Ok, so my now 6 year old Arabian mare has totally out grown the saddle I have been using since I started her under saddle at 3. It is a Stubben with the medium wide tree (I think that’s the 32cm). With reflockin it has been adhusted to fit before, but now I think it is time to bite the bullet and get something different before I start riding her in LD’s this spring as she has filled out a little too much to make it work.
I would love some suggestions on a nice all purpose English saddle that would fit. She is long backed wide withered and flat backed (as flat as a table practically). My price range is between 500 and 1000. I have heard good things about the thorowgood, but the only synthetic saddles I’ve had any experience with are wintec, and they don’t fit her AT ALL. Someone once mentioned something with a hoop tree would probably work well.
Can you post a conformation shot of the horse in question? It’s not possible to make much in the way of recommendations w/o seeing the horse.
If your horse is as wide as many Arabs, it’s surprising the Stubben has fit her for this long! They tend to have long points and “A” shaped pommel arches, whereas many Arabs need shorter points and a hoop tree (shaped more like an inverted “U” in the pommel arch).
I strongly recommend working with a good fitter to determine your horse’s fitting needs. If you don’t have a local fitter, you can work with Nancy Okun at The Owl and the Rose Distance Tack (contact her at nancybokun@gmail.com). If you send her a template of your horse (video tutorial at http://pantherrunsaddlery.com/?page_id=434) and a good conformation shot (shown at http://pantherrunsaddlery.com/?page_id=494). She excels at working long-distance, and is a CTR rider to boot, so she “speaks the language” and has a unique understanding of the needs of horse and rider in the distance world.
Thorowgood makes a hoop tree saddle. They fit very differently from a wintec, and from those I’ve known who have had them, are a better quality saddle too. There is a leather version on the same tree, but they are hard to find used and may not be in your budget.
Duett Tango or Companion Trail saddles. They are hoop trees, wide panels, have all the D rings you need, english saddles. The real difference is that one has a all-purpose type flap, more forward than straight. The Tango is a dressage type flap but not terriblu staight or long. Good flap for short legs or those that use longer stirrup length. They both have the same tree and same seat. Good leather, wool flocked.
Chicamuxen
Hampton Bay, the plates in the Thorowgoods are wide, and do fit very differently from the Wintecs; they work for many of the broader backs, but they are not hoop shaped. They aren’t broad enough across the top - the pommel arch - to qualify as hoop shaped. Comparison with the Wintec plates at http://saddlefitter.blogspot.com/2011/09/changeable-gullets-details.html; you can see that they’re both “A” shaped, though the Thorowgood lack the inward “kink” the Wintec plates have.
