What is the relationship between tree size and the width of the saddle gullet or channel? Does a wide tree size equal a wide gullet or is it more related to the make and model of the saddle?
That’s a great question that more saddle-shoppers should ask!
The tree is measured between the tips of its points, and it’s measured before the saddle is built onto the tree. It’s a very difficult (well, really impossible) measurement to take accurately once the saddle is finished, because by that time there’s a lot of leather involved.
The gullet is another matter entirely, which is why you can find saddles with a lovely “I can fit a wide, wide horse” big width between the points - but a narrow gullet that doesn’t really let the tree sit on the big muscles on either side of the horse’s spine. A horse with nice big muscles and a too-narrow saddle gullet can be miserable and end up dropping his back trying to avoid the pressure along the tree, even when the tree width between the points is just fine.
One of my students had a Wintec with the “changeable gullet” which of course isn’t the gullet at all, it’s just the width (and angle) between the points that’s being changed. We figured out, after some initial (too-soon) rejoicing, that although changing the front plate gizmo WAS useful at certain times of year, whenever her horse got properly muscled-up, the gullet was too narrow for him, especially the area under the rider’s seat and towards the cantle. She ended up with a super-duper-extra-wide Thorowgood (can’t remember the actual model name, but this was years ago so I expect they have newer ones now anyway) and it really DID have a wide gullet. Happy horse, happy rider. The lesson we learned: If you’ve found a saddle with an idea front arch and the perfect distance between the points, but your horse is still unhappy, check that gullet width ALL the way down the horse’s spine.
Old-lady grumble du jour: If Wintec and others would stop referring to the “gullet” when they actually mean the “front arch”, it would be easier on everyone: riders and instructors and of course horses too, since there would be fewer failures of communication.
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Thank you - that was very clear. Unfortunately I’m one of those who only thought about tree size and now find I’ve hurt my horses’s back with too narrow a gullet 
Which leads me to another question: can the gullet be widened and if so can it be done leaving the angle of the tree points as they are?
Yes, I believe the gullet can be widened…I don’t see how that would change the angle of the tree points as long as the flocking is correct
OMG where have you been all my life! My Wintec 500 is not fitting Fella anymore. He was developing bad behavior at the mounting block and I was going through the process of re-training stand at the block for a while before I noticed that my whole saddle rolled when I stepped into the stirrup. No wonder the behavior! This saddle fit perfectly this past Summer -perfect sweat patterns with a nice clear channel along the back. His body is changing, he’s got his winter coat, and now it is no longer fitting him. What Pasde2 describes is so easy to visualize. It only complements what I’ve been learning on another board from a poster whom I know in RL -even when the Wintec fit, you could see from the sweat patterns that the gullet was not even 2 inches wide!
My friend has convinced me to have the Duett fitter out. I will as soon as I can afford it. They have a wide gullet, U shaped tree saddle style that apparently fits the wider backs better. In the meantime I’ll try my equitation trainer’s dressage saddle -though I have little hope it will fit better. There’s going to be alot of bareback riding in the interim I think.
I’m a bit irritated with myself that it took me this long to sort this out, but I’m new to the game.
Paula
No relation whatsoever.
Yes, a good saddler can widen a gullet easily and it doesn’t change any other part of the saddle.
Have done it several times.
The other extreme is a gullet that is too wide so that the panels hang off the horse’s sides and the rider ends up sitting on a tabletop. I think that the whole saddle thing had become extreme. Huge gusseted panels, super wide gullets, deep seats and huge thigh/knee blocks. Where’d the horse go?
The width between the points and the gullet spacing are two quite different things.
To figure out what gullet spacing is right for a particular horse, you have to feel along the spine for the spinous processes (the bones) and how the muscle – longissimus dorsai – comes up beside the bones. The saddle needs to sit on the muscles, not the bones (duh). And this varies a lot from horse to horse.
I ride Morgans, and they tend to have very broad bones and therefore need really wide gullets, like five inches wide all the way back, in order for the saddle panels to rest on the muscles rather than the bones. Other horses with different skeletons may need something different – it’s possible to have a gullet that is too wide. Unfortunately, all saddles need to be fitted to the individual horse, and it’s not that easy to pick one off the rack that will fit Horse A or Horse B. Let alone Horse A AND Horse B. It’s kinda like shoes – you need to buy shoes that fit you. Not your sister, your mother, your best friend, YOU.
If you have a saddle that works for your horse at the front-- the points – and is the right length (no weight-bearing portion of the saddle past the drip line), the gullet may be changeable if the flocking is all wool and your saddler is skilled. Panels can even be re-made at a fraction of the cost of a new saddle which is a Good Thing.
So I have been having trouble with fitting my horse’s saddle. I previously had a southern star saddle but it was sitting on his withers. I am currently borrowing a Wintec 500 and that fits him quite well but I am looking at getting a jump saddle of my own. I need a saddle with the wide channel. He is a thoroughbred so has a reasonably high wither too. I am looking at getting a saddle with the easy change gullet system, does changing the gullet change the width of the saddle?
