Opinions on Saddle Fit Please?

[ratherberiding1999]

Hi everyone, I’ve spent a lot of time reading on this site and everyone always has such helpful advice, so I’m hoping to get some advice on my saddle fit. I’ve had this saddle for the last 10 years feel like perhaps is too wide now? It is a Wintec 500 all-purpose saddle, 17.5" seat. I have the extra-wide gullet bar in right now, as was suggested when I first had it fitted. My horse is a typical Arabian, very round/barrel shaped and has very little withers, though I feel like in the past few years, his withers have become slightly more pronounced. I usually just use a regular saddle pad, I have a half pad but don’t notice a difference when I use it or when I don’t. It has started to slip side to side recently even when girthed much tighter than I usually would, and I am not sure if maybe the saddle gullet or fit need to be adjusted, or if I’m riding crookedly and pulling the saddle with me? Just curious what you guys are seeing or what you recommend? Right now I am thinking to get the wintec gullet sizer and see if he still measures as needing the extra wide, and try changing the gullet plate if needed. Or just calling a saddle fitter out- if anyone has any recommendations for independent saddle fitters in the WNY area please let me know. Thank you!

(I’m new so can only post one photo in post, will add more in replies!)

[ratherberiding1999]

[ratherberiding1999]

[ratherberiding1999]

[ratherberiding1999]

This is just me trying to show that at the bottom of the flap, it does come away 2-3 fingers width from his side. I can get 4+ fingers in at the pommel and cantle and the saddle does not press on his spine anywhere that I can tell. The panels seem to have a good contact with his back, evenly across the length of the saddle.

[blue_heron]

Can you post pics of his back sans saddle?

My first thought is that Wintecs have very straight trees back to front, and a typical Arab back is going to be curvy. So straight away I am concerned about bridging.

Second, the angle of the tree is too wide, but he looks round enough that making the gullet narrower will probably not help. There’s no way to drop the panels in the shoulder in a Wintec to fill in the space of an A-frame tree when your horse has a U-shaped back. Also, you need to push your saddle back from his shoulder-- right now it is too far forward. If you put it on the shoulder and then pull it back, you should feel it “lock” into place.

[blue_heron]

As for saddle fitting in NYS, try Kate from Dutchess Bridle and Saddle.

[ratherberiding1999]

Here he is without saddle and with the saddle a little further back. (Although now that I look at it, it really doesn’t look that much further back. I did ride with it pushed further back, or so I thought, and it did slip less. )

[ratherberiding1999]

[TheHotSensitiveType]

Hello! Do you have access to an EASY-CHANGE Gullet System - Gullet Gauge? I have been surprised at the size of gullet needed several times and glad I was able to measure!

Does your saddle get pulled forward up your horse’s shoulder when you ride?

[ratherberiding1999]

I am planning to order wintec’s gullet gauge just to see where he measures- the last time I had access to one was a few years ago so maybe has changed since then.

And no, it doesn’t get pulled up the shoulders or pulled back either, just tends to rock side to side. I think part of it is me, maybe just sitting crooked or weighting my stirrups unevenly, but even when I really concentrate on sitting up and balancing my seatbones, it shifts laterally.

[fivestrideline]

Lateral shifting is common with an A frame saddle (like a wintec) on a very round horse. The tree can’t get down and around the horse enough to hug their body and stay in place. Narrowing the tree can stop the shifting but it’ll start pinching instead (or sliding back) if the fit and shape isn’t right.

Wintec gullet plates have that funky bend in them that can exacerbate the panels pulling away at the bottom like you’re seeing. I’m not a fitter, but I don’t immediately love the way this sits. Is yours wool flocked? You (a fitter) might be able to make some modifications to the flocking for a bit.

ETA girthed down pics can help too. A lot changes with a girth and/or rider

[Posting_Trot]

Here’s a useful video about saddle fit that covers a lot of the basics in terms of deciding if a saddle fits:

How to tell if your saddle fits | Kate Ballard, Society of Master Saddlers

As I look at the pictures you posted (and I’m not a saddle-fitter), the place where I see the biggest issue seems to be the saddle’s angles and the way the saddle’s flaps seem to be different from the angles of your horse’s shoulders. (The saddle seems to flare away from the horse’s side).

But the shadows in the photos make it a little hard to see what’s going on and how close the saddle is to your horse. This is where having a saddle-fitter there to actually put hands on the horse would have a real advantage.

[punchy]

I agree that in the first photo, the saddle is too far forward. In the next series, it looks a tad too far back. If that’s where it wants to sit though, it looks like the saddle panels extend past the last rib, which is no good—that’s where her kidneys are. You may have to look for a saddle with upswept panels. Just another thing to bear in mind when you try them.

[sheltona01]

The part of the saddle where your fingers are located doesn’t matter to the horse for saddle fitting. It is not a weight bearing area and it is to support the rider’s leg.

There are multiple reasons why a saddle can have lateral roll. Some of which are saddle too wide, too short of tree points, wrong panel shape, wrong head shape for example.

[ComingAttraction]

This doesn’t fit. It’s not balanced. It seats you downhill towards the rear of the horse. You maybe able to adjust where you have it sitting though. Would need more pics of the adjustment.

[ratherberiding1999]

Thank you everyone for your help, your expertise is greatly appreciated!! Will definitely be having a fitter take a look at it and go from there.