For some reason, every saddle I try on my horse, regardless of how much clearance there is above the withers, seems to dig into the area right behind her shoulders, especially the left one (sometimes the right one is okay but the left one is too tight). Then there’s almost no contact in the lower portion of the saddle flap. This is the case even when there’s too little clearance in the withers (which would mean the tree is too wide). I suppose I need a tree with a medium gullet channel width and a wide tree angle. Is that correct?
Your wouldn’t happen to have a picture of this horse, would you? Is it a fjord or similar build? They say hoop trees, like Duett, are good for that.
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You need to consider the curve of the back and saddle tree not just the gullet. Your description sounds like saddles that don’t have enough curve for your horse and are bridging. If there is no contact under the middle of the panel the saddle will brace on the places there is contact meaning the withers.
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I’d have to see the horse but I had a similar issue. I cannot use saddles that are too A shaped in the front. A hoop tree (upside down U shaped) is a better fit. Some saddles that don’t have a hoop tree have worked, but some are just more sharply A shaped than others, if that makes sense.
Maybe something with shorter tree points too.
If the saddle is too wide, that will also cause the appearance of the bars “digging”, so it may be that your bars are too wide too.
The pictures you provided don’t really tell us much. He might have a dip behind the shoulders, but he’s also standing with his head down and weight all on his front end. Get some pictures with him standing nice and square and close enough that we can see. Also, take pictures of the saddle with no pad and no girth, and show a side view as well as a view of how the bar angle matches (or dig in) the shoulders.
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Passier have shorter tree points, and some brands have angled ones etc.
My hose seems to have major issues with tree points and eventually (after 8 saddles in 2 years!) bought a wow that have them angled back at 45 degrees and that solved that particular issue.
Just keep trying and maybe use a front raiser if your horse has wastage around the wither
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That doesn’t look like a hard horse to fit based on the pics.
Usually the tree is way too wide if the saddle is only making contact with the little bit just below the withers.
Generally, if the tree is sitting on the withers and not making proper contact, it is too wide. Make sure the channel is wide enough over the spine as well. If it’s too narrow it will cause pinching.
My horse is extremely short backed with average shoulders and a bit of a wither. It took me a while to find a saddle that fit him just right. I eventually chose a Thorowgood t4 short-back jump saddle which is wool flocked with an adjustable gullet. He hated wintecs/bates because they would pinch him in a weird spot. They have an unusual “dent” in the gullet which causes a pressure point.
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We need bigger pictures of the saddle on the horse(s), closer up, girthed but no pad.
1 should show the whole horse filling the frame.
1 should show closer, the whole shoulder, saddle, and girth.
1 should show a 3/4 front angle, also showing the whole shoulder and saddle so we can see how the whole from panel lays on the shoulder.
Offhand, it sounds like the horses need either a more open top A frame, meaning, it’s still more or less an A shape, but the top is wider than traditional, or a more hoop shape tree (more like an upside down U.
Prestige and County are 2 brands whose trees tend much more towards the open-top A
The saddle first has to fit the shape of the back, and the width and angle of the shoulders, and THEN have enough wither clearance.
Since you’ve done the wither tracing, you might find that working through the fitter at Pelham Saddlery would be helpful in terms of finding a saddle that fits. Pelham is online, and they carry a lot of used saddles as well as some new ones. They can work with wither tracings and try to ship you some saddles on trial that might work based on the tracing.
If you want a new saddle, you might want to look at Smith Worthington saddles (also online). They will do remote fittings, and provide very generous trial periods. A couple of their saddles are also on semi-hoop and hoop trees.
