So, i have a very asymmetric horse. He has an upright right front ( always has) and he has a more pronounced withers hollow and forward shoulder on the right . This makes my jumping saddle ( currently a Stubben Zaria Optimum) slide off to the right and forward ( think diagonal slide) into the hollow. This makes the whole rear of the saddle slide off to the right with me as well . This is evident even without a rider, and you cant get the saddle to sit straight on his back with or without a girth . I have now had 2 falls in the last 3 weeks, which are partly due to the fact that I am way off to the right of the horse and cant keep any weight in my left stirrup. He left out a stride both times and i lost my balance on landing and since i was way off to the right to begin with, just pitched off. I accept I might lean to the right, but i dont have the problem on any other horse, and I dont have that problem with this horse in a dressage saddle . ( matter of fact, i tend to lean to the left with other saddles ) I have tried 5 or 6 saddles in the last 5 years , with multiple different fitters , and they end up shrugging their shoulders and telling me that he is asymmetrical. I have had a custom made Hastilow, which slipped even more, a Black Country , and now this Zaria. The problem seems worse this year than before, which obviously may have some issues with me, but i am feeling like I really have to address this Instead of putting a band aid on it. I have tried multiple shims, pads , on both sides as suggested by the fitters and it does not improve.
Because his dressage saddle ( Custom Wolfgang Solo) Is very stable and does not slide at all, i was wondering if a jumping saddle with long tree points might work. I know it may impede shoulder action, but frankly, i am getting tired of trying to stay somewhat in the center of the horse in a losing battle. And falling off isnt as easy as it was 10 years ago either …
Any suggestions welcome! I’d even spring for a custom saddle IF it would work, but since i have already had one custom made saddle not be any better, I’m a little gun shy.
Can you get a saddle flocked to fit him?
Honestly a really good shim pad set up should fix this as it should normalize the contour of the back.
I would not be riding let alone jumping in a saddle that was already visibly asymmetrical even before you mounted.
If you think the dressage saddle is stable why don’t you look for a jumping saddle from the same brand? Contact the makers and see which of their jumping saddles are on the same tree.
Im not sure “long tree points” are a thing. All the brands make a big deal out of claiming they have shorter tree points than the competition!
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
Scribbler - you would think the shims would work - but because the hollow seems to be further forward and down they dont end up filling it. Hard to describe but have tried multiple mattes, Pro lite, etc, etc
Then you could try cobbling together a custom shim pad that does fit his body. You can use shim material or gel pads cut to fit, and baste them onto the top of a cloth saddle pad. You can tape them in place for a trial ride.
You might also try shimming the opposite side. It sounds counter intuitive, but sometimes part of the problem is too much range of motion on the other side.
However if your dressage saddle fits your best bet is to get another saddle on the same tree. I expect the jump saddles have multiple fitting problems going on.
And don’t ride in these jump saddles! Dangerous for you, painful for horse.
Do you have a WOW saddle fitter in your area? That type of modular saddle with Flair panels might accommodate his assymetry.
I would suggest shims but it seems you’ve tried all that. The only other (cheap) thing I would try is make your own custom shims from a 1/2" wool felt western pad, so you can cut them to specific size and shape.
My 5 year old OTTB also has a “slight “ asymmetry . I bot 1/4” wool Felt (from Ebay) and cut a shape and inserted it in my half bad…went a long way to to keep saddle staring tom horsey.
You are welcome to try one of my saddles on him too but I’m thinking if not a custom saddle, you need to customize your half pad. I had a horse with broken withers and had similar stability issues with the saddle with her. Only thing that helped me was having a saddle with a nice wide channel and using a breast plate on her (Hunting style). It helped a bit. That…and I had to ride with shorter stirrups…
You might need to get creative with the billets to help keep the saddles in the right place along with a shim pad.
I highly suggest Tara Miliziano of Forward Motion Equine. I had a really hard to fit horse with shark fin withers, hollows, Short but slightly sway back. She worked with Patrick Saddlery for a custom saddle that was perfect.
Bonus is she is an equine massage therapist. I feel her added understanding of anatomy helps her with saddle fittings.
I sent Finnegan to her for a week for aquatred and that helped a lot to even him up left to right. Due to his low back he was not a good candidate for swimming.
She is an independent fitter and can come with a hatchback full of saddles.
Your location says you are in MD. I definitely recommend Annette from HCS saddlery. She just came out to fit my horse for the same problem. My horse has less muscle on his right which caused my jump saddle to be unlevel and sit to the right. When he moved, the tree point would dig into the hollow behind his right shoulder and the left panel would dig into his spine. The right side needed to be lifted with a shimmable pad (I recommend the prolite pad as the shims retain their original form after being compressed) I just bought a dressage saddle that was like it was made for my horse, sat super level and I felt so balanced and centered. I didn’t have to counteract the right slide by sitting to the left. It was the most educational saddle fitting I ever had compared to the other fitters I’ve used.
If you are looking for another saddle, I’d look at ones with a front gusset and dropped panel.
