Ok I have a very shortback horse (pony) who is extremely wide, and if I set the saddle where it belongs behind the shoulder the girth does not fall in the girth line. it falls smack on his barrel. My trainer is not comfortable girthing him up in that location, nor is she comfortable with tightening the girth enought to keep the saddle stable in that location. So when she rides the saddle I have on trial slides forward onto his shoulders and the girth goes right into his armpits. So the question is, for the wide body, witherless wonders with very short backs, are we comfortable with girthing on the barrel instead of in the girth line?
No, because the girth will slide forward into the armpit as you discovered. You need a saddle where the girth is more forward or use a very anatomical girth that is shaped to curve forward and sit under the elbows.
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What @Scribbler said! You can also look at getting the billets swapped over to a point billet configuration, which will put the billet straps more forward. I had to do that for my âpropane tankâ shaped Arab.
Also check the fit and the flocking - I had issues with the saddle sliding forward if the saddle was too narrow or over flocked.
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No, while I understand the pain and agony of saddle shopping, I also understand how important it is to find or make (ie, semi or full custom) a saddle to fit. I have Welsh Cobs and have had the very wide, very short-backed challenge. Working in hand is better than riding for any real length of time in an ill fitting saddle. Iâm (and one of my welsh cobs) paying the price for riding in a âwill do for nowâ sort of fit.
Agreeing with the others, you need to find a saddle that fits. They are out there. I ended up going with a custom treeless Bob Marshall for my fjord who is short backed and wide.
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Thank you everyone. This trial saddle does have a point billet. I had ordered a Total saddle fit stretch tec girth, but the saddle moved alot with it. Saddle fitter says to get their shoulder relief girth not the stretch tec, she thinks it is too stretchy.
Adding pictures from when I girthed and lunged him yesterday, and from when trainer girthed and lunged him on Sat. Am very interested in thoughts on fit based on pics.
Can you get a picture of that saddle with the flap lifted? That point billet doesnât look very âpointyâ. Mine is significantly more forward than that on my Thorowgood.
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I have the TSF shoulder relief girth and it works great at keeping my saddle in place on my short-backed hay-bellied pony. My saddle fitter also reflocked, added a point billet and made the cantle more upswept.
Looking at your photo, is that saddle too small for you? It looks a bit confining.
Yes I will take a picture next time I go out to the barn. If this one does not work, I think I will try the Fairfax low wither classic dressage saddle, it uses the shorter S bars and has close contact panels.
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thats my trainer, not me.
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Crescent shaped girths are designed for wide barrels/narrow shoulders. Ovation Gel Form is a reasonably priced option to try.
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My short backed, couldnât have anything touch his shoulder blades, horse loved the TSF StretchTec. I did have to do a bunch of things to help keep the saddle in place (because he humped his back when he was worried about the saddle going too far forward, which of course made the saddle shift forward 
). One of those things was crossing the billets. Put the point billet in the rear buckle of the girth (try the StretchTec if you still have it), and then bring the rear billet across to the front buckle of the girth.
My other sin was riding with a loose girth. The saddle stayed put when the girth wasnât pulling it forward (proof the saddle fit was good), so I mounted with a looser than should use girth, and if I forgot to tighten it people would tell me they could see daylight between my horse and the girth after Iâd ridden around for a few minutes. I tended to tighten it a hole or two before starting trot work, not right after mounting up.
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When I look at your photos, I donât feel like your âbefore lungingâ picture is âsmack on his barrel.â I was expecting something a lot worse from your description.
I think you could probably find an anatomical girth that works, whether it be the TSF shoulder relief girth or another style.
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The TSF girths sat kind of funky on mine with a similar issue. The Ovation Crescent girth fit well, WOW H girth, and Stubben Equisoft. He prefers the Equisoft.
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how does the Ovation crescent girth go on, c opens to the front or moon to the front and c opens to the rear?
I donât have a problem with the girth placement in your first photo. My mare has big shoulders, narrow chest, wide rib cage, and forward girth groove. Oh, and short back. Fun, right? I place the saddle tree point an entire handâs width behind her scapula and use the Prof Choice VenTech shaped girth on her. Itâs placement on her is at least as far back as your first photo, if not even further back. She goes great like this.
If I ever feel the need to change it up, Iâm thinking of trying the Wow FreeSpace girth on her. I like the idea of the independent straps.
If you can get a picture of the underside of the saddle itâll help too to see the shape of the tree. If you let me know the make and model of your saddle I could figure out what tree it has and that could be fighting you as well. Itâs got to sit âaroundâ your, and be the right shape and length for your horse then you can mess around with the billets and girth. I found this to always be the place to start.
The other thing is is another has mentioned, getting that belly shaped up so the Top Line comes up and the belly dissipates a bit develop some course strength and thoracic sling lift and your horse will get easier to settle fit! From experience as a fitter for 20 years 
Moon to the front. Youâre trying to get the girth up in their girth groove, with the saddle sitting farther back.
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I see what you mean about the saddle sliding forward. I just donât think that saddle is going to work for this horse because you are going to be fighting that tendency forever.
