Why do saddles I try on my pony ALWAYS lift at the back?

[Fifty Bales of Hay]

Having a real saddle nightmare and trying to fit my 14.1hh New Forest pony with a "first" saddle. I have tried numerous makes and types on him, but even if they look to fit at the front and sit nice and level when he's standing - as soon as he either puts his neck down or head out - the saddles lift at the back, off his back? If lunged the saddle consequently moves it's way forward incing up his neck if I leave it there that long!!

Any ideas on what to try if this has been a problem for you too?

 

[china]

my newforest was a nightmare to fit for, an unfortunatly i spent alot of money getting one proffesionaly fitted and just kept having it reflocked.

 

[coolio]

We have a 13.1 New Forest and have exactly the same problem. My saddle fitter even brought 2 new saddles for us to try then refused to sell us them because they were no better than the one we have. We have had a fourth girth strap fitted which helps and use a gel pad underneath. Not perfect but saddler and physio have both assured us it is not causing any pain.

One day someone will invent a saddle suitable for pony shapes and I will be first in the queue

 

[Bosworth]

Firstly if they lift at the back - they are too wide simples. However I suspect he is a little wide on top and not much wither. In which case the hight at the front needs to be higher. Imagine a wither there - then fit the saddle roughly three fingers above where the imaginary withers should be. The tree then nees to be 'keyholed' to ensure the tree sits correctly on the muscles at either side of the spine. So many wide/cob trees are just wide at the front and tip as they are not correctly supported. You also probably ned to look at your girthing configuration. if you have a balance strap - you need to have a point strap as a balance strap works well on a round barrel only if the point strap is in place to prevent the balance strap pushing the saddle forward. Only have a point and balance strap if the saddle is made on a flat tree with wide pads other wise a banana shaped tree will simply be pulled down into the spine. Have a look at your girth. If you hose has a bit of a belly or is narrow in front which many young horses are the belly will push the girth forward which will pull the saddle forward. Go for a Stubben cord girth which has no elastic in it ( elastic girths are hopeless for allowing saddle movement for and aft and up and down) it is a lovely wide girth which spreads the load evenly round a wide area and minimises forward movement.

If the tree is too wide, the belly a bit large and teh front end a bit nmarrow - along with an elasticated girth then to be honest you are fighting a losing battle everything is against you and your saddle will end up on his neck with the girth pinching his elbows. A decent saddler should have picked this up immediately - if they don't (and many saddlers are really poor) ditch the saddler and find a good one.

 

[Bosworth]

sorry lots of typos - I was typing fast to keep up with my thoughts. sorry

 

[Dotilas]

Have you tried Wintec Wides, Thorowgood Cob or Thorowgood pony club saddles?

 

[NeilM]

We've been through this with our 'beefy boy' 14.2 NF gelding. We have settled on a Wintec Wide, which fits him like a glove. We have also had fun and games over the years with our 14.3 NF mare, who is long in the back, but is a slightly more conventional shape. She is fine with a Wintec GP which is her winter saddle (she has a nice English leather one for the summer).

 

[Hippona]

This is interesting...our young highland came with a wintec wide which had been fitted for him....and it was fine, no problems.

A year later and he is changing shape....I noticed slight wither the other day and more shoulder definition...then I schooled him and as we were trotting down the centre line I felt the saddle lifting at the back and its never done that before....

.....does it sound like its too wide now ?

 

[Tiarella]

haha isnt that funny! I have a 14hh newforest and guess what...every saddle i've had lifts at the back

Thorowgoods dont work, £1000 saddles dont work, wintec were crap...im now awaiting a very nice GFS saddle..

 

[Bosworth]

Sorry - but all down to a bad saddle fitter - and the cob saddles that are actually badly shaped for flat backs. I could definitely fit a saddle saddle to your Newfi and not have it lift. so could cb anglo. it is down to fitters who have no idea about how to fit for the shape of the pony - they just grab standard saddles off the peg. Change your saddler and change your girth.

 

[M_G]

I would go for a saddle company saddle & stubben string girth, worked a treat on my xxxxxxxxW cob and TBH is the only saddle that is a blooming good price & fully adjustable on site

But then again I did have a fantastic saddle fitter

 

[jojo23]

We had this problem with our pony and found that a close contact saddle was best fit.

 

[Dotilas]

... I had a Wintec Wide on my roly poly mare, and it started to lift at the back when she was fitter, and a close contact did fit her well..

 

[TPO]

Ditto Bosworth and M_G

If you get a saddle with point/balance straps be sure to use a girth with a deep split between the straps so that it can spread out (so to speak) to enable the point and balance straps to work.

 

[Pinkpeeper]

Sorry, dim question. Which are the point and balance straps?

 

[millimoo]

oooooh look....... don't know the make, but looks like a solution subject to correct fitting.

http://www.horses-ponies.co.uk/the-haflinger-x-change-saddle-887.htm

Pinkeeper, basically you have 4 girth straps instead of 3, using the front and the rear to balance the saddle by pulling the back as well as the front down - well that's the theory.

 

[Morland]

Point strap is extra girth strap at the front, and balance strap is extra one at the back of the normal straps. Wintec wides have both.
My wintec wide seemed to fit my round arab mare ok (at least as well as anything I tried on her over 13 years), but still lifted at the back when done up. She has 'well-sprung ribs' and nowhere much for the girth to go - it had to go just behind her elbows!
The saddle also lifts a bit at the back on my new NFcross (even with prolite pad under to take up some of the width), so I'll be getting a saddler out to check/advise.
Apparently you can get a 'Forester' saddle for NFs - anyone know anything about these?

 

[magicgirl]

Have you tried a Fylde saddle. They make a large range of saddles and are very popular with showing and M&M people. The trees can be adjusted to maintain fit.

 

[sbloom]

I just found this old thread and wanted to comment. Saddles lift at the back for two basic reasons - thw tree is too wide, which appears not to be the case here, or is too curvy from front to back. The latter is REALLY common. The former can happen where the tree is too narrow in the head and in an efford to relieve pressure on the upper withers the fitter goes for a wider tree - the points wing off the horse's sides and the saddle is unstable.

If the tree and panel is not right then the back will lift and pulling it down (and likely forwards on most pony shapes) will simply place more pressure on the middle of the saddle - the tree is solid and it WILL cause problems.

There are saddles invented for ponies so to whoever says they'll be first in line for one, I already fit them!! We have specialised in fitting natives and cobs for over 10 years. We may not have the advertising budget of the big companies, but we exist and we are specialists. Over the last two days I fitted an Exmoor, a Highland, a Connie and a Welsh A and a B.