Saddle Fit Help

[barnchick277]

Hi, sorry in advance for the novel. I’m going to cross post this in the Western forum too. I have been having a terrible time finding a saddle for my paint mare. The problem is compounded by her being heel sore which is causing her to be cinchy (according to my vet) so I can’t tell if she is trying to bite me when I tighten the cinch because the saddle hurts or her heels.

I have 2 Tex Tan saddles, 1 is a Regular-QH bar and the other is a Semi-QH bar. If I remember correctly, when I measured them a few months ago the Regular has an 8 inch gullet and the Semi has a 7. Last night I decided to try my friends Brenda Imus 4 beat saddle to see if the extra shoulder room and V style cinch rigging would help (didn’t think to measure the gullet). She seemed less inclined to want to bite me when I was doing up the cinch so I’m thinking I’m on the right track. I took a bunch of pictures of all 3 saddles on her last night but only took cinched up ones with the Brenda Imus as that’s what I was going to ride her in.

Here are some pictures without a saddle
Left Side
Left Side 2
Right Side
Left Front
Right Front

Tex Tan 1 (Regular-QH Bar)
Left Side
Left Front
Left Rear
Right Side
Right Front
Right Rear

Tex Tan 2 (Semi-QH Bar)
Left Side
Left Front
Left Rear
Right Side
Right Front
Right Rear

Brenda Imus
Left Side
Left Front
Left Rear
Right Side
Right Front
Right Rear

Brenda Imus with 1/2 inch pad cinched
Left Side
Left Front
Left Rear
Right Side
Right Front
Right Rear

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Guilherme]

The topline rates an SUX. How can you get any kind of decent weight distribution with that shape? The short answer is “you can’t.”

So, one thing at a time.

What are you doing for the sore heels? Address that problem first.

Then find a trainer to help you build a better topline on the horse.

Then, after you get some strength in the back, you can think about a saddle.

G.

[barnchick277]

She is in Bar shoes per my vet for the sore heels. I can’t do much about the topline until I find a saddle to fit but definitely agree it needs work, she’s just so flat across the back right now

[Guilherme]

[QUOTE=barnchick277;8198360]
She is in Bar shoes per my vet for the sore heels. I can’t do much about the topline until I find a saddle to fit but definitely agree it needs work, she’s just so flat across the back right now[/QUOTE]

I believe you can begin topline building with intelligent ground work. It doesn’t require a saddle.

G.

[Lieselotte]

Completely agree with G.'s post above.
Proper lunging with the right equipment will build topline. Do shorter sessions at first and work your way up, but obviously only if your horse is not lame.
Then there are many other ground exercises to build strength and muscle, like walking/trotting over cavaletti, or just over anything on the ground that you can put together. Even doing daily belly lifts helps. You just need to start a daily fitness program and get going. Ask for help from an experienced trainer if you’re unsure.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

Any back can be improved somewhat to a lot by proper training, but conformation also dictates how much improvement you can expect. For this back, I’d be looking for a bridge pad (to fill in the lowest point of her topline so the saddle can bear weight evenly, and not just at the front and rear of the panels).

Full or semi QH bars refer to the width at the front of the tree only, and you need to consider that carefully, of course. But it’s only a small part of saddle fit.

[barnchick277]

This is the pad I’ve been riding her in with the shims in the middle pockets.
http://www.diamondwoolpads.com/products/details/4

Of the 3 saddles does one fit better than the others? I realize I need to work on the top line but since that is not an overnight process I want her as comfortable as possible in the meantime

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

Sorry… to give you a good opinion, I’d have to see/feel under the panels to check for bridging. With your shim pad, do you get even sweat marks?

[barnchick277]

I haven’t been riding her hard enough to really break a sweat recently so I don’t know about the sweat marks. I can try that over the next couple of days and see. Thanks

[jaybird660]

I would love to see better photos without the saddle, directly from the side of the entire horse and one looking down on the back. Many QH’s need a hoop tree but that combined with a dip is harder to find unless you have a panel with some depth to help make contact. That back might come up somewhat but it’s likely that the dip will still be there to some degree. In my limited western type saddle experience, I haven’t seen one that offers depth so I can’t comment on that. If you offered more info on what you want exactly and your price range, I might be able to offer other suggestions.

[chicamux]

Butt high, dipped back, won’t change that much with exercising. Sorry about being blunt, I have a horse that is similar. The brenda Imu saddle has shorter panels and maybe a bit more curve to the tree so it probably bridges less, maybe a tad more comfortable. I’d suggest a flex-bar saddle with less overall length or a good treeless. A saddle pad that has ful length insert pockets would let you put thin full length inserts into it PLUS bridging shims that you can move around to find the best position. I do not like pads that have 2 or three sewn in pockets per side and little square shims for those little pockets. A Skito or Equipedic pad with the long pockets will let you experiment with the shim placement. However, if this was my horse and I rode western I’d use a Bob Marshall or Circle Y treeless saddle and a shoulder/bridge shim inside of a good pad.

[barnchick277]

Jaybird
I can get more pictures of her back tonight

Chicamux
Because of her broad shoulders she gets very fussy if there is any extra pressure on them. That seems to be her worst spot.

I’ll be taking her to a local place with a saddle fitter once I have a bit more money to spend on a new saddle, just trying to find something that works for the meantime

[chicamux]

The shoulder shim goes BEHIND the shoulders to fill a dip there which then lifts the saddle up a bit and allows the shoilders to move freely. There is a great couple of videos at Skito about using shims to adjust saddle fit. Skito.net. Lots of good saddle fitting info there.

[GallopingGrape]

Cicamux gave you excellent advice! I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’d add to that list of saddle pads a Granduer Pad. Shimmable. Those boxy pre-shimmed pads are awful. Start your search in a gaited tree, or treeless… and go from there.