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Veteran
Posts: 165
 
| I know this topic has been beat to death and I have read as many forums as I can find, but I want to do some research before I haul my horse 5 hours to try saddles... I have a 4 yr old gelding that I am currently riding a Charmayne Cactus on and it is too tight for him, He has very large shoulders, I wouldn't call him mutton withered, but he doesn't have a super high wither either. I realize that he isn't finished growing, but I would like to find something that he won't grow out of right away. I have ridden a friends Crown C with an 8 1/2 gullet and with my very limited knowledge it seems to fit okay, but I'm worried that he will be up a size with his next growth spurt, and at the cost of them, I think my husband would be less than impressed. The saddle shop that I am going to has a Lisa Lockhart wide, Tammy Fischer wide, and some crown C's... The treeless scare me a bit as I do spend some long days in the saddle chasing cattle and I've read that they aren't good for horses backs for long rides... but I am quite interested in hearing more about the Lisa flex trees. I will try to get pics of his back and post later. | |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
 
Location: North Dakota | Well Martin definitely makes the widest gullets out there. I think their widest is 11". Umm Meleta Brown's #2 tree has a 7" gullet but a lot of flare for the shoulders. That's what I have right now. It doesn't fit me so I'm selling it but it does fit my horse who also fits an 8" gullet on martins. I know the double J Pozzi's have a ton of trees that can be pretty wide (they have a trial program too). Caldwell has a wide model, the Maxxed out I believe... | |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | Don't get hung up on gullet width.....ARGH - the powers of one marketing campaign. LOL Don't just go off book knowledge from a manufacturer......
The angle of the bars is going to make a huge difference in what really fits him.
Can you just try some different saddles and ride them a little bit to see what's going to work before you buy something?
Shiloh Contenders come in a wide model that fits a lot of horses. I like a flex tree on some horses, I had a Sibley that fit a lot of them very well. I'd try the Lisa Lockhart. I've only riden a Bob Marshal one time - I hated it. I felt trapped and couldn't move so I've never even tried sitting in the Tammy Fischer model. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 165
| Thankyou, Yes. This is my concern. The gullet might fit, but too much or little rock... and I am no saddle fitting expert. I am fairly remote and the closest saddle shop with any good variety of saddles to try is about 5 hrs away so hoping to get some reviews of the saddles they have there before I go. The flex tree interests me as it sounds like it may be a little more forgiving as he grows than a solid tree, but I have seen bad reviews as well. I don't know anyone who has one to try unfortunately. | |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| From my experience
If a Charmayne James is too tight, the Lisa Lockhart is going to be too narrow.
You also have to watch the Lockhart saddles, as my horses that are flatter, the flex tree makes intermittent contact behind the shoulders, actually made my two of my horses turn into buckers.
Martin saddlery is your best bet, as they can make practically any tree you want. They have a demo program please utalize it, as the crown c is not for everyone.
If you go with the crown c, there is a Facebook page that sells used/new crown c saddles and the prices have dropped drastically, now you can get practically any gullet for 1500- 2200 as long as you are not picky on style. The flat bars are harder to find.
If you want help on fitting for Martin, feel free to message me, and I can try to navigate you through the headache, lol.
Another saddle to look at is the Lynn Mackenzie Neuva tree, she has a fitting demo on YouTube which is excellent.
Tod sloan has a b3 bars saddle which is for wide and flat, if you go the diamond s series, the quality is not as good, but you can get a new saddle for around 2k
Psc also has a wide tree, similar of a caldwell and when I priced them out to buy one was over 3k
Caldwell is another one who claims to have a wide tree, I have no knowledge of these though | |
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