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saddle fitting for the downhill horse

11K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  QHDragon 
#1 ·
I love that this forums added a saddle fitting sub topic!

My horse is a 6 year old draft cross that keeps growing, both up and out. She has always been a little downhill, around August it was to the point where I had a really hard time getting comfortable in the saddle on her. Whenever I would post I felt like I was just going to catapult over her shoulder. The saddle was also constantly slipping forward on to her shoulders/neck. I switched to a dressage saddle and put the front shims in my thinline pad and it helped a lot. I have been able to comfortably ride her since until a couple of weeks ago where I started to get that “going to roll off her shoulder” feeling again and the saddle started to slip forward. Anybody else have any other suggestions I can try? I have been making calls around to saddle fitters but have had zero luck actually finding one to come out for me.
 
#6 ·
I have been looking at the Thorowgood cob saddle for trail riding and jumping. I have my friend in the UK on the look out for one used. Would be cheaper for me to buy one used from there and have it shipped here, lol. Also been keeping an eye out for an Albion Legend, they use to come in super wide tree sizes, but I haven't seen one in a long time.
 
#8 ·
You may wish to consider mule breeching which encircles the hindquarters much like breeching on a harness. There's a web site that deals in mostly higher end used dressage saddles. Google dressage saddles.com and I think it will turn up. You can narrow the search by brand, size, width, etc.
 
#10 ·
Mule breeching would be okay for trail riding, but I need a set up that I can show in as well. :cry: My local dressage association doesn't have any rules for or against a crupper (I have seen people use them at their shows), so that was my go-to solution, but no luck. I thought about trying an anatomical girth, but the more I look at them the more it looks like they would just pull the saddle forward even more.

She has almost no wither, so there isn't anything there to help the forward slide. :?
 
#9 ·
You often find that a saddle rolling to one side is because it's not wide enough and the horse's larger shoulder (they always have one) then exerts undue influence. Either that or the horse can have a roll of fat down behind one shoulder, though this will usually force that side back, twisting the seat across the horse's spine, rather than forcing one side of the saddle up.

It's a problem with croup high horses because your saddle fitter needs to find a level midway between what would be ideal for the rider and what is reasonable for the horse. Fitting the saddle truly level often means a huge gap between wither and pommel, increasing the saddle's tendency to slide forward. And if it's fitted level with the horse the saddle unbalances the rider forwards, increasing the pressure in that area and increasing the likelihood that the bigger shoulder will throw it over.

There's no easy answer to this problem, unfortunately - it's often a case of trial and error. Mostly error, in my experience :(
 
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