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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
   
Location: North Dakota | I have a gelding who will be 4 years old in a few weeks. It's been nagging at me for a while, but it was finally confirmed to me that my current saddle I am using on him just does not fit. The tree cracked in it last fall and since it's been repaired (new tree) I just don't feel like it fits the same. Granted, he could have also grown. I finally got a good sweat on him a few nights ago and he's got bad dry spots next to his shoulder where I thought it has been pinching all along. No more putting that saddle on him!!
I tried my other horse's saddle which is a Lisa Lockhart WIDE Flex2 saddle. When it put it on him last fall (when I sent my other saddle to be repaired) it was so wide to the point that the gullet was sitting on his withers. But I put it on last night ..... and it almost looks do-able!!!
Now it is still just a little bit wide for him, but not too bad. Of course, I'd rather ride him in a saddle that's a little too wide than one that's too narrow. In the pictures, I have a 3/4" saddle pad by 5 Star on him. I wonder if I can get by with shimming it? I know he is going to grow and fill out some more, and I'm thinking in the end that this tree might fit him pretty darn nice. When I walk him around with it cinched up, the back does come up a very small bit but not horrible. This saddle doesn't have a ton of gullet clearance anyway, but I can easily get my entire hand underneath it, even when sitting in it.
Thoughts?
Just happened to snap this on Saturday, of his back with no saddle.
Uncinched:
Cinched:
After we rode:
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | Bumping up for the lunch crowd. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Do you by chance have any pictures of just the saddle on his back without a pad? You can get a better idea of actual saddle fit that way. Then from there you can look at pad options for a better fit depending on the saddle. Most saddles don't need much padding if they fit correctly.
You can also email pics to Saddle companies who do fittings daily and see what they say. You'll need pics of just the saddle on the horses back, Both side views, front and back views, and any noticeable gaps or rubbing on the horse from the saddle as it sits.
I know Teskey's does a really great job with saddle fittings over email. |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | No, I didn't take any without the pad. I had less than 2 hours to get both my horses ridden last night and I was pretty quick about snapping these!
The previous night before, I did set it on his back without the pad and it looked about the same as it did with the pad. Doesn't really seem to be any pressure point or bridging or anything of the sort. Just that the angle of the bars is a smidge too wide.
I just ordered some saddle shims on Ebay. They were only $20 so I figured I could at least try that and see how it looks.
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | I can get some pictures without the pad tomorrow morning. |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | 
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