers at all!!! Im now in the process of looking for his first saddle I have been looking into treeless & have tried a barefoot cheyenne which i found very comfortable but am also considering possibly a wintec??? just wondered what other peoples views are on treeless saddles & if anyone could recommend a good saddle fitter for my chunky boy
Thank you in advance x

 

[majors]

Hi. try doing a search as you will find lots of old threads on this subject, very helpful. I have a connie cross quite wide and no wither I ended up with a second hand ideal saddle lovely flat panels, never moved even x country, good luck.

 

[Kallibear]

A grown up "proper" saddle or one until he's stopped growing?

If you want a proper saddle you can't go far wrong with Ideal's, Native Pony or Fylde for a tradition cob. Something with a wide head, wide, flat, short panels, flat tree (poss with a hoop head rather than a standard A-shaped tree) and shallow gussets.

If you want a cheaper saddle then look at Thorowgood's cob saddle. Far better design than the horrible wintec cob saddle (curved tree, stupidly long panels etc) and steep well clear of the standard Wintec (it's a TB saddle)

 

[Lintel]

If we are talking about a *Final saddle* so to speak, after all the hectic growing I have a "Barnsby Working Hunter" wide for my boy.
He is not overly overly wide and flat backed but he's a Highland, so wide enough! Baby Highland(not mine) has a very flat back and is literally witherless(not helped by him being overweight). My boys saddle fits him beautifully, he could do with the X wide now, but after losing weight he'd be perfect in it.
Before that I had the wintec wide, which I loved and hated. The baby highland needed the XXW gullet (lilac I think) My boy only needed the XW (purple). It sat awfully without anyone in it- very bad saddle for lunging etc, was lovely to ride in and fitted mine like a glove. The flocking was very hard though, almost over flocked. It didn't really mould onto the horse in my opinion.
The saddle before that was a Thorowgood Griffin (not changeable gullets), that was his first saddle and fitted perfectly, the panels are very flexible and it was great for all disciplines! It was a wide but also fitted Baby Highland like a glove, just due to it being so flexible. It was very comfy to ride in with a suede seat(great for keeping you in the saddle!) - only flaw was that the hairs stuck to the suede and it was a nightmare to get them off

Here's some pictures!
Barnsby.

Wintec- you'll see what I mean- it sat rather than moulded.

This is baby Highlands back (he is the middle one) excuse the head of mine and bum of the cob!

All the best

Where about's are you (saddle fitting wise)?

As for the treeless - I cannot stand riding in them! So best to look back on some other forum's