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 Expert
Posts: 1482
  
Location: on my horse | My little guy is built like a tank, he has massive shoulders good withers a short back (like 28" pad is the max). He needs a saddle with a lot of rock to the bars because of his short little back and obviously a wide gullet etc. to accommodate his shoulders.
Last year I got him a round skirt FQHB Martha Josey and it fit him well, I had to get a pad with some build ups for the hollows behind his shoulders but with a lot of top line strengthening exercises and regular chiropractic his body has changed quite a bit and he no longer needs the fill in pad. I swear his shoulders have bulked out even more!
Now the Josey seems to be getting a little tight on his shoulders and after we ride the hair on his back toward his loin is ruffed up like it's just been rubbing around. I'm not riding him very hard right now and sweating him up a lot because it's so cold, but I'm concerned about the hair rubbing thing and the fact that it seems kind of tight.
What do you guys think? Do I need to go to something wider, or something with a different angle or spread? Or do I just need to quit being paranoid  he isn't body sore at all right now either. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I would agree the saddle doesn't fit him.
Not sure why he would need a lot of rock in the bars, my understanding is the rock of the tree is shaped like a bananna and people need rock in the bars when the horse has a swoop in the back.
I wonder if your horse needs a flatter bar
And flared bars with a wider angle.
Can you post pictures of your horse without the saddle.
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | Hmmm that makes sense, I guess what I'm trying to say is because he doesn't have as much real estate between shoulder and hip he needs some more angle somewhere to accommodate for that. For example, when I put my mom's rope saddle on him it's built with flat bars and it creates bad pressure over his loin and behind his shoulders.
ETA: I'll corner him for pictures either tonight or in the morning, what type of saddle has that kind of build that you're describing? I know martins have that axis tree with the flared bars, would that be something that fits your description?
Edited by redmansmyman11 2015-01-18 5:08 PM
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| My flat backed broad shouldered mutton withered horse the only saddle that she is comfortable in is a crown c.
I had her custom fitted she needed an 11 gullet with a flat tree.
I doubt yours is like her as she is built like a box.
The nice thing with Martin is they have a demo program where you can try one of their saddles free of charge. I suggest doing that.
If your horse is not mutton withered, you may be able to use a Lisa Lockhart saddle they come in wide and regular. I have one of the first ones they called an extra wide, a friend of mine has a wide and she says our fit her horse the same.
The Lisa Lockhart they aren't as long as the crown c, much lighter, and I do love riding in it. It does fit my other wide horse who does have a descent wither.
Sloan saddles have a b3 tree which is for wide and flat
People say the Charmayne name saddles have a really good flare in the front
If you google Lynn Mackenzie nueva tree on YouTube, she goes through each of her saddles and shows what type of horse they fit.
Performance saddle company, used to work for caldwell she has a tree for wide horses
Caldwell also has saddles to fit every type of horse so you can always give them a call. |
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | I'll definitely look into the Martin program, and had actually thought about a Lisa as well, unfortunately a Caldwell is far and away outside of my budget  I would have to sell my truck or save for six months to be able to afford even a used one! I had a Charmayne James Cactus model and while it fit his shoulders, it was much too flat for his back, I don't think that's changed enough to make a CJ work. I took him in and had him fitted by a local saddle maker and we both agreed that the Josey was best at that time so I sold the CJ and bought the Josey.
I would take him in again and have him refitted to something else but I moved across the state  |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| redmansmyman11 - 2015-01-18 10:19 PM
I'll definitely look into the Martin program, and had actually thought about a Lisa as well, unfortunately a Caldwell is far and away outside of my budget I would have to sell my truck or save for six months to be able to afford even a used one! I had a Charmayne James Cactus model and while it fit his shoulders, it was much too flat for his back, I don't think that's changed enough to make a CJ work. I took him in and had him fitted by a local saddle maker and we both agreed that the Josey was best at that time so I sold the CJ and bought the Josey.
I would take him in again and have him refitted to something else but I moved across the state
If the cj was too flat, a Lockhart would probably work.
I would see if there is anyway you can try one before you buy.
Crown c would work too probably with the regular rock they have so I would stay away from the flat bars (they are a custom order)
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Expert
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Location: on my horse | I've been thinking on your advice and decided to go back through my old pics of Bert, since I got him a year ago he's lost a significant amount of weight and gained top line strength and muscle which has brought his back up quite a bit. After staring at him this morning and comparing to last year's pictures I think he's a lot flatter than I was thinking before.
I'm attaching a couple pictures of him. The crappy stall pics are from this morning, he's not standing totally square and his front end is a little bit down hill, but it gives you a general idea of what I'm working with. The outside pic is from last summer when he was in good shape and almost a little thin. He's put on more muscle since then and built up his top line more, when I took that pic the Josey still fit him pretty well.
snow pic is from december, the two pics together is a before and after I did from January to last June (before we got his top line more filled out) and last pic is him moving you can kind of see what I'm dealing with with his shoulder and back.
Edited by redmansmyman11 2015-01-19 11:44 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | Bumping up to see if anyone else has any suggestions. So I don't steal the other thread, do you guys think I could get a corriente to fit him? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| The current pictures I would say you need a flat saddle
Sloan b3 may work diamond s b3 is the cheaper sloans
Crown c I think you will have to go with a flat tree, I suggest calling them and seeing if they have one for you to try my guess 9, 9.5, 10 based on the current pictures.
The bottom pictures don't even look like the same horse, the Lockhart, regular crown c saddles would have worked |
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | thank you! I guess because I see him every day I didn't realize how much he's changed over time! |
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