If you were showing your younger horse(s) in some hunter division next (and future) seasons, what saddle(s) would you consider trying? I don’t want to go all out with custom if necessary yet until they are finished growing, but I also don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb or cause pain. Shows will be both rated and unrated/schooling. Budget somewhat flexible, but prefer to stay under $3,000 since this will likely be a temporary saddle. Thanks in advance!
The judge can not see what brand of saddle you are showing in so any saddle that properly fits the horse (and is discipline appropriate, clearly a western saddle does not count here) will do.
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I have an old passier that fulfills this function. But I agree with trubandloki, the saddle that fits is best, and double best is a sale that fits and doesn’t break the bank. Save up for the proper saddle.
Edited for spelling
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Maybe I should have re-phrased my question to be more like what brands of saddles have you found to be more fitting than others. For example, when I rode dressage I had an older county that fit so many horses. I used it on younger horses a lot. Years ago when I rode jumpers I had a similar crosby. Maybe it is just going to be trial and error trying to find one. 
No magic.
I’ve found passier saddles for a lot of horses, and they are saddles I like. The older models are less built up, which could be a problem on a green bean!
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The are some great used saddle sellers that can give you suggestions on your horses body type if you send them pictures. dfwtackexchange.com and high line tack
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There’s no saddle that fits every horse. You need to measure your horses take tracings and start shopping. I would suggest wool flocked at this stage not foam as that can be tweaked to perfect fit if the tree is a good basic fit.
Stubben, Passier, Black Country, and County all make quality jump saddles with wool flocking. Find one that fits in your price range second hand. Or third or fourth hand.
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Childeric M models seem to fit a lot
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Find the saddle(s) that fit your horse now and, ideally, should still fit in the next year or 2 with muscle development. Meaning, size up 1-2 tree widths and use shims or an extra, or thicker, pad, and reduce that as muscles develop
That’s your starting point. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a new Dover Circuit, or a well-used Prestige. It should not be a cheap new saddle though.
Buying used and in excellent condition means you are likely to get most if not all your money back if you need to sell in a couple years.
If you can show a picture of the horse from the side, and one from behind looking down the spine, someone may have some good suggestions of good models (or an entire brand) to start looking at.
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There are lots of brands that aren’t too flat, or too curvy, that fit more horses than not. That said, a lot of them fit well enough, but don’t FIT, and end up causing weird little problems. It’s fine for trainers to have those saddles and use their saddle for training rides on clients’ horses 1-2 times a week, while the client rides in a better fitting saddle. But if you ride in that “fits ok not great” saddle long enough, many horses will start complaining in some way.
That doesn’t help if your horse is flat, or banana-backed, or has high withers, or has mutton withers, or has a short back and needs upswept panels.
And that County would have never fit my WB, or my WB x TB, even though County fits his TB mom like a glove.
A good independent saddle fitter is worth their weight in gold.
It’s tempting to try a saddle with an adjustable tree, and that may work for 1-2 adjustments depending on where you start. But at some point you’re affecting more than just the width at the shoulders, and what fit 2 sizes ago is suddenly an ill-fit. I did that with a Bates, and got 1 good upsize, before the 2nd one just became the wrong shape even though it was technically wide enough.
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I have an Antares with pro panels which tends to fit a lot of horses well. Like you, I bought it for a young horse that was still growing, it fit her and my other hunter well. The fitter has recommended half pads and/or shims as the younger horse has developed, but the saddle is still working for us. I found it used on their website for right at 3K.
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Thank you all! This is helpful and will help me pick a few to try out.
@JB - When you say it should not be a “cheap” saddle, do you mean cheaply made? Is a budget of 3K or so too cheap for this? I am not completely understanding. For me most important is that it fits the horse and won’t cause any additional issues or behaviors. Second is that it fits me, and three is look.
@QHEventer - Antares is one that is on my list to check out. Thanks!
After re-reading my post I realized it might have sounded like I was trying to find the same saddle to fit multiple horses. This is not the case. If a saddle happens to fit both that would be great, but most definitely not expecting that. Both horses are WB, one is built more modern and likely will take a medium type tree, but possibly a little bigger. The other is a giant/wide and I won’t even attempt fitting him for quite a while.
Last question - Where does one find an independent saddle fitter? All of the fitters here are also reps for different brands. I have yet to find a truly independent saddle fitter, and I know many people who have tried to find one.
Ikonic are lower budget and apparently very adjustable might be a good option to look at for the baby years?
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100%. I’ll throw another brand in to add to the list. I bought a Fairfax Classic jump for my 6yo. It’s wool flocked and has an adjustable gullet. Lots of ways to tweak the fit as the horse grows and changes, so hopefully it can stick with a young horse for a while even as his body changes.
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Yes, sorry! I do mean cheaply made, which comes with a cheap $ (but some pretty cheaply made saddles also come with a fairly cheap $) I mean, a new saddle for $1000 isn’t quality. $3k is fine, and can also get you higher quality used
As long as it’s a CC saddle, and a remotely known brand, it will look good enough for what you’re after
I think I understood what you were asking, which was “is there any particular saddle that fits a wide range of horse conformations well enough, that I could start looking there”. The answer is yes (as per above posts), but that just doesn’t mean any of those will fit either of your horses well enough. But yes, they area starting points.
If they are shaped the same, it is possible that the one that fits the bigger horse can fit the smaller horse with appropriate padding. 2 sizes bigger is about as much as you’re want to go for any regular riding, otherwise you’ll have too much padding and will make it unstable.
But if one is very broad in the back, table-topped, and the other is a more A-frame shape, the same saddle won’t fit both of them. If one is wider in the shoulders and the other wider through the ribs, the same won’t work. That’s why it could be useful to post those 2 pictures of them, to see how similar they are.
It’s not always easy. Are you on FB? Are there any local-ish horse groups? What about counties or areas in neighboring states? Many fitters travel around several states. There are some here in NC who also serve VA and SC, even NE Ga, and depending on exactly where they are, into eastern TN.
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I’m thinking in Canadian dollars. All the quality big-name semi custom saddles are about $5000 going on up new. But you can buy them used in good shape for for $2000 to $2500, less if they are older.
There is another teir of off the rack saddles that are in the $1000 to $3000 range new that honestly I have come to the conclusion I don’t need to even consider.
Then there are some brands like Zaldi that are cheaper I think it’s a Spanish or Portuguese brand. And they seem to be legit saddles, semi custom. I have no experience with them. I feel like they are about $3000 CAN?
Prices are always significantly lower in $US so I dont know what a new County or Passier or Stubben works out to in the US.
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County saddles retail for about $5k US. They can be had used for somewhere in the $2,500 range.
My Fairfax retailed for $2,700 US, roughly $3,300 CAN.
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