Does such a thing exist?
Crates has a ladies reiner with a narrow twist as well. Too narrow for me.
You need to be aware that “twist” has different definitions between English and Western saddles. For English saddles it means the shape of the seat. Twist in Western saddles means the change in the the bar angle as it flattens out as it goes towards the back of the tree. If you ask a lot of people who only know western terminology for a “narrow twist” they will be thinking about the fit for the horse. Asking about a narrow seat may get you better answers at a lot of western tack stores. Just a FYI.
Good to know, thanks!
[QUOTE=Aspen1;8741777]
You need to be aware that “twist” has different definitions between English and Western saddles. For English saddles it means the shape of the seat. Twist in Western saddles means the change in the the bar angle as it flattens out as it goes towards the back of the tree. If you ask a lot of people who only know western terminology for a “narrow twist” they will be thinking about the fit for the horse. Asking about a narrow seat may get you better answers at a lot of western tack stores. Just a FYI.[/QUOTE]
Not necessarily, at least in our part of the world.
Then, western riding is not homogenous, but guided by regional characteristics.
Somewhere else, that may be true.
Today enough western riders also know English riding terms.
To achieve the equivalent of a narrow twist in an English saddle on a western shaped seat the saddler will tend to create a narrower rise to the front of the saddle, while generally they don’t hardly put any rise.
That started about the 1960’s, with the old Amy Gamblin cutting saddles, that were made with a narrow twist to the seat, so they fit ladies better.
Decades later, Buster Welch took all the twist out of the Western saddles he promoted and made the seats flat all the way to the front, which fit his type built and many men better.
Today many saddlers will understand a narrow twist to be looking for an effect similar to the one in an English saddle, the seat to flow to the front with a narrow rise.
In any case, it does pay to ask, to be sure the OP gets what she wants, just in case there may be some confusion.
John Fallis Saddles, Wilder Idaho.
Best western saddles I’ve ever sat in.
I have always refereed of the spread of the seat on a western saddle as a twist, and those that I talked to seemed to know what I was talking about.
A couple brands that I like for their seat are Circle Y, Silver Mesa/Custom Saddlery, and the reining tree Big Horns.
Ones that I didn’t like are any of the synthetic brands, Abetta, Weaver, etc, I felt that they all had super wide twists, and the non-reining tree Big Horn and Rocking R saddles.
Well, after watching a clinic yesterday I went to a nearby tack store to see what they have. I’d not been to that tack store before but got the feeling it was just for western folks so I thought they’d have a better selection and (hopefully) more knowledgeable staff than the local consignment store.
I found a saddle and have it home on trial! 
I think it might be a reining saddle? Or just a trail saddle? It doesn’t have a big horn, nor a tall horn. The fork is an A-fork and the seat is a bit padded and built up, but not so much that I feel far away from my horse. It has a rough-out seat and is otherwise a very simple saddle. No tooling, silver, or anything. Plain, just like me! :lol: It was custom built for a woman (name stamped on it) and the saddler is local so I’m going to call him and ask him about it.
I actually have an old wintec gullet measuring guide from a million years ago (thank goodness I’m a pack rat!) and used it to measure the difference in the twist area between my current saddle and this saddle. And this one is definitely narrower through the twist. I did the same with the underside of the saddle to see how they compared and trial saddle is no narrower than my current saddle and actually the gullet is wider, so there’s probably a bit more angle to the bars, but not hugely so.
The leather under my legs felt minimal so it felt really nice and close contact and it isn’t too heavy.
I rode Mac in it last night and he had no complaints, but it was just a short after-dinner ride. I’ll try it again for a short ride tonight and then longer ride Wednesday and Thursday to make my final decision.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions of reining saddles. I’m hoping this works out for my horses, since it felt good to me! Now to consign my other saddle that I love-but-can’t-ride-in because of something stupid I did a year ago . . . If I could turn back tiiiimmmeeee…"
Well, poop. The saddle that I liked and fit me isn’t a great fit for Mac. It is easy to sit in a saddle a couple times and think your horse does okay with it, but when you only have a 3-day trial period it is good to get some unbiased data to help you make your decision.
I made some measurements and tracings of the underside of the tree and then did cardboard cutouts and put them along Mac’s back. The saddle is - of course, because I like the seat so well - too narrow for him. The angles are just too far off to make it any sort of workable. He went along okay for a test spin, but long term this saddle would cause him problems, I’m sure. So back to the drawing board for me.
Can a ground seat be built up by taking the leather seat off and doing . . . I don’t know?
When I did a tracing/cutout of my western saddle to match it up with the angles I took of Mac’s back, of course my current saddle is perfect for him.
Sigh.
Yes, a good custom saddle maker can redo a ground seat and put the original seat back down and change the fit for the rider. It isn’t cheap, and you need a good maker who knows how to make more than one kind of ground seat. But you always have to remember that your legs are going around the horse as well. If you have a big wide horse and a saddle that fits him well, the tree is going to be wider too. Sooner or later you can’t the seat narrow enough for the rider’s hopes and fit the horse as well. Don’t know if this is your case or not. You’d have to take your saddle to a maker and find out.
