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Horse who seems to dislike wool saddles

Yet another saddle saga woe.
I have purchased my horse 2 saddles, a wool flocked butet and a wool passier jump saddle.

My horse liked both for a short period of time then just decided he did not like to canter. Multiple times the saddles had been assessed by fitters.

Currently back to saddle searching after selling both. My horse goes the best in a 1999 butet that it is clear does not fit. He does not have back pain. But I’m afraid of long term muscle damage.
We are trying an amerigo. Which I LOVE. He liked it the first right. Then has just been annoyed for the rest of them and not wanting to work.

Anyone else have a unicorn where the ‘wool is best’ saddle just wasn’t the best option for their horse? I feel like k am at a loss when I am just trying to do my best by him (why do we this?)

Has it been refitted afterwards, or did you decide it didn’t work after he stopped cantering? I’m trying to say that if it was only fitted once at the time you purchased it, he may have changed shape as a result of a well-fitting saddle and it needs to be reflocked/refitted. Sorry for stating the obvious, it just wasn’t clear to me in the post.

How old is he?

Generally I say go with what the horse likes. I like my shoes a little too tight.

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It probably is not the wool that is the problem but the shape of the trees that is bothering the horse. There are horses that just don’t like the “fit” that they are suppose to like. But trying only 2 saddles even if the horse initially likes them is just a drop in the hat in the options available.

For a someone shopping for a different saddles, sometimes it takes 10 to 20 saddles during multiple appointments to find the right fit for the horse and rider. For a horse really sensitive to saddle fitting, it sometimes takes a few weeks for them to get use to it. What probably happened is it probably felt good to the horse at first because the worse issues was better. However once the honeymoon period was over, it noticed different things it didn’t like.

And yes the last poster is correct. Wool saddles need maintenance. If it is ignored, it will cause issues.

As a saddle fitter, I hate the whole wool versus foam. Neither are better than the other, you just need to know the limitations of both material and work within them. That was started by various brands to sell more of their saddles.

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I should have been more specific. Of course I had the fitter back to reflock and asses the fit. Several times.

2 saddles is not what I have tried. The full list includes, cwd, butet, prestige, stubben, kentaur, passier, Frank baines, county, stubben, amerigo, Pessoa… just to name a few. I have spent a significant amount of money on trials. It’s though when a week trial for used saddles is your only option, and now your only budget.

I’m empathetic. I tried 2 wool flocked Butets w a very good saddle fitter. Mine didn’t like the feel at all, nor does he like the expensive carbon tree. He is now in a foam Butet w a dropped panel and shaved panels. Good luck!

My guess is that he’s sensitive in the lower part of the shoulder. Is he kind of a thicker dude? Like where the fat pad is behind the mid to lower part of the scapula and the deep muscles there.

My “wool is not best” horse was particularly sensitive there. And at the stirrup bars (longer, wider withers). I think he did ok for a while in my 1998 Childeric because I had cut the blocks out and it was just as flexible as can be in the shoulder area. Maybe like your old Butet. He did not like at all how long the front panel had to be for the average wool saddles (there are some exceptions) or how wool panels had to be done to fit his withers. And it was hard to give more space in the stirrup bar area even with a tree shape more open in the rails there.

He was also very picky and hated half pads. So had to find a reasonably correct tree which varied from medium to wide given the bran, and then sculpt the panels to his liking. It took a lot of looking and was hard to assess with used stock and demo saddles.

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He isn’t super wide but he has decent shoulders and a moderate wither.

I think you’re on to something about the shoulder area. That is always where I feel things are tight with more saddles. The most recent I think he felt like he couldn’t turn.

Luckily he doesn’t mind a half pad. He loves his sedologic.

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