suggestions for dressage saddle for wide, mutton-withered hony

[gully_s_pilot]

Gully needs a new dressage saddle. He’s 15 h tall, 15 h wide–seriously wide, no withers to speak of. I’m riding him now in a Wintec Isabell on “very wide” setting, 17 or 17.5 inches, and I’d just like to upgrade to a better saddle. I recently upgraded our jump saddle to a Black Country, which I love. The saddle fitter/Black Country dealer didn’t seem to think a Black Country dressage saddle would work well for us, however. Oddly, the BC jump saddle is marked Medium Wide, and clearly fits well.

I tried a Passier Grand Gilbert medium wide, and it was way too narrow.

I don’t know much about dressage saddles, clearly. Help?

[justdream2ride]

These are supposed to be very nice saddles for the wide ones…

http://www.duettsaddles.com/

[HCF]

I have a horse like this - really, really wide with no wither. Trumbull Mtn recommended a Duett (didn’t fit me) or a Lovatt and Ricketts Ellipse. I ended up with the Ellipse in an XW tree and its great. Its one of those hoop tree types and fits both of us well.

[pharmgirl]

Which BC jump saddle do you have? That may help figure out what shape tree works on him.

I have an extremely hard to fit guy, and it turns out that the BC Quantum tree shape DID.NOT.WORK for him, but the Ricochet did. Also, the BC Eloquence dressage saddle fits him like a glove, but there are lots that don’t.

[gully_s_pilot]

It’s a Wexford. Anybody know how that translates to their dressage saddles?

[JER]

I use Wintecs on my horses that require a wide gullet. I find Wintecs to be the most comfortable saddles for myself so I see no point in ‘upgrading.’

Black Country saddles are too built-up in the back for mine. I found some of the Bates saddles to be this way, too, but not the Wintecs.

I found success with another UK brand, G. Fieldhouse. The saddles have a wide gullet, flat panels and sit well back from the shoulder.

[scubed]

Also look here www.classicsaddlery.com. Lynda has some recs for the very wide guys

[Napoles]

I have a horse like this (after many years of lots of medium fit horses) and the only one of my dressage saddles that fits him at the moment is my Ainsley saddle. It is adjustable - you use the special little key to widen or tighten it.
I have a fab Roosli that we picked up for peanuts in a tack shop here in Ireland and I literally knew nothing about them, but they seem to be more prevalent on the continent and the US. It’s a fab saddle.
I also have an old Berney Bros saddle that usually fits everything, but I’ve brought said horse back into work after his winter break and it feels tight on him, so I went with the Ainsley.
Luckily the Berney and the Roosli work on the rest of them!

[purplnurpl]

I’m in the process of fitting my new coming horse with a Duett.

Nancy is great and has lots to choose from.

My little horse is 15.1h and needs a 40cm tree. : )
She’s shaped like a bulldog.

[Little_Valkyrie]

Is the BC medium wide on a hoop tree? I know that the hoop tree can open it up significantly for those with a mutton-wither build. If so, its going to be hard to find another saddle that mimics its shape. My mare is an XW hoop tree (seriously, seriously wide) and I have an Albion Legend 500 dressage saddle in an XW, and I had the tree stretched.

[pharmgirl]

Yes, the Freedom tree that BC has may suit your guy better (it definitely did mine). I believe the Ricochet uses the Wexford tree, so given my N=1 observation with my boy, the Eloquence would be a good dressage saddle to try (def. look for one with the Freedom Tree if you can).

[gully_s_pilot]

OK, thanks, that’s good to know! I’ve found a used Eloquence X on ebay; I’ll hope it doesn’t sell, because if it doesn’t I’ll get to try it at Southern Pines horse trial in a few weeks.

[DawnJL]

http://www.trumbullmtn.com/saddle-fitting/the-wide-horse-challenge/

I have a BCS Eloquence X dressage saddle for my wide bodied horses. My jumping saddle is a Quantum X. A hoop tree was key to fitting a saddle for my horses.

[Sudi_s_Girl]

My rolly polly Arab, Sudi, goes nicely in the Duett Encore. However, as we’re progressing, I’m thinking it needs to be reflocked as the fit is changing slightly. Really pleased with the quality of the saddle though!

Anyway - I really like the Duett’s, and their prices are great!

My Trainer goes in a Custom Saddlery saddle - unforutnately I can’t remember the model, but I’m not sure that specific one is even made any more. However, I really liked it because it also has the cut back shoulder which is definitely needed for Sudi.

[Perfect_Pony]

I have been riding a REALLY wide QH mare who has no withers at all and is the most sensitive mare about her saddle (tried to ride her in my jump saddle one day and nearly bucked me off). She has a Albion Platinum Genesis with the adjustable tree and goes beautifully in it. Wide horses seem to like this newer Albion, and the bonus is it is adjustable (with a saddle fitters help, not DIY like a wintec)

[JWB]

I had a little Arabian like this. Everything rolled around on her. I finally settled on a 32 cm. Courbette Luxor (used). Loved the saddle but it does not fit my new horse well. It was very secure on my super wide girl. I just sent it out on trial but who knows… If it comes back, I may be sending you a PM.

[artisticgold]

L & R

I’ll second the Lovatt and Ricketts Ellipse, it’s built on a hoop or upside down U shaped tree. Sits down around their wide withers, and allows for good shoulder clearance. I imported one from England for my 5 year old, it fit her like a glove. Unfortunately I lost her in January. Then my older mare came back to me, so I traded it in at a local tack shop and got a Wintec Isabell, the new one, for my Dutch/TB mare, but the jury is still out on that one. If you’d like to know where the saddle is, just ask, I think you could get it cheap…

[KateWooten]

I’m really loving the Duetts on these types. Nancy is lovely to work with too. The one absolute ‘wow - perfect fit’ saddlefitting moments I’ve had recently was with one her new dressage saddles on a super-wide, super-short paso-fino pony with no wither whatsoever, and that saddle just fit him perfectly and was really stable. The quality if the saddle was impressive too - and I wish I could remember which model it was - but definitely did not look or feel like a $1500 saddle.

[Watermark_Farm]

I’ve got a Duett ‘Fidelio’ dressage saddle on its way to me. Nancy at Duett is very helpful. I have a barrel-backed Dutch X who is tough to fit. The Black Country fitter actually suggested Duett for me. Nancy said my tracing puts him at a 38 cm tree.