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saddle fit? PDS Aldea Showtime

3K views 14 replies 3 participants last post by  unclearthur 
#1 ·
this saddle just arrived in the mail yesterday and is brand spanking new. i think it fits pretty well but will probably need a half pad while my horse builds his topline up again (he's been out of work for quite some time and we've been trying to get weight back on him). thoughts?











and just some pictures of my gelding for reference:





 
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#3 ·
he had those on him when i bought him 7 years ago so yes, i'm guessing he had an ill fitting saddle quite some time ago. :(

i'm going to do a series of photos this weekend of this saddle as well as another saddle i traded for that i think fits pretty nicely but not as nicely as this one (i feel the gussets in the front of the PDS give him better wither clearance) to see what people think. i'm just happy to have saddles that fit better! i want a happy horse. :)
 
#4 ·
The top-front gusset is a big help with a horse that shape.

I tend to agree with tinyliny regards positioning - it's a touch too far forward. If you move it back, though, the pommel will likely drop slightly.

Half-pad is a good idea. What sort of thickness you need depends on your weight/build. That's not meant as a criticism, just a practical consideration - newer saddles tend to be flocked quite soft and settle more quickly as a consequence, particularly when the panel is under stress (spare-framed horse with a heavier rider). If the horse hollows when you're mounted you may find you need a thick pad (Polypad or similar) as well as the half pad to give enough clearance front and back. Extra pad thickness shouldn't usually cause a problem if the saddle is the correct width, which it seems to be, and you can always check by running the flat of your hand downwards from the pommel between horse and saddle. You'll soon notice a tight spot.

Because normal pads help with clearance but not always with the saddle's balance, given the shape of the horse's ribcage you may find the saddle still runs forward slightly when the horse is ridden. Hopefully not, because of the panel construction, but if it does a graduated pad (or an extra wither pad) might help.

Best of luck :)
 
#5 ·
thanks unclearthur! i've been riding him in my previous saddle with a BOT dressage pad and a thinline trifecta pad. i recently bought a thinline sheepskin halfpad with the thinline shims and have added the front shims to use with the other saddle (a Cliff Barnsby AVG) to give a little more wither space. i'll get pictures of that tonight so i can get feedback sooner rather than later.

as far as rider size/weight. i'm 5'3" and 150lbs. my fiance who also will be riding this horse is 5'8" and 165lbs (i'm guessing!! he's the guy holding the horses in the pictures above). would you suggest different padding/pad options based upon each or us or...?
 
#6 ·
not really useful as far as a fitting critique, but this is the Barnsby AVG saddle on him with the thinline sheepskin half pad (without the shims). perhaps i am misplacing the saddle on him here as well? i try to put it behind his shoulder but maybe i'm not really understanding WHERE behind the shoulder it should be?







 
#10 ·
You're not wrong - I have small hands for a man, so three works for me. I think the two fingers measurement was originally based on a 'hand' being 4".

In any case, it's one of those 'best approximations' the horse world is filled with. On a draught horse with straight shoulders you may get away with less, whereas for a big TB with a really sloping shoulder 2" may not be enough to allow maximum rotation.

I think that as long as you treat each horse individually you won't have a problem.:)
 
#8 ·
Ewww - difficult one.

My gut reaction based on the pics is I was wrong about the hollowing (certainly when he's stood square) but the front of the Barnsby looks as if it sits slightly too low. Do you tend to lose your balance? If you sometimes feel you're tipping forward that would make sense to me. You might also find the horse reluctant to strike off in canter, because of the increased shoulder rotation that requires. Though that more often relates to a saddle leaning to one side due to the horse's natural shape, so it's more usual for one canter lead to be affected than both.

If you're not unbalanced, then sorry - it's impossible to be more exact from a distance. (For example, you probably know the three main reasons a saddle slips back are it's too wide, it's too narrow, or it's the right width but the panel needs adjusting. Doh!)

Tree points ought to sit 2" (three fingers-width as a rough guide) behind the back of the shoulder blade, according to Society of Master Saddlers guidelines. A well adjusted saddle will usually slide back and sit itself naturally in the right place, but that's more a matter of 'feel' that you pick up as you go along.

Not sure if that's much help :?
 
#9 ·
Ewww - difficult one.

My gut reaction based on the pics is I was wrong about the hollowing (certainly when he's stood square) but the front of the Barnsby looks as if it sits slightly too low.
can you clarify for me what "hollowing" you are referring to here? i'm lost. :(

Do you tend to lose your balance? If you sometimes feel you're tipping forward that would make sense to me. You might also find the horse reluctant to strike off in canter, because of the increased shoulder rotation that requires. Though that more often relates to a saddle leaning to one side due to the horse's natural shape, so it's more usual for one canter lead to be affected than both.

If you're not unbalanced, then sorry - it's impossible to be more exact from a distance. (For example, you probably know the three main reasons a saddle slips back are it's too wide, it's too narrow, or it's the right width but the panel needs adjusting. Doh!)
tbh, i'm so out of riding shape as i haven't been able to consistently ride for some time (also why my horse is out of shape - it's a viscious cycle) so i can't really attest to how in balance i am to start with. i don't recall feeling that i'm tipping forward but i do feel a bit all over in the seat which i originally attributed to the seat being 18" whereas i've been riding in a 16.5" up til now. perhaps that's not what it is...

Tree points ought to sit 2" (three fingers-width as a rough guide) behind the back of the shoulder blade, according to Society of Master Saddlers guidelines. A well adjusted saddle will usually slide back and sit itself naturally in the right place, but that's more a matter of 'feel' that you pick up as you go along.

Not sure if that's much help :?
yeah i don't think i have the saddle far enough back so i'll be sure to try and do that tonight and take pictures to see how it goes. i'll put both saddles on and see how each works and post here. :)
 
#12 ·
here are pictures from last night of the saddle put on a little further back and girthed up this time. i'd love any thoughts on the gullet size (as this has the Pessoa x-change gullet system and comes standard with a medium-wide plate).










these two pictures in particular show the way the panel is cut back a bit to allow shoulder rotation (at least in theory):

 
#13 ·
Unfortunately you can't tell if your gullet's the correct width from the pictures. You'd either need to take it out of the saddle and offer it up to the horse, which will be a judgement call given his shape, or match it to his wither template. Again, the latter needs to be interpreted correctly because his template will look rather like an upside-down V but with concave sides, and the way to get over that is to draw straight lines from the points where the wither begins to curve down to the point the shoulder begins to curve out, on both sides. Then the gullet must follow the angles produced by the straight lines, and the circle 'segments' between those straight lines and the real horse are the hollows which need to be filled with flock.

Sorry if that sounds complicated :?

For example, the 3rd (nearside-on) picture strongly suggests the saddle is sitting low in front. The seat low-point is too far forward - looking at that saddle it should be (roughly) vertically above the right hand end of the stirrup leather keeper.

It's possible the saddle is sitting pommel down because the gullet is too wide, but it could also be that it needs flocking to fill the deep hollows behind his shoulders. Frankly, that'd be my guess, and even if he does need a narrower gullet (and bear in mind there's only a half-inch difference across the points between medium and medium-wide) you'd probably still need a flock adjust to get a good fit.

The other area I'd look at is the rear panel. Again, it's pretty impossible to tell from a photo, but the rear view suggests the nearside has more muscle wastage than the off, and that it continues along the horse's ribcage. So as you get to the back of the saddle the muscle angles downwards slightly more sharply than it does on the offside. That's a flock adjustment, too, or the saddle will tend to sit left and you can end up with a sore back from putting too much weight through the right seatbone in an effort to rebalance.

I don't know if any of that will help or not.
 
#14 ·
that's remarkably helpful! i appreciate your insight. i'll try the saddle on him this weekend with me aboard and get some pictures and see how it feels and contacts his back. my poor horse - i just want something that will fit him well so we can build that muscle back up.
 
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