Western saddle for TB-type back?

[Ibex]

I’m looking for something more comfortable/secure to trail ride my mare in, as well as play around with some mountain trail type stuff.

Mare is high whithered with an A-shaped back; hollows behind the shoulders. We tried a Billy Cook FQHB that a friend used to use on her Trakhener, but it was too wide and too long.

The round skirted regular tree Circle Y trail saddles “look” right, but it’s hard to tell without seeing them, and there aren’t any big saddle dealers around here. It’s also been suggested that a “gaited” saddle might work because they have better whither and shoulder clearance. For those who know English tack, my mare goes best in a Prestige Italia tree for both her jumping and dressage saddles.

Any recommendations for a saddle? I’d like to limit the amount of shipping back and forth trying out saddles that I have to do.

Strong preference for a better quality used saddle, budget is $1200 with some flexibility. I’m fine with a quality synthetic is such a thing exists!

[beau159]

Ultimately, you HAVE to try the saddle on your horse’s back to know if it’s going to fit or not. I easily went through over 10 saddles with each of my horses, until finding them ones that fit just right.

Personally, I think fitting Western saddles are a lot harder than English because you can’t make any modifications to the tree (like you sometimes can in English) and there is absolutely no standard.

Just because the FQHB billy cook didn’t work, doesn’t mean that you horse doesn’t need FQHB. Which is the frustrating part.

Can you post pictures of your horse’s back?

[Ibex]

Thanks! Pics attached - these are a couple of years old and she’s in much better weight now (and is minus the terrible clip job), but you get the idea about general conformation. She’s quite finicky about her withers/shoulders, so clearance there is essential. The good news is shimming/corrective pads have been very effective for tweaking saddle fit in the past, so as long as the basic shape works we can adjust it no problem.

I know we’ll have to try it on ultimately, but trying to narrow down the list to start so I’m not shipping in all sorts of random saddles that don’t have a prayer of fitting

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[beau159]

You said the Billy Cook FQHB was too wide. Do you mean the bar angle was too wide, or was it sitting downhill (too wide of gullet)?

I have worked with HorseSaddleShop in the past and their shipping is reasonable, and they have excellent customer service.

[Training_Cupid]

For a tb I’d start with semi QH bars. About to start the search myself so post back if you’ve found something! I’m leaning towards synthetic for lighter weight, I’ll only be using it for occasional trail rides.

[Showbizz]

I’m looking too. Have a client with an older TB, so lacks muscle and fill over topline, dips behind shoulders, then flares out. So need narrow gullet with adequate flare bar. Struggling. We’ve tried about a dozen saddles on this guy of various makes and models, and when we get the flare right, the gullet is too wide. Wondered if anyone had a specific make of saddle that has worked for this conformation?

Brands we’ve tried so far are Bob’s, Circle Y, Crates, Wintec, Herford, Chavez, Champion Turf, and probably a few others. We’ve tried different gullets in a few brands. No luck yet.

[1MoreHorse]

I’m currently retraining an OTTB that’s on the refined side and my Billy Cook reining saddle with semi QH bars fits him nicely.

[Ibex]

@Showbizz

I’m looking too. Have a client with an older TB, so lacks muscle and fill over topline, dips behind shoulders, then flares out. So need narrow gullet with adequate flare bar. Struggling. We’ve tried about a dozen saddles on this guy of various makes and models, and when we get the flare right, the gullet is too wide. Wondered if anyone had a specific make of saddle that has worked for this conformation?

Brands we’ve tried so far are Bob’s, Circle Y, Crates, Wintec, Herford, Chavez, Champion Turf, and probably a few others. We’ve tried different gullets in a few brands. No luck yet.

This is why I was asking about the “Gaited” trees - it sounds like they have a decent flare, and are maybe more appropriate to the “A” shaped horse.

[GallopingGrape]

I would look at gaited trees for this particular horse. Contact saddle shops that allow trials and can help you with fitting