New gaited saddle question????

THE Rocky I bought last year was having saddle fit issues. I was using my Circle Y 3/4 bars square skirted saddle. His shoulders were restricted and it was to0 long. Used a friends cordura saddle on him and the change was instant!
She thought it was a flex-tree gaited saddle and helped me to pick out one. The saddle arrived....and I am pleased with the quality as far as synthetics go but it has "rock". This is the opposite of bridging.

The shoulder and wither clearance is great as is the length but it stands up about 2-3" on the back until I am in the saddle. It is this saddle:
16" 17" Cordura Easy Fit Gaited Trail 'El Campo' High Horse by Circle Y 6970

One article commented that gaited saddles had more "rock" to them. To me this is showing that the tree is too narrow. The alternative would be to get a wide saddle...not gaited.

Thoughts please. I'm new to gaited and have been fortunate to have wide, fat QH with NO saddle fit problems. This horse doesn't complain when uncomfortable...just tools along happily til he's sore.

I like that it has a 3 point riging(SP?).

OK got an educated answer from the fellow at Circle Y. Should NEVER have rock...sent it back and ordered a wide tree. Forget the gaited saddle.

I am glad to hear you sent it back. Just because your horse is gaited doesn't mean he needs a gaited tree. The main thing I see is that it was a gaited flex??
I sure don't understand why they keep trying to make a saddle that fits every horse in the world. It seems most of the time it backfires.

The main thing with a gaited horse is that in the front you don't have a lot of saddle in the front that hangs down over the shoulder in front of the horn. Look at several different saddle styles and you will see what I mean. Most barrel saddles are like this as the barrel horse needs a lot of shoulder room too. The next thing is to make sure you get a round skirt. You can use a square skirt, but make sure it measures 26" or less to avoid rubbing and abrading the hip since most gaited horses have short backs.

Hope your new saddle fits correctly!

Have you tried an Imus 4 beat saddle? I think they are neat. I might just have to get one for my non gaited QH. :P

I know they are pricey but they look fantastic!
Imus 4-Beat Saddles

I had the same issues, in my experience the "gaited" tree is typically more for a narrow gaited horse but most of the Rockys I've ridden aren't narrow at all. I took him to a saddle fitter and he recommended a barrel saddle with full bars. Fits great and Jackson is happy!

Totally agree we have a friend who has and trains rocky and kentucky mountain. Every horse he has fits his saddle which has fqhb.

Most saddles that are made for "gaited horses" are stil made on QH bars with a 32 twist. That twist is more than a gaited horse needs. You might check out Freedom Saddles, they are made with a 13 twist which is what a gaited horse twist. Check out Larry Whitesell also. I just attended a 5 day clinic there and learned a lot

I have never been able to use a gaited saddle on my TWH mare. Her back is too wide and flat, so I had to go with a flatter treed, FQHB western saddle. Anything with rock bridges and sticks up 3-4" in the back on her.

If all gaited horses had the same conformation this might be true. Since they don't it's a bit of a factual streatch.

As a rule "gaited horse saddles" are a marketing gambit, not an operational concept.

G.