Good jumping saddle for high whithered TB??

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=EventingLady;7815480]
Have any of you tried the M. Toulouse saddles? They are pretty popular at the tack stores over here. I’ve never ridden in one, but on Dover and Smartpack they have great reviews and people say they fit their TB’s. If you’ve tried them… what style did you get and how did it fit your horse?[/QUOTE]
As someone who sold them at our tack store I advise staying away from them especially if you have a budget. The quality control was terrible and we constantly had to send back saddles with uneven panels and faulty/broken trees.

I have a near 17h shark finned horse that is going great in my Ainsley. They are cheap and very nice quality. I have always gotten compliments on mine.

[INoMrEd]

Passier has always worked on mine.

[Temecula_Jumper]

I second (third?) the Stubben recommendation. I have a shark-finned Oldenburg and tried multiple brands. I found the Stubbens fit him the best. I bought the Zaria model and couldn’t be happier. I believe Hermes are known to fit TB types pretty well too. You might be able to find a used model in your budget.

[billiebob]

Mine goes in a Stubben. Ainsley is another brand worth checking out, and I have a friend with a Barnsby that fits withery horses very well. Rick’s has a couple of Jaguar jumping saddles on their used saddle page (www.saddlesource.com).

ETA I’d stay far, far away from M. Toulouse saddles.

[Brutus614]

+1 for Prestige! I bought a Prestige Meredith last winter for my high-withered TB/Appendix and it’s been phenomenal!

[Catticus_Maximus]

I have an E Jeffries, which is highly adjustable, and I love it.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

A note on the Prestige saddles… For the high/long wither horse, you’ll want flocked panels, which allow for greater clearance than foam.

[cswoodlandfairy]

I have a 17 hand TB with sharkfin withers and a dip behind his shoulders. He was incredibly hard to fit. I actually had some great success with Stubben Roxannes and got one custom to fit him. It had a narrow tree (27 cm) and a wider (4" gullet). It was a great saddle for him. Over time however it no longer fit me, the flaps were too forward for me. I was fighting the saddle more than the horse. So sadly I had to sell it this year, but I did find another great saddle that fit both of us perfectly.

I ended up getting a Voltaire in July. If you shop around a lot and search you can find some just over the 2K mark…it is well worth the extra money. I got mine used (new is crazy expensive) and it ended up having extra padding on the PRO panel right behind the shoulders to fit him like a glove, and I got the added benefit of the panel length and width being just my size.

It was definitely more than I had intended to spent but worth every penny I’m still saving to pay off the cc…:eek:;):yes:

[jaybird660]

A few companies offer saddles that have options that are good for the high withered type horse. Look for K, trapezius, skid row type panels with a wither or full front gusset to give lift to the front of the saddle but still allowing the should to have freedom to move. Too many squeeze the shoulder in an attempt to clear the wither. The other issue is that some TB’s are very uphill and may need a deeper rear gusset while some have a steep climb to the hip and may need a thinner rear gusset.
Laterally, opt for a more angular and less flat profile as well. Black Country, Frank Baines and County all offer these options and the Kent and Masters jump has some of these as well.

[Linda]

Just curious - what is a skid row panel?

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=Linda;7819236]
Just curious - what is a skid row panel?[/QUOTE]

Here’s a yummy looking saddle with skid row panels. Skid Row was a horse with high withers for whom County made a custom saddle, hence the name. You can tell by the puffy looking panels under the pommel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/County-Innovation-17-5-Saddle-/111490621608?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f55be0a8

[jaybird660]

A skid row panel is County’s version of a deeper panel.

[yellowbritches]

I think most of the English made saddles- County, Albion, Barnsby, Black Country, Baines, etc- are safe bets to try. As are Stubbens. I would probably stay away from French saddles, though that doesn’t mean something French wouldn’t fit…just less likely to, in my experiences.

[Bristol_Bay]

Jay, can you suggest some saddles that would accommodate high withers and have deeper panels in back for the uphill horse?

[jaybird660]

Black Country Ricochet, Quantum TR, Tex eventer with K panel, Baines Edessa, Reflex, Enigma. Kent and Masters S jump for some, County with skid row panels. You would want wither gussets as well. We have many that are new and some used but you can often find some used for decent prices. I agree that a flocked saddle offers more adjustments.
STubben saddles often work for TB’s but people tend to size too narrow to clear the wither.

[jaybird660]

i forgot to answer about the rear gusset. Some companies are willing to make the rear gusset. Baines rear gussets tend to be slightly deeper and I feel that the Kent and Masters jump are a little deeper.

[icy98ach]

I bought a county for my high withered TB. Tried about 30 saddles before we found one that really worked.

[Linda]

Have my new CWD 2G and its lovely to ride in. My guy has the shark fin withers and its just a tad wide to accommodate them…so the rep is coming out next week to look at it and refit it…In the meantime,Im stuffing another pad under the saddle. He already moves better despite the slightly wider fit. Im pleased!

I love the saddle. It puts me in the perfect position to jump and I dont need to make any big efforts to stay there.

[hannahrwhite]

I have an extremely hard to fit high withered TB, and the only nice thing in that price range that fit was the Pessoa gen X elita! I absolutely love it and my trainer reccomneds it to anybody looking for a new cheaper saddle. Its about 1800$, and I do believe they have it on dover

[hannahrwhite]

I have a horse with the same withers that yours has, and he was so hard to fit! I ended up starting with the Pessoa Gen X elita, but I outgrew it and had to replace it. I ended up finding a 5 times used Voltaire for just under 2500$ with the pro panel that fit my horse like a glove, not to mention the flap/seat that was just what I was looking for. It’s the best saddle ive ever gotten!