Multi-Horse Saddle?

Changeable gullet saddles don't work for every horse. The tree has to be the right shape and the back panels have to fit the horse. The tree from front to back also has to fit. Wintecs tend to be "flat" front to back, so they don't fit horses with "curvy" back well. Also the panels tend to be pretty angled, so they don't always fit horses with broad/flat (side to side) backs very well. If you use a good pad and ride less than 2 hours at a time, then you'll probably be okay, but if you do any heavy riding (lots of jumping or long trails) frequently, then your horse can end up with sore spots and/or pressure sores (white patches).

It all depends on the TYPE of horse and the saddle.

No one has said that one saddle will fit all horses. But one, well made saddle will fit MOST horses of the same TYPE.

My custom made stock saddle is on a standard stockhorse tree. It has fit every stockhorse I have put it on so far and a few other similar 'types'.

I also own two wintecs. One is old - I have had it for 10 years. It is very flat in the panels due to long years of hard use. It fits most horses with flatter backs. My new one is really banana-ey - It fits the curvy backed horses.

I ahve a little arab - He has fitted into every saddle we have put on him. It's amazing - He is very fat but still has a defined wither and we have NEVER had saddle fit issues in the 9 years I have owned him.

My ASH on the other hand? Due to damage CAUSED by an ill-fitting saddle and an overweight rider, he can ONLY be ridden comfortably in a saddle that is precisely fitted to him (I.e. Custom made) no wintec would work, we tried.

Once again - Depends on the saddle, the quality, and the type of horse you want to ride.

Unless all their horses were the same breed, I wouldn't even ride at a barn that allowed students to use their own saddles. It is much more important that the saddle fits the horse than the rider.

I think the amount time you spend in the saddle on a single horse makes all the difference. I think *most* saddles don't fit well and the only reason no one is the wiser is because the rides are short and infrequent.

For example, when you ride 4-6 hour trail rides with only one horse, 5 days a week, you are going to see white hairs unless you have a REALLY good fitting saddle.

I have gone through saddle fitting HELL and finally got a saddle (wade tree) that didn't give my Mustang white hairs from a long summer of riding.

I used to think it was just that I had a weird shaped horse, or I was heavy, etc. But my neighbor whom I ride with weighs a lot less than me, has registered QH's and top-of-the-line saddles and she has white hair issues on her horse's backs worse than I do now. And she had two horses she could ride while I was only riding one all last summer.

She started with Cactus saddles, then had a custom saddle maker make two saddles for her (one for each trail horse), which she rode with all summer, and they gave her horse's white hairs worse than the Cactus. I think the problem was the saddle maker was out-of-state. Just how can you build a saddle for a horse out-of-state, anyway?

Now she is working with another custom saddle maker to get 2 saddles made for her big, beautiful, registered QH's. If you can't fit a QH in a western saddle, what can you fit, lol?

So I dunno, I think you REALLY have to put in a lot of hours in a saddle to know how well it fits, and then the white hairs may not show up until the seasonal coat change.

What is nice, that I have found, if you start getting white hairs and you switch saddles as soon as you notice them coming in, those hairs will usually shed out and grow back in dark the next coat change.

And even if a trainer rides a horse daily, he is probably not putting in 5 hours on a single horse, so his saddle may not be a perfect fit either.

^^That's where proper padding comes in. Alot of problems with western saddle fit can be helped with the right kind of good quality pads.

I defintiely agree that no one saddle will fit all horses and one, well made saddle will fit MOST horses of the same TYPE...

However, I have an older Crosby Lexington that seems to fit many horses - not all, but many.

Trailhorserider - I had to go the custom made route for my boy because of his issues. Our saddler took wither tracings and other tracings of his back, made the saddle but didn't finish the flocking, and then we took him there to have it finished off personally fitted.

He's a different horse now.

Over the years I have had a lot of horses. In that same amount of time I have owned 4 saddles. 1 was a cheap saddle and did not fit any horse I owned so I sold that one fast. The 2nd I still have it is a hand made rope saddle. Has fit every horse I have ever owned. The 3rd was a reining saddle. Although it fit my horses it did not fit me so I sold it and bought a new reining saddle. Have only had that one for a few months and have only ridden 2 of my horses in it. However it fits those well and b/c it fits those 2 it will most likely fit all the others.

While no one saddle will fit every horse. I have to agree with Keven that a good made saddle will fit most horses with in a certain type.

IE all my horses for the most part are reiners. So my saddle fit all my horses even though there are some differences in them. I doubt they would fit my friends Gypsy Vanners though.