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Saddle Fit Opinions?

Hello! I have a saddle on trial and unfortunately won’t be able to get a saddle fitter out to look at it in time before the trial ends. I am looking for some opinions! and hoping to make it work, because I did love how the saddle rode. Thanks!!

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The only thing I see is that it looks a little low in front.

No, it really does not fit. The panel/tree is too lateral flat. It has what I call airplane wings where it flys off the horse’s back. Basically the horse’s back is too anglar and falls away from the saddle.

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Is this just at the back or along the whole panel? The back has really upswept panels that start to come off her back a little and I wasnt sure if the tree was too curved (which surprised me because she has a pretty curvy back and the Amerigo website recommended this saddle for flat backs) but I did not think of it being too laterally flat. And you don’t think the panels could be modified to fit? (I know it is not as adjustable as a true wool flocked saddle)

I am going to try to attached a picture. The blue line is your horse’s back. The red lines are the panel and the tree angle. Guessing on the tree. They should pretty close to being matched. Especially the panel angle is no where near matching. If you were a client of mine, I would say no way, no how. This is just the biggest red flag to me, but not nearly the only one.

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Thanks for the picture and your help🙂. It is just hard to imagine a company would design for a wider more laterally flat back than this. I feel like she is like a coffee table back there lol.

Well, your horse is also looking to the right in the picture. Which makes it hard to tell from the back. To me, it looks like those panels are overstuffed. But if it’s not a wool saddle, then there’s not much they can do about it. BUT, I’m definitely NOT a saddle expert. Just some lady that went through 8 million saddles. Can’t you send the pics to your saddle fitter?

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Lol, you are too funny. She is not that bad. I would post pictures, but I do not without the horse’s owners permission. I would actually consider her on the smaller side for the really wide horses.

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I agree the panels do look overstuffed, and they can’t be foam, foam panels are much thinner. Obviously no idea what fiber is in them, real wool or carpet trimmings or something synthetic and sproingy. (My saddle fitter reflocked a very old Passier and what came out was the original stuffing, colorful scraps of wool yarn from some carpet factory in unfaded vivid 1960s hues).

I dont know how easy it is to deflate big pillow panels like this. You might also need to restructure the panels. And it is also a tree that is wider/flatter at this point than the horse.

Some foam panels are that thick and it does not look like a structure of a wool panel. It could be a felt panel, but either way it would be a pass for me. If they are wool, to remove that much wool out of the back to make it flatter, the saddle would be out of balance for the rider.

OP, what brand of saddle or type of panel?

Have you tried a hoop tree on this horse?

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It’s an Amerigo DJ, I thought all of their saddles were felt and wool, but I see some yellow foam under there so I am not sure. I reached out to the seller

I never tried a hoop tree. I have been told she is medium wide and I thought hoop trees were for very wide horses with low withers, but really never looked into it so maybe I am way off.

I took another pic of the back trying to have her look straight ahead and in better lighting but the ground was not totally level

Amerigo is normally the felt panels with a touch of wool. The yellow might be the panel topping. However I have found in practice, it is really hard to flock them and it typically does not do a ton to the shape. I will say after looking at the pictures again, I would be worried about a twisted tree.

I worried it does kinda look like that in that photo, but I think it is just the uneven ground and camera angle(it is pretty hard for to get my horse to stand square and look straight ahead while I try to take a perfectly straight pic from behind.) The saddle looks straight and I got it from a well known consignment shop so has been checked by a fitter, but of course know that is a serious concern

Any ideas for monoflap saddles with a similar forward balance and smaller blocks that might fit better? I am planning to look at Prestige and Stubben but don’t see them selling used very often

What are you aiming to do with your horse because that might influence saddle types and brands?

Very low level eventing, jumping, and also hoping to go fox hunting next year. We trail ride a decent amount but I have a dressage saddle I could use on the flat. I am looking to replace a county conquest that really put my in a chair seat behind the motion and want something with closer contact. I didn’t love the other counties I tried (innovation, solution and their monoflap).

You can use hoop trees for horses that have moderate withers, my horse definitely doesn’t have low withers but can really only go in a hoop tree!

If the photos you provided are an honest representation of your horse conformationally, I have your horse’s twin in bay… and he is in a MW Black Country Vinci monoflap. He said emphatically that Amerigo would not work for him, which was a shame because a friend was giving hers away to me.

I had this horse in a Stubben Zaria monoflap, at the behest of a local saddle fitter/representative who insisted my guy needed a narrow tree. Anyway, it caused him a lot of back pain and discomfort. So if you do go Stubben, make sure you involve an independent fitter because their reps just suck and cost me a lot of vet bills and I have a $4500 saddle that I can’t ride my horse in, lol. Their reps also were okay with my saddle bridging on this horse, which I am sure did nothing to improve his comfort.

I agree with Shelton01a that I don’t think this photo, if accurately represented, demonstrates a good fit for your horse.

Having been down the saddle fitting road, I can say one thing – vet your fitters very carefully, and do not mistake a “saddle rep” as a certified fitter. Don’t even waste your money with a “saddle representative” – if it is not a certified fitter, find someone else.

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