Based on the picture that the OP poster earlier, I think she would do just fine with a 14" seat.
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The new saddle arrived last night from the horsesaddleshop and I have someone at my barn who is going to help me get some photos later. I am excited and have fingers crossed that this will be comfy for my horse! If I get photos, I will attempt posting so I can get your feedback as to how it fits and compares with the saddle I had been using.
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The new saddle fit so poorly we didn’t take photos. VERY discouraging.
Ugh. I feel your pain. Maybe you should get pictures to send to horse saddle shop, showing them the poor fit. Hopefully they can recommend something else. You could also send all the photos you have from both saddles to Horsey Habit and see what they think. My friend had very good luck fitting with them via photos and phone conversations. It was for an English saddle but I believe they fit Western as well.
I’m assuming there isn’t a tack store within a reasonable driving distance? Have you tried everyone’s saddle on that you have within reach?
Maybe use something like a flexicurve to take wither and back tracings and send that to a saddle shop along with photos?
When Mr. Squirrel was looking for a saddle and it was impractical to haul the horse along, I brought along a wither tracing cut out on cardboard and put it in the gullet of the saddles he was interested in.
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Hey beginner elle, your story sounds just like mine and I’m sure all the advise you received will help me. Great users here!!! I do have one question for you, do you have problems with your saddle rolling side to side. My guy also has rounded shoulders, no real wither pockets and very short back (wither to last rib 25" and back of shoulder blade to last rib 23"). MY saddle has a 8" gullet, rounded skirt and is 24" front to back, I had it made based on measurements. I’m currently working with a saddle fitter and she has me trying a pad with shims and it seems worse about rolling than my current pad. I’m a greenie like you and just ride local trails as well.
As long as some are looking at the lower end saddles, well, you are not going to get the quality and fit of the better saddles, that just cost more.
Look at some really nice, older saddles if you want the kind that fits most horses well without spending the higer prices.
It is hard to beat the better leather and workmanship found in good saddles.
If they need any tweaking, a little thicker or thinner or built-up pad at most will be all is needed.
Just because “I don’t ride professionally or show” is no excuse to scrimp on a good saddle that will fit horse and rider best.
Sure, many make do with most anything, but just consider a bit better saddles as an option and may not have the problems the lower end ones have.
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Yeah, it’s a bummer. You just never know until you place it on the horse’s back.
I will say again that the customer service is excellent at horsesaddleshop but you do need to ask lots of question.
Can you post a link to the exact saddle you tried?
It actually would have been nice to see photos, to see what exactly was wrong. Can you describe?
Sometimes knowing what doesn’t fit in one brand can help you make the next choice for what to try next. But even still, you just don’t know how it will fit until you try it on.
Even within the same brand and same TREE, you will have differences. When I found a saddle that fit my horse Shotgun (through trying on saddles a vendor had set up at a barrel race), it was a problem because the seat size was too small for me. So he looked for a saddle in the seat size I needed and found one … but when I got it, the saddle came up in back. Same brand. Same line of saddles. But just a number or two different on the serial number for the tree. And it made all the difference in the world. I sent it back and did some more sleuthing myself, and found the same (correct) saddle in a seat size that would fit me.
Saddle fitting is so frustrating. I feel your pain! Keep your chin up and keep trying.
I think I am going to try to find a different way to find a saddle…the online ordering is too costly. I sent so many photos along with very descriptive and specific information and photos of a template test and had a cardboard pattern made of the withers area and none of that translated into a saddle that fit. I felt after spending so much time going back and forth that they just wanted a sale. I purchased what they recommended and it was one of the worst saddles we tried. Price was no object so I felt their recommendation was not limited by cost since there was no limit to cost on my end.
I have tried every saddle available to us locally on her. One big problem is that most saddles are huge for me even with major adjustments. None of them fit the horse anyways so the fact that the saddles were ginormous for me wasn’t an issue. The only one that seems to fit is a child’s saddle used by one of the barn’s teachers. I’m a very small person so the seat on it fits me great but the stirrups are waaay too short. The instructor is going to try and figure out what the saddle is (she’s had it forever and it was given to her way back when) and see if there is any way to find something comparable.
My intent is to keep searching so my horse is comfy. A pal in the barn is going to bring her Impression Pad up once she is feeling better. In the meantime, I have been using my old barrel saddle along with a cutout pad borrowed from someone in the barn. My horse has not demonstrated any soreness with this combination. I’ll grab the info off that saddle when I go later. Thanks everyone! I am grateful for your wisdom.
MVHorses…sorry I forgot to address your question in my previous post. I do not have a side to side issue. My issue is the front end of every saddle sits too tight on my horse.
Are the bars angled at too flat of an angle, pinching at the top and not connecting evenly from top to bottom (at the shoulders)? Just trying to throw things out for you to consider. A steeper bar angle in front might do the trick. I know, doesn’t help if you can’t find it. Sometimes saddles made for gaited horses have a steeper angle, if that is what is needed.
Treeless is an option if you get really fed up with the whole thing. I hate to even throw that out there, but I did.
Yeah unfortunately all of that extra work still does not translate into a saddle that fits. There are just too many variables with a western tree. I know when I was working with them to look for a saddle with my horse, I was asking pretty specific questions about gullets, flare, rock, etc and they were pretty good to answer most of the questions — but I still never found one through them and I tried 3 saddles. (They had a promo that month where there was no restocking fee if you exchanged it for another, along with reduced return shipping. Of course, I paid a restocking fee on the last saddle, but I like to think I made very good use of their promo even though I did not fine “the one”.)
Anywho … I’m usually stuck buying online too b/c there’s just nothing in my area until I want to travel a 3+ hours out of my way with my horse.
Did you say you board your horse at a barn? Any other “friends” you can borrow saddles from, just to try on your horse? That’s how I found my English saddle for my horse.
I know in your original post you said you’ve tried 8+ saddles that were full QH bars and/or wide saddles… and they were all tight on the shoulders. Any of your friends have any semi QH bars? I wonder how that would work for your horse.
I thought I had posted these links already but I guess not. They are great resources for saddle fit and just to help educate yourself some more.
Here’s one and here’s another.
In the pictures the OP posted earlier in the thread, this is the case. The saddle is too wide for the horse (aka too flat of a bar angle) and “dumping” on the front end, and sitting down hill.
What worked for our gelding with a similar issue was a Crates. We found a used one in this model https://www.horsesaddleshop.com/crat…l-saddle1.html. It might be worth a try. They have a used one in a 14" too. I know it’s a bit of a long shot but it’s what worked out of the many saddles we put on our gelding, and all his problems were in his shoulders/withers.
https://www.horsesaddleshop.com/used-crates-medium-trail-saddle-uscr3971.html
Thanks beginer elle, hope you get things figured out.
Smartpak has western saddles and they offer a free trial on their demos - I believe no return shipping or restocking fee. https://www.smartpakequine.com/content/testridesaddles
Great find!! I had no idea smartpak offered this. I looked at the site details and it does appear they indeed have free return shipping and no restocking fee.
I’m still deciding which one to try once I get my tax refund 
