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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
   
Location: Montana | Because every horse is different, here's pics of my grey geldings back...he has big/tall withers compared to what I'm used to, and he is kind of narrow, but not too narrow. I currently ride him in a Courts barrel saddle with FQHB and a 7" gullet...it fits him okay with a Prof. Choice Charmayne James pad that is built up behind the withers, but sometimes it dumps on his front end.
So, but his pics what kind of saddle would you be inclined to say would fit him? I was wanting to get a C3, but it doesn't look like that will be in my budget (even used) this year. So whatever I get will be used.
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 20171124_150713.jpg (90KB - 256 downloads)
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20171124_150728.jpg (96KB - 200 downloads)
20171124_150735.jpg (93KB - 202 downloads)
20171124_150739.jpg (98KB - 199 downloads)
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
 
Location: North Dakota | I feel like your guy's back looks very similar to my Shotgun. Most everything I tried on him seemed to sit down hill and/or and have too much rock, including a Courts. It's weird because he's not narrow but he's not wide. I couldn't do a semi or small gullet becaue that would be too tight on him - yet it seemed like the full or "normal" gullets would be TOO wide. I didn't think he was going to be that hard of a fit, but I tried at least 12 saddles on him.
I finally ended up finding a Circle Y professional series saddle (Silesia) at a saddle shop that just fits him perfect. Crummy thing is that the saddle is discontinued........ I really didn't want a 15" seat size for myself but there was literally nothing else available (and I searched!!!) It fits him so I'm going to make it work.
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Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Thanks much, r beau. He's like you say, not narrow, not wide, but good size withers. Just kind of in between. He's not really built downhill, although some of the pictures make him look that way. I was thinking about going with another flex tree (I have a Reinsman Marlene McRae flex tree, and it sits way to low on his withers but it fits my other horse well). I was thinking maybe a Molly Powell by Reinsman with the regular tree? I thought about a Lockhart with a regular flex tree, but I'm pretty certain that in its design it would sit right on top of his withers.
Your Circle Y Silesia, is it a wood tree and what bars/width is it (reg or full)? |
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 No Name Nancy
Posts: 2715
Location: never in the right place | Try a Meleta Brown Freedom saddle, they fit a lot of horse. Fit my high withered leaner type horse and now fits my wider, flatter backed horse |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | mtcanchazer - 2018-01-11 10:51 AM Thanks much, r beau. He's like you say, not narrow, not wide, but good size withers. Just kind of in between. He's not really built downhill, although some of the pictures make him look that way. I was thinking about going with another flex tree (I have a Reinsman Marlene McRae flex tree, and it sits way to low on his withers but it fits my other horse well). I was thinking maybe a Molly Powell by Reinsman with the regular tree? I thought about a Lockhart with a regular flex tree, but I'm pretty certain that in its design it would sit right on top of his withers.
Your Circle Y Silesia, is it a wood tree and what bars/width is it (reg or full)?
I actually have a WIDE flex2 Circle Y Lisa Lockhart for my other horse. As expected, that is too wide for my Shotgun. I did also try a regular Flex2 on him but it was still just a bit too wide. The angle matched the shoulders okay but it was still sitting a bit downhill on the shoulders. It wasn't bad but it bothered me enough that I knew I could do better.
The Lisa Lockhart overall does not have that much wither clearance. But realistically, as long as it's not touching, you're fine.
The Circle Y Silesia that I ended up with is full QH bars.
Interestingly, I tried another Circle Y performance saddle (Trinity) that had a similar tree from their same performance line but it was just different enough that it had too much rock in the tree and came up in back. It was apparent when I did a test cinch-up on it. The Silesia doesn't do that on him.
It's so frustrating that even 2 saddles in the same saddle series can fit so different. I had tried this one b/c I found one in the seat size I prefer (14.5") but I was not happy with the fit on him. I've ridden in 15" saddles before so I'll just suck it up with the Silesia.
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | ctdrumrunr - 2018-01-11 6:44 PM Try a Meleta Brown Freedom saddle, they fit a lot of horse. Fit my high withered leaner type horse and now fits my wider, flatter backed horse
I tried this saddle on my other horse and fit him beautifully (I just couldn't get myself used to the flatter style seat). Based on that, even though I didn't try it on Shotgun, I would tend to think it would be too wide.
But you never know until you put it on their back.
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| He looks and sounds like he's built fairly similar to my 3 yr old. A double J #10 fits her well. BUT I will say that you'll definitely need to put it on her to know for sure. I have had only 2 horses that this tree legitimately fits. |
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Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Thanks for the input! Appreciate it. I know a lot of people have differing opinions about the Circle Y saddles, but overall I have been happy with them, the same with the Reinsmans.
I thought about a Double J, but they make so many different trees it kind of scares me to try to find which on would be the right fit. I really like the idea of a flex tree, because I have one that fits my other horse super. So I'll just keep looking to find the right fit. :) |
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Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Bump to get some more opinions.  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
| Felicia at horsetackworld is wonderful to work with she has many different saddles you can send your pics to her and she can help you to find a good fit |
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No Name Nancy
Posts: 2715
Location: never in the right place | Caldwell TG fits higher withered, leaner horses
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Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Hey, I went with a C3. Pretty excited about it! |
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