Saddles..

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maddie23

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My friend is looking for a saddle for her small warmblood x. He’s a very fine 15.1 and saddler has said a 17 inch is too long!
I’ve always had horses difficult to fit so she’s come to me for help, but I’m stuck with what to suggest! He’s currently in a farrington 17 inch wide saddle at the moment, here’s what she needs:

At least 16.5 inch seat - so either that on 16 inch panels or a 16.5-maybe 17 with upswept panels!
Suitable for a broad front with high wither - so ideally a nice wide open head.
Wide fitting.
Square cantle and ideally forward cut for jumping but will go for a GP too!
He’s slightly croup high too so needs a slightly curved tree but not banana shaped!!
Ideally as cheap as possible, will want to buy second hand so won’t be picky on colour or looks!
Saddler doesn’t think he has anything to suit but he is looking out for us! Would just be nice to have a look around and see if this saddle even exists lol!

Thanks :)
 
You can get a second hand stubben Juventus jumping saddle.They come in 16.5. They have a square cantle. I've heard they're good. I haven't a clue about prices. They're a brand that lasts.
 
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A good saddler should be able to tell you what make and size to look for. Our saddler didn't have anything to fit our youngster when he was backed but told us what to look out for. We found one on Facebook and saddler came back to fit it
 
mule said:
You can get a second hand stubben Juventus jumping saddle.They come in 16.5. They have a square cantle. I've heard they're good. I haven't a clue about prices. They're a brand that lasts.
Click to expand...

I was about to suggest a stübben. I have the dressage version of the juventus and it has amazing up swept panels at the back. Means that i can have enough room to fit but my horse can have the panels off her back a little which she much prefers. Fab for her high withers and she does have quite a bit of shoulder too.

I would endlessly recommend! It looks as good as the day i bought it, and the customisation options are amazing too, if your friend is into that :)
 
here's a photo or two to illustrate what I mean. Obviously mine is a dressage version of the juventus but it gives you an idea :)

28959260_917214898438158_1258478736833893817_n.jpg

25152396_871334333026215_5711632283711366900_n.jpg


you don't have to have the bling! I'm just a bling geek :p
 
I personally wouldn't recommend a curvy tree for a croup high back and I fit a LOT of croup high shapes as I specialise in wider horses which means many cobs and natives. However you have said the horse has a high wither AND is croup high, a rare combo!
A flatter tree and short, possibly upswept, panel would be a much better bet for spreading pressure and giving stability. The shorter the seat size the better - getting off the pronounced shape of the croup and making the saddle easier to balance. It also means you may be able to keep the saddle wel back off the shoulder if it's short enough, meaning that flatter tree option becomes more possible.

Out of interest why the square cantle? It goes give a smidge more room and can be helpful for jumping but may exclude options that could work that have a round cantle.
 
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mule said:
You can get a second hand stubben Juventus jumping saddle.They come in 16.5. They have a square cantle. I've heard they're good. I haven't a clue about prices. They're a brand that lasts.
Click to expand...

Just had a little look and can only find 17 and 17.5! They look good :)
 
sbloom said:
I personally wouldn't recommend a curvy tree for a croup high back and I fit a LOT of croup high shapes as I specialise in wider horses which means many cobs and natives. However you have said the horse has a high wither AND is croup high, a rare combo!
A flatter tree and short, possibly upswept, panel would be a much better bet for spreading pressure and giving stability. The shorter the seat size the better - getting off the pronounced shape of the croup and making the saddle easier to balance. It also means you may be able to keep the saddle wel back off the shoulder if it's short enough, meaning that flatter tree option becomes more possible.

Out of interest why the square cantle? It goes give a smidge more room and can be helpful for jumping but may exclude options that could work that have a round cantle.
Click to expand...

Probably should’ve worded it as more downhill than croup high, it’s nothing extreme but saddler had said a straight one will put a force/pressure on his shoulders.. just going on what he’s said really! His wither to me is medium/high not shark fin like but saddler has said he needs a more U shaped front rather than V shaped in order to get enough clearance all the way round the wither not just on top! But a lot of the U shaped/hoop tree saddles are designed for wide cobs, was looking at kieffer saddles and that sort of square shaped front looks ideal.
I figured a square candle would give more room and she jumps a lot, but if the right saddle came along and had a round cantle I don’t think she’d say no!
 
The square shape comes from a cutback which is for high withers, so clearly helpful for that situation but is not the same as the wide head that you're talking about. With high withered horses a very A shaped tree arch means, as you have seen, that the spinal processes can really lack space, as they're more solid, and often actually wider, than the area immediately below them.

Do you have a photo, side on, feet included, of the horse concerned?

Too flat a tree would indeed cause four point pressure or even bridging, but there's no reason for a flatter tree to place too much weight in front unless it's not fitted in balance. Front gussets and/or a dropped panel would probably help too.
 
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