What size of seat??

[u04elw2]

Hi guys,

I'm looking into getting a second hand saddle as my one fits my boy pretty well but my bum is the problem! My saddle seat is really too big and I've been noticing it more and more recently, especially now I'm having lessons again.

My instructor says I sit too far back but agrees it's not actually my fault as the seat is so big I'm just sliding there against my will.

I'm a size 8 and about 5'6" Major is 15hh welsh cob with higher withers and narrower back than most cobs his type. I fancy something with adjustable gullet but I need to know the seat size to look for before I start hunting for one.

Help please!!

 

[Law]

I'm guessing from you being a size 8 that a 16.5 or 17 would fit you ok but I would suggest you get a saddler out with a selection of different saddle as they are all different. I'm not a size 8 but am quite 'small' and saddler suggested a 16.5 GFS GP. In the end we got a 17.5 gp and dressage saddle.

 

[AmyMay]

I have a 17" saddle on my GP. I'm a size 10 and find it just right.

Your bottom may well fit different sorts of saddle better than others. So ask your saddler to bring you a range of saddles to try.

 

[Tierra]

Id get a saddler out tbh. The seat size isnt purely related to the size of your behind; the length of your leg from hip to knee should also be taken into account.

Going down to a small length seat isnt too much of a problem for the horse to be honest. Although if the horse is huge you do tend to get the pea on a drum syndrome if the saddle is too small. Going up a length can be much more problematic.

Be aware of one thing with the saddles based on adjustable gullets. These generally only effect the very front of the saddle - not anything behind this. If the horse increases in width over his spine, the saddle wont accomodate for this at all and can result in pinching.

Either way, id definitly get a saddler out

Many of them stock a good selection of second hand saddles anyway.

 

[CBAnglo]

The seat size is predominantly determined by the length of the horse's back. For example, I have a 16hh Anglo Arab and I can just about squeeze a 17" on him - other 16hh TB types could easily accommodate a 17.5".

The problem with putting a smaller saddle on a larger horse is that the balance of the saddle might be affected.

I would definitely get a saddle fitter out to try a few different models on your horse - as someone has already pointed out, different saddles come up in different sizes.

Further, as Tierra has rightly said, most "self-adjusting" saddles in fact only change the width of the gullet at the front of the saddle. The tree remains the same. You can adjust the tree of some saddles such as Kieffers by sending them back to the factory.

I fit saddles for the Saddle Company, and the trees are designed to be adjustable on site which is great as it takes a couple of minutes rather than sending them back to the factory etc. This was really important to me as one of my horses was a rescue and therefore had huge muscle wastage - his saddle was adjusted every month, sometimes more frequently. My other horse is a youngster and managed to grow 2 inches last year so I was also regularly adjusting his saddle.