Wintec WIDE

I know there are several threads about Wintec, but I could not find one that answered my question.

I have a lot of trouble fitting a saddle for my very broad appaloosa. He wears a 36 cm extra wide Thornhill saddle right now, which fits him wonderfully, but which I am not nuts about.

I am thinking of getting a Wintec saddle for the adjustability and ease of care. My horse is barely 4, so I want a saddle that will be possible to make into a wider fit in the event he fills out even more. Also, since he's only 4, I won't be jumping anything high for a while, but I want something I can jump small fences with.

I've looked at the Wintec WIDE saddles, but I like the look of the Close Contact and pro-jump models better. My question is this: How do I know what gullet plate my horse will require? I know he needs a 36 cm tree, but what is the equivalent in the wintec system? I need to know if I will need the WIDE model, or if one of the standard models will fit. I wish all saddle makers could just use standard tree sizes.....

I take it you want an English....
Most Wintec English saddles have a changeable gullet...making it easier to fit any size horse...the gullet can fit anywhere from a skinny pony...to a big boned WB (or it's supposed to)

I know the Wintecs are adjustable, what I'm really interested in finding out is how wide exactly they get. My horse isn't gigantic, but he has NO withers and a table top back. Even some extra wide trees are not wide enough, so what I need to know is exactly how wide a wintec extra wide gullet is. The regular wintec saddles will not fit the ultra wide gullet plates, and the wide model saddle will not fit the smaller plates. I need to know which model to buy. Here is the special wide saddle: http://www.wintec.net.au/products/al...rposeWide.html
And this is the other one I am thinking about: http://www.wintec.net.au/products/ju...umpingPro.html

I just want to know what gullet I need, so I can determine which saddle will fit that gullet.

With the interchangeable gullet system for Wintec's, they come in wide no worries. At the Saddlery Shop where you buy the extra gullets, there is a pack that can be purchased that has a device in it to measure your horses wither to know what size he will need. Just ask the store for this measuring device and go from there.

First off Wintecs are evil.


Now, now that I got that out of my system
You haveto remember that regardless of the tree size, each make of saddle despite the trees size, will always fit your horse differently. Because an Wide Amerigo fits your horse, doesn't mean that a Wide Excel will. That's in part why I despise saddle fitting and always pay someone to do it for me.
Wintecs generally speaking are good saddles. They seem to make them look more and more leather realistic and they last forever with very little to no maintainance.
I will say this tho, I did buy a wintec years ago (and still have it to train the youngins'-refuse to let them destroy my custom saddle)and that gullet system is BAD. You have to flip the thing upside down and it takes 2 people and a lot of anger and frustration to do it. In the many years I have had that saddle, I changed it maybe twice because of how hard it actually is.

Don't be taken by the evil wintec powers!

Haha, I will admit that changing the gullet system is no walk in the park! However, I do manage to do it by myself (I manage a very odd technique!)--but I don't change it often. If my horse gives me the evil eye, it means it's time to change the gullet--and those are the ONLY times I do it. He rides in a medium tree, and he's a paint horse, so the wide SHOULD be alright. I believe they have extra gullets (extra wide and possibly extra extra) as well, sold separately.
Word of warning, however! Saddle fitting really IS a pain. I took my horse to a few friends of mine, and they say an extra wide wintec dressage saddle on him. They said it looked alright fit wise, and it did /look/ alright, but I knew his tree size. Needless to say, he was not happy with that saddle and he let me know the next day when I went to put it on him! The measuring thing from the wintec company isn't horrible, but for me it just became trial and error with my horse (hence me finally figuring out how to do it myself! Lol)