Are you sure you are setting the front of the bar behind the shoulder blade? Feel for both so you know for sure where they are and use that to determine your saddle position.
[QUOTE=Aspen1;8601225]
Are you sure you are setting the front of the bar behind the shoulder blade? Feel for both so you know for sure where they are and use that to determine your saddle position.[/QUOTE]
I believe so.
[QUOTE=beau159;8600337]
Granted, pictures are pictures, but I don’t like how the right side of the saddle looks with the BioFit pad. Makes the angle look more narrow, than when you had the saddle on without a pad at all.
Classic Equine makes a good saddle pad. However, keep in mind what happens under the saddle when you add a “shim” in a single spot like that.
Have you run your hand under the saddle (with no pad) and felt all along the tree? Where there any areas where there were more pressure or less pressure? Do you really need to fill in the space with the BioFit shim?
How does that compare with the BioFit pad? Is there an area of more pressure where the shim is? Or does it still feel even?
Maybe I’m biased, but I think you should send this pad back and get yourself a 5 Star. 
I tried a friend’s BioFit pad last year (that she wanted to sell) and I set it on my horses back and that was about it!! For myself, there was just no comparison between the softness of the 5 Star, to how the BioFit felt. I knew right away I didn’t like the BioFit.[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately due to some other things going on right now a 5 Star is a long ways off. Some day maybe. I love their turquoise with the white alligator.
The pad and saddle feel even along the entire length of it. Everything felt really good. The wedge itself seems to have the more tapered end directly under the front of the tree, while the thicker part kind of stuck further forward.
I read some different reports about the gel material crushing down over time, and then other people being completely happy with their pad for many years. So, I guess we shall see.
[QUOTE=Draftmare;8601368]
Unfortunately due to some other things going on right now a 5 Star is a long ways off. Some day maybe. I love their turquoise with the white alligator. [/QUOTE]
???
You stated you just spent $177 on this new BioFit pad
http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Classic_Equine_BioFit_Shim_Western_Saddle_Pad/descpage-CEBFSSP.html
Which is the same price as a 5 Star pad, 1/2" thickness, in a 30x30.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-NATURAL-Horse-Contour-Wool-Felt-Saddle-Pad-30x30-5-Star-Equine-Products-/390328561748?hash=item5ae1653054:g:Z9EAAOSwofxUjnRu
At least since you mentioned sending the BioFit back.
shrug
[QUOTE=beau159;8601568]
???
You stated you just spent $177 on this new BioFit pad
http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Classic_Equine_BioFit_Shim_Western_Saddle_Pad/descpage-CEBFSSP.html
Which is the same price as a 5 Star pad, 1/2" thickness, in a 30x30.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-NATURAL-Horse-Contour-Wool-Felt-Saddle-Pad-30x30-5-Star-Equine-Products-/390328561748?hash=item5ae1653054:g:Z9EAAOSwofxUjnRu
At least since you mentioned sending the BioFit back.
shrug[/QUOTE]
I bought the Biofit on sale, I ended up paying $140 for it. 
I guess I didn’t think to check eBay for 5 Star, the last time I ‘built’ one through their website I think it was close to $300.
So are we thinking that I don’t need anything up front at all? I feel like I don’t know anything about anything any more. :lol:
I think most people have responded that the saddle fit looks good. If the horse isn’t objecting then maybe it is. What do you feel a draft horse saddle would do to improve what you feel is an issue? Is there a draft tree/saddle that you could try to see if it really does help? It looks like your horse is under developed on the right side so the saddle fits a bit differently on that side (or check the saddle and make sure the tree is straight etc.), left looks good. You don’t want to move it back as it will be too far back over the flank. Maybe just ride it for now and see how your horse does.
5 star are expensive, might look for something similar that’s less. I have a Todd Slone I really like it’s wool felt. Looks about the same as a 5 Star and half the price, NRS has them for $179
[QUOTE=Draftmare;8601634]
So are we thinking that I don’t need anything up front at all? I feel like I don’t know anything about anything any more. :lol:[/QUOTE]
At some point, you have to stop listening to internet experts and start listening to your horse, who is the real expert on saddle fit. If she seems comfortable and willing to move out in the saddle, no swishy tail, no unwillingness to extend gaits, the saddle feels stable under you, and the sweat patterns look good, then I think she’s telling you that the saddle fits fine. 
[QUOTE=js;8601704]
I think most people have responded that the saddle fit looks good. If the horse isn’t objecting then maybe it is. What do you feel a draft horse saddle would do to improve what you feel is an issue? Is there a draft tree/saddle that you could try to see if it really does help? It looks like your horse is under developed on the right side so the saddle fits a bit differently on that side (or check the saddle and make sure the tree is straight etc.), left looks good. You don’t want to move it back as it will be too far back over the flank. Maybe just ride it for now and see how your horse does.
5 star are expensive, might look for something similar that’s less. I have a Todd Slone I really like it’s wool felt. Looks about the same as a 5 Star and half the price, NRS has them for $179[/QUOTE]
I guess I was thinking that this saddle was too narrow and that I needed something wider. I would likely get a “regular” Classic Equine pad if I decide to return this one. They run around $140.
[QUOTE=js;8601704]
I think most people have responded that the saddle fit looks good. If the horse isn’t objecting then maybe it is. What do you feel a draft horse saddle would do to improve what you feel is an issue? Is there a draft tree/saddle that you could try to see if it really does help? It looks like your horse is under developed on the right side so the saddle fits a bit differently on that side (or check the saddle and make sure the tree is straight etc.), left looks good. You don’t want to move it back as it will be too far back over the flank. Maybe just ride it for now and see how your horse does.
5 star are expensive, might look for something similar that’s less. I have a Todd Slone I really like it’s wool felt. Looks about the same as a 5 Star and half the price, NRS has them for $179[/QUOTE]
That’s what my 5 Star cost. If you get a basic pad in the natural/oatmeal color, they can be found for under $200. I think mine is 3/4", which is plenty thick.
OP, if you want something to shim, maybe a Diamond Wool would be better. They are probably cheaper than the BioFit, and you might just need a shim on the right shoulder. I’m taking about their pad that has the three removable shims along the length of it.
https://totalsaddlefit.com/shop/cinch/cinch/
Maybe one of these would help instead of a different pad?
[QUOTE=js;8606692]
https://totalsaddlefit.com/shop/cinch/cinch/
Maybe one of these would help instead of a different pad?[/QUOTE]
I have considered that cinch, I need to get a smaller cinch anyway, but I was told that that type of cinch would be silly with a western saddle, and that it wouldn’t work with a western saddle the same way that style works with an English saddle.
[QUOTE=js;8606692]
https://totalsaddlefit.com/shop/cinch/cinch/
Maybe one of these would help instead of a different pad?[/QUOTE]
I’d be skeptical of a cinch like that. The concept is a good concept, but I’m not too sure how well it would actually work.
A few years ago, I used a “barrel racing” version of a cinch. I can’t find a picture of it so maybe they stopped making it, but it was like this roper cinch but only had the “extended” fabric on one side; not both. The idea is that it was supposed to have more area to disperse the pressure of the cinch.
After a full summer of hard use, I noticed that the extra fabric was “stretched out” and didn’t even really come into contact with his belly anymore. The pressure was only being distributed through the straight of the cinch. So what’s the point to have that extra fabric there?
Since then, I’ve just used straight cinches.
So I would wonder if a cinch design like suggested above would also only apply pressure “straight” through the cinch? Since the cinch is curved, would that make less of an area for pressure? I truly don’t have any idea, but it has me wondering how well (or not) that concept would actually work.
Beats me how well it would work but English riders sure use them a lot. Many of them would swear by them. Personally haven’t used one. Thought it might be worth a look, though don’t know if it would address the OP’s issue or not.
[QUOTE=js;8609432]
Beats me how well it would work but English riders sure use them a lot. Many of them would swear by them. Personally haven’t used one. Thought it might be worth a look, though don’t know if it would address the OP’s issue or not.[/QUOTE]
I have one for my English saddle, and love it. Sydney has a forward girth groove that tends to pull English saddles forward on to her shoulders if I use a straight girth.
Well, Sydney was suddenly a total pain in the arse last Thursday - Saturday. I switched back to my old pad today and she was a total saint. So, the biofit pad is going back.
