Do you think it is positioned correctly? I know it’s not a great saddle but so far it is the best fitting I found
Looks like it is. You want the concho (which is screwed in to the front of the bar, and thus a good marker for where the bar is) behind the shoulder blade.
Hard to tell, but it looks like it might be a little wide, as it seems to be a little downhill from side view.
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It’s hard to tell with the pad and cinched, but it looks like this saddle may be slightly tipped forward, which can be an indicator for a saddle that’s too wide like @BlueDrifter said above. If you have photos of the saddle on with no pad and of your horse without tack, all standing square, from the front, back, and sides, that would be really helpful.
From the photos, it looks like the saddle might be ever so slightly too far back on your horse, which could also be why it’s tipping forward. We have a page on our website dedicated to saddle fit that has some photos that might be helpful for placement, it has photos showing where the saddle should go and bare trees for illustration.
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Here I am with the pictures without saddlepad
And I also borrowed from a friend another saddle, it’s an old Brad Rens, it is very comfy for me and friend is good at selling it for a good price, what do you think?
I am no expert but to my eye the cordura saddle does not fit --at all.
The second one is a better choice. The angle looks to follow her shape and I don’t see any gaps or see where it is digging into her . Looks like you have decent wither clearance too.
Ride in it for a week every day, get a good sweat pattern to check for any dry spots and if she is happy and you are happy I would buy it ( if it was me).
Thank you! He is not and easy fit, I tried many saddles and I couldn’t find one really satisfying. A custom made one Is out of my budget. Luckily (or not…) he is very opinionated and if a saddle hurts he will bronco buck. I’ll give a try to the old Brad Rens over the weekend
Sitting too low in front. My horse has the same issue, wide back with high withers. I solved the problem by using an English foam pad with wither padding on top of my western pad.
The pad I use is white foam with more padding in the wither area.
Ok, Paco solved the problem and he rejected the saddle, did I tell he is very opinionated? Sometimes I wonder if he is a red mare in disguise.He was very stiff in his movement W/T and he literally exploded in bucks when asked to canter (I know him very well and I was lunging him). I took the saddle off and he was still mad for a while, then he began to move correctly, so for the moment I’ll stick to my synthetic saddle. Thank you all for your advice
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@cilla1 Just shows you that even if it looks ok it may not be.
I had one that by looking appeared to fit my gelding just fine but in fact it had too much rock and he let me know.
I went ahead and got him measured by a fitter and sent those measurements off and got an off the rack saddle that he is doing well in. It was new but not out of my price range. He was a hard fit too.
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If you are on FB join the Truth About Western Saddle Fitting group. There are treemakers and saddle makers on there that can give you “the real deal” advice. I should add that they aren’t fans of production saddles and really dislike the flex tree saddles. That said these guys use their horses and know how to fit a saddle so it doesn’t sore your horse. Also, search Rod & Denise Nikkel. They are the gurus of saddle fit and also have a FB page as well as a website. Good Luck!
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Agree that the Cordura saddle does not fit at all. The angle is all wrong and it’s going to create a bit pressure point on his shoulder.
The Brad Rens looks reasonable. Have you been able to ride in it? How does he go in it?
Hi @beau159, no I wasn’t able to ride in it because Paco showed a great discomfort. I lunged him and he definitely told me he did’t like It at all. I see the cordura one is not a great fit but so far it is the best. He has not a white hair on his shoulders and I’ve been riding in it for 4 or 5 years. I’ll keep searching
Would it be useful in your opinioni to use shims or a padded saddlepad with the cordura saddle?
Adding shims or a thicker saddle pad would be the equivalent of wearing thicker socks when your shoes are too small and pinching your feet
But I understand that it digs in the shoulders because it’s too Wide, wouldn’t it be helpful to raise a little bit the front part?
If he likes it, don’t change anything.
I agree with this. While the Cordura doesn’t appear to fit right it may be ok with the pad you use.
If he moves willingly and all is well I would keep things just as they are while you look for another.
Sounds like your horse lets you know what he likes and doesn’t @cilla1 
These photos are great! It looks like the saddles are both too wide, they’re tipping forward and pinching. However, looking at the photo from the front on the side, it looks like your horse may have a hollow spot behind his shoulder that’s pulling the saddle back and causing it to sit too far back where it’s in the hollow and too wide.
Looking at the last photo, the saddle looks to be placed correctly and fits much better, but if there’s a hollow behind his shoulder it will slide back to rest there and tip forward to create a pressure point. A shoulder bridge pad or a shim pad may help you level out his back which will even out the pressure from the saddle and hopefully make him more comfortable as the fit will be much better.
