Unable to find saddle that fits.. idk what to do anymore

[beowulf]

Very few horses need custom saddles, but most horses need a saddle that fits them. Who are you working with?

It’s hard to tell from your photos but just at a glance it looks like a fairly normal back and shoulder for a sport horse - long and tall wither, wide shoulder, a little short in the back in terms of where the saddle can sit,there is nothing that screams “I need custom dimensions”. Kind of looks like an average TB back to my eye.

I went through the ringer with something similar years ago when my favorite saddle fitter moved out of my area. I tried so many saddles from local reps and fitters, including a custom Stubben. I wasted a ton of money and time, and unfortunately for one of my horses, he required a fair bit of veterinary intervention after being too kind/generous to tell me his saddle was really messing up his back.

I finally emailed my former fitter (the one I mentioned above that moved) and begged for a remote consult. I regret not going this route in the first place – I know, “remote consult” seems so counterintuive when it’s beyond valuable to see the horse in PERSON – but when you are surrounded by crappy fitters (as most of us are), sometimes it’s your best option. I sent her wither tracings done by multiple reps. I’ve used her remote consult option twice now, and I know she knows what she is doing because I have two horses who have long time saddles selected by her - one has one that is ~8 years old, and the other is going on his fourth year with his. I’m using her right now for my filly - we’re in the process of trying a few different ones. Give her an email or a call if you’re in the states:

Patty Merli
(843) 810-2485

PattyMerLiSaddles.com is for sale | HugeDomains

[winry10203]

Here’s a photo of his back if that helps. Everything I have tried has sat cantle low on him. Some fitters swapped out for wider saddles to balance but I don’t agree with doing that because then he doesn’t have sufficient wither clearance. it’s been a very difficult several months trying to find something that works.
@beowulf

[beowulf]

I bet that the sitting low in front is related to the tree shape and points not being able to accommodate the large wither pockets just after his long, sloped wither. This is a common point of frustration with fitting TBs, who tend to have huge shoulders and withers but then large hollows just behind the shoulder. K panels / trapezius panels might help. While some people think that the large pockets and sloping wither means the horse needs a narrower tree, I’ve found it’s the opposite - and sometimes that big hollow is because of poorly fitting saddles and their tree points causing atrophy in that area.

He doesn’t look too different in back conformation from one of the TBs at our farm. I’ll snap a photo of his conformation later today so you can compare - as long as you forgive how muddy and fluffy he is. He’s out of work because I don’t have time to ride all of them.

He’s in a Black Country Vinici, medium tree and serge panels. I’ll see if I can find more info about the saddle; Patty was the one that suggested it and it’s been with him for 8 years.

[winry10203]

I’ve tried Albion and ideal, but they didn’t fit very good… I can post pics if you’d like to see.

[vxf111]

This horse’s back looks like it needs trap/K panels and flocking to fit. Is there a fitter who can flock in your area? I bet if you find a used Black Country or County or Albion or other British type saddle that offers that panel in the right tree size, you’ll have something you can work with.

[IPEsq]

The rails on some of the Amerigo models are meant for an upward sloping topline after the balance point at the base of the withers. So they don’t really need to have extra stuffed panels. The front of the tree has support and then the shape of the rails will more closely match the back and so then you shouldn’t need to build up the panel extra. But you can get one with more panel fill if you need it. It’s just not going to be a rear gusset. With these other too wide / wrong head iron shape saddles you are having to do more to lift off the withers. But then the saddle no longer fits the shoulder and (especially if placed at all too far forward), you make the saddle tip down in back. Several of these trees are also going to be a bit straighter in the rails. And so when you add a rear shim then you have a not great fit in front still plus bridging most likely.

Meyer might also be an interesting brand for this horse. Or Erreplus.

[fordtraktor]

IMO your horse has a bit of a swayback/extra prominent wither and those are very hard to fit. I don’t hate the concept of a shimmed half pad in this situation to raise the cantle. The hard part is to do that and also not pinch the withers.

An off the shelf saddle would need to be a used custom saddle for a horse with the same topline. I think that is going to be hard. No one builds new saddles for this topline. BTDT, horse was happiest in a saddle that fit the withers and topline when leveled well and I shimmed the back. Could be a lot of different options but for me a TC2 with a shimmed Mattes worked great.

[Bogie]

Based on those photos, I suggest putting the Stubben a bit farther back and seeing how it rides. For hard-to-fit horses I’ve also had good luck using a Len Brown CorrecTor pad (you can generally pick them up used) or a Colin Dangaard Equalizer pad (pricey, but he makes them to fit your saddle and they are amazing).

[winry10203]

Went over to the barn after work and added rear shims… it’s looking way better balanced, and I still have good wither clearance when sitting in the saddle

[Bonnie2]

What size is the stubben? Is a narrower saddle not an option for some reason?

[fivestrideline]

Narrower would tilt the saddle back even more so I’m not sure that would be a good option…

[awaywego]

I also have an Equipe EKGO with a +1 panel. It fits a horse shaped similarly pretty well - tall wither with a low back. Equipe says the EKGO is for a horse with more “shape” to its back. I had previously thought rear shims would basically always be a necessity because of his conformation, but it is possible to get a saddle that works without them.

[winry10203]

The rep came out and told me he’s a 28cm, I think 27 would be too narrow for him.

[Ponyplusaninch]

I’m going to plus one the Amerigo with the long iron head. Did wonders for my guy who has similar prominent withers. So many saddles just hit him in the withers even if the tree size was correct (we started very similarly to you with a CWD. The range of tree shapes they have is impressive–we tried several on my guy before letting him tell us which one he preferred (which wasn’t necessarily the one the fitter thought was going to be best fit for him).

[Chestnut24]

How did the horse go in this saddle? I am not a fitter but have been looking at a lot of saddles in the recent past, and would be pretty happy with this.

[millerra]

I have a TB w/ a similar side profile. A county innovation fits him. It is a “curvier tree”, I think, then the county solution. There is a facebook group that is a buy/sell group for counties. I got two used counties there, each for under 3K - in very good shape.

not a saddle fitter either

[winry10203]

Which model of Amerigo do you think could work?

[winry10203]

@awaywego

Equipe EKGO with

Which Amerigo model do you think would work best for his shape?

[Bristol_Bay]

https://www.amerigo-saddles.com/disciplines/jumping/?_collezioni=amerigo

If you click on each saddle, there’s a picture of a horse that tree would fit.

[IPEsq]

Maybe the CC?