Shoulder relief saddles?

[Rusty15]

My horse has wide, prominent shoulders that have proven difficult to fit. My trainer’s old Tad Coffin fits him like it was made for him (at least standing still…it’s several sizes too small for me to try riding him in). And finding a used one in the size and flap configuration that is in my budget will be very difficult and I need something NOW.
I did find a Kent and Masters anatomic shoulder relief saddle that can be taken on trial but I’m curious why they discontinued their anatomic panels after only a few years… here’s what they look like: https://www.kentandmasters.co.uk/archived-saddles/9-s-series-anatomic-gp

I know Schleese has shoulder relief panels but I’ve heard so many bad things about Schleese and again, budget is a limitation. I am saving for an expensive oral surgery and a house down payment so can only spare about $1,500.

Are there any other saddles known for accommodating big shoulders? I live in North Dakota where there are no tack stores or saddle fitters. There is one that will travel from MN but they are county reps and don’t carry other brands so I have to search out possibilities on my own.

[fivestrideline]

This is going to be a very tough find for $1500. It can be done, with a lot of time, luck, and shipping saddles back and forth (which these days is $75-$100 each way IME, unless someone has a discount or offers free shipping. Ridiculous.)

Your best bet is to find an independent fitter that can give you specs to look for and/or trawl the used market themselves. This may work, if you can pay their fee and commission out of a different pot of money than your saddle budget.

Definitely sit in anything you’re considering - otherwise you’ll be like me with a collection of decent saddles that fit on paper but you HATE actually riding in.

To answer your question- check out Pelham Saddlery (they can remote fit you in anything they have, and will tell you if something isn’t a good fit before sending it), and your local tack shops. Look for County, Black Country, Schleese, TC, Loxley, Peter Horobin. Also, the Chunky Monkey brand comes new in your price range and I have two people that have them and are happy. They’re not the fanciest, but they’re comfortable and adjustable and fit the big ones well.

[fivestrideline]

Well I just went back to read for comprehension and see that you don’t have tack shops or fitters. So, with that in mind, check out Pelham like I said. I think there’s a few others that do remote used fitting, but I’d have to go google.

ETA if you don’t have fitters as a rule, I would avoid anything wool flocked. They HAVE to be adjusted at least yearly. And it’s prohibitively expensive to ship them to someone to get it done. So that leaves you with Tad Coffin, maybe Stubben (some of their models come in foam), and the French brands.

[lenapesadie]

There are no tack shops near me and a limited number of brand reps. As of this year we have a local vet beginning her journey as an independent saddle fitter.

At any rate, remote fitting is the way to go in this situation. Ask up front about shipping policies as shipping trial saddles back and forth can be expensive. How expensive depends on if you are shipping back via your consumer rate at the UPS store (high as the cat’s back) OR using the saddler’s commercial pricing to ship back (hundreds! cheaper). Pelham used to do the ship labels the latter way as did Duett. Using the saddler’s commercial priced shipping labels, I can ship my saddle back and home again for flocking adjustment for about a hundred dollars. I think that’s super reasonable.

I’d reach out to multiple fitters / saddlers that offer remote fittings, fill out their questionnaires, send in your tracings and go from there.

My horse has a big shoulder and his scapula comes back a fair bit in motion. He didn’t need a shoulder relief panel so much as he needed a saddle fitted to sit on the right spot in his back. Which is further back than one might think. For me, once I saw how the saddle should be placed I couldn’t “un see” how many saddles are placed too far forwards. YMMV.

For my horse, I went in knowing he needed a hoop tree or something in the cusp of hoop shaped. That drove my inquiries. I reached out to Hastilow, Duett and Trumbull Mtn. My initial budget was 1500, but I did end up spending a little more to get a brand new custom saddle built through Duett.

Good luck!

[lenapesadie]

@Rusty15 Hastilow stocks K&M saddles, offers remote fittings and has a large inventory of used saddles. The actual remote fitting process is free.

I dunno why the shoulder relief panel is discontinued but I’d suggest reaching out to Hastilow about a fitting. They may have an alternative in their current offerings that might suit your horse.

Also, adding fitting photos to your post may garner more specific recommendations for saddle brands

[Rusty15]

Yeah I am I’m a saddle fit desert. I think I could get the county reps to come out if there are a group of us but that rarely if ever happens. I miss my old independent fitter

[anon55755751]

Passier has a nonstandard tree option that accomodates large shoulders https://www.passier.com/en/PS-Saddle-Tree-with-frt-System-R~p6621. Can’t say personally whether it is a good design or not.

A panel with a front gusset should be more generous to a big shoulder, given an appropriate tree, and trap or k panels can also help support the front of the saddle if you are size a touch wide. Avoid point billets if you are looking at dressage saddles.

[RedHorses]

@lenapesadie

My horse has a big shoulder and his scapula comes back a fair bit in motion. He didn’t need a shoulder relief panel so much as he needed a saddle fitted to sit on the right spot in his back. Which is further back than one might think. For me, once I saw how the saddle should be placed I couldn’t “un see” how many saddles are placed too far forwards. YMMV.

I too wonder if the OP is placing saddles too far forward.

I have a horse who is super sensitive to saddle placement. The vet said he’s got a nerve behind his shoulder that is close to the surface and it gets pinched between saddle and scapula if the saddle is too far forward. Vet recommended a crupper. For a long time I had to use all the things to keep his saddle back off his shoulders. It didn’t help that if he was worried about the saddle he’d hunch his back and push the saddle forward.

All the things being crupper, non slip pad, point billet, crossed billets, offset girth, and girthing loose. The point billet goes straight down into the rear buckle on the offset girth, and the back billet crosses over into the front girth buckle. I don’t need the non slip pad any more, and could probably ditch the crupper (but why bother if it might be needed - it’s not in the way).

Regular saddle flocking adjustments are critical for him too. If the saddle fits it won’t slide forward with a loose girth.

[lenapesadie]

I don’t have to use quite all the things, but I do have the point billet that falls from the bottom of the front panel (back billet is on a swing) and an offset girth. My horse seems to prefer sheepskin backed pads. I’ve been using a Total Saddle fit girth but recently ordered a Mattes one to try.

When I was saddle shopping, I tried a Lovatt and Rickets saddle that was very nice (and a great deal) but it wanted to creep up my horses shoulder regardless of how I did up the girth. The fitter felt it wasn’t quite wide enough.