Saddle Shopping question- who to trust/what to buy

[Posting_Trot]

Well in fairness to those who’ve posted, you do have to admit that the picture where his head is raised does make it look as though his back has some pretty significant curves.

Maybe the real challenge that the back poses is a substantial change in its shape from its resting profile to the working profile.

If that is the real challenge, then might be very difficult to do a simple remote fitting, because the fitter would really have to see the horse in motion with the saddle on its back to tell if it actually works.

Good luck!

[no.stirrups]

@CHT I feel your pain. Here’s a picture of my horse.
Like you, I’m dealing with big withers, a big shoulder, and a strangely flat back!
He’s in a Frank Baines Rococco dressage saddle, one of their flatter trees.
I test rode a Stubben Portos jump saddle not too long ago and it worked really well. I’m trying to pursue getting one, just waiting for my boy to heal from his most recent injury…
The big advantage I have over you is that I AM a saddle fitter, so I have less need to rely on others to help. That said, this is the conformation that I would least like to work with remotely. I wish you ALL the luck!

[CHT]

What should I look for in a contract for a custom saddle to ensure satisfaction?

[AskMyAccountant.17]

Do you have to order custom? My concern would be that you order the saddle, it takes months to arrive then doesn’t fit. Can you obtain measurements or a demo from a brand rep that you like and then search for that model and measurement?

I believe you said you were in Canada, so I’m not sure how shipment would work with many of the used-saddle shops. Do you have trainers and/or friends whose saddles you can set on your horse or sit in to give you a wider view of what you may like and search for?

[candyappy]

@CHT

I can’t just throw money at the issue and hope something works, I need some sort of confidence that what I am spending my money on is likely to be worthwhile. This will be his third saddle.

Then I would pass on both saddles. If they are sliding all over when riding they don’t fit at all and I doubt a fitter would be able to help enough. I have no doubt you will regret it in the end.

Keep looking.

[CHT]

So far the custom Black Country or Ideal are topping my list. Fitter 1 told me an Ideal could work, so contacted them directly to see what the actually company thinks.

I am giving up on used. It occurs to me that in 30+ years of working with horses, I have never seen a horse who is built like this guy, or goes like this guy. I guess that is a risk with buying the non-purpose bred horse. He is lovely though.

[Renn_aissance]

@CHT

It occurs to me that in 30+ years of working with horses, I have never seen a horse who is built like this guy, or goes like this guy. I guess that is a risk with buying the non-purpose bred horse. He is lovely though.

He’s awfully cute. What is he?

[CHT]

Lol, thanks. Took me a while to get used to his “white” eyes. He is a Saddlebred, but bred for sport, not for saddleseat.

Jim @ Ideal Saddlery is being fantastically patient with me. Our time zone difference is making it slow to progress, but he is so far making sense to me. Fingers crossed. I really liked how the Xceed fit his shoulders/withers, so if it could also fit his back, then it should work.

[CHT]

After writing that I see that the pictures don’t show his eyes…both his eyes have white rims like a person…he always looks shocked.

[Baybear]

I remember way back that many saddles had those cutback pommels which were the thing to get for horses with high withers - I almost wish they’d bring those back. One of my barn mates has a similarly built horse, and went from a Hastilow (which if there’s a fitter /rep in your area give them a try) to a CWD. I have a Hastilow which fit my horses good. There is adjustability with these having interchangeable gullet and can adjust the stuffing to help fit. A good fitter should also recommend one of those saddle pads that you can make adjustments by adding/removing a variety of shims. We did that with my horse after he dropped weight one winter. Much easier to do that than readjust the saddle. Once