Horse with High withers

Hi everyone,

I just bought a really nice saddle off of Ebay. When I put it on my mare, I noticed that it didn't fit properly. I discovered that she has high withers. Is there any way to correct this without purchasing a new saddle? Just an fyi, the saddle sits on her but it doesn't rest on her withers. It's about 3 or more inches. So, I guess you would say it's narrow.

I thought a narrow saddle is what you woul d want on a high withered horse but I am no expert maybe see if you can get a saddle fitter out to help you does the sadd e have changeable gull et system??
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I dunno....Silly me didn't realize any of this before purchasing it. I'll post a picture tomorrow. Hopefully, that will shed some light as to what I'm talking about.

The saddle should NEVER rest ON the whithers. It should have about 3 fingers worth of clearance under the gullet. Put it on, cinch it down and see if you can get three fingers right under the saddle and the highest point of the whithers.

I have a tb with a monstorous wither and a wide gullet you have to have clearance between withers and gullet I can fit 3 fingers in the gap, you should do this from the highest point of the wither.
One of my saddles at the pommel is slightly cut away, it was made like that but it fits really well.

Mr. Sean,

How goes the saddle fitting? I bought a saddle online once, . . Never again!

The tree has to fit the horse's back and lower wither are (just behind the shoulder). VERY few horses actually need a narrow tree. Horses with high withers often need saddles with a partially cut back pommel or with a high pommel.

Pictures of the horse with the saddle on, lightly girthed with no saddle pad, would be helpful. Take a side shot showing the whole horse and a 3/4 front angle showing the whole shoulder and front of the saddle. Be sure the horse is standing on level ground with the head level or slightly elevated.

Also, the finger test, 3 fingers above the withers, is a guide, not a hard and fast rule. Some horses my have more room (if they're low withered) or less. As long as you have more than 1" of space with a rider in the saddle at the trot, you're good for wither clearance. However, that doesn't mean the saddle fits everywhere else .

Here are some pictures of her taken today. I also included pictures of the saddle I have as well as her withers.

This is a full view of Maggie.