I am shopping for a new saddle- my horse requires a very wide gullet as he often gets back sore along his spine. Which makes/models should I check out?
I think that albion and county have the widest channels.
Kent and Masters are pretty wide. My horse has scar tissue on the sides of his table top withers which are about 6 or so cm wide and that’s the widest I could find.
The short answer: Schleese.
The longer answer: It’s hard to say without knowing what you consider “very wide.” Most high-end brands have permissive center gullet channels these days that are suitable for a pretty wide range of horses. Even brands that have traditionally used thinner gullets have gotten with the program; for example, the newer Stubben Maestoso dressage saddles have a surprisingly wide gullet channel down the center. And many of the British brands, like County, are building wide gullet channels too.
But there’s only a few brands that specialize in uber-wide, drive-a-Tonka-truck-down-the-center-of-your-saddle gullet channels. Schleese is one of them.
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Kent and Masters are pretty wide. My horse has scar tissue on the sides of his table top withers which are about 6 or so cm wide and that’s the widest I could find.[/QUOTE]
The same company makes Thorowgood saddles if you’re not opposed to a saddle that is partially or entirely synthetic. There’s daylight down the channel of my T8 (leather seat and knee pads) and my sensitive-backed mare loves it.
Your horse may need a hoop tree, and if that is the case, you may want to look at saddles made by Lovatt & Ricketts or Black Country.
Balance International.
Chiming in for Bliss of London and Loxley by Bliss. They have nice wide gullets and hoop trees are certainly an option! They are wool flocked and ride beautifully.
Many of the modern saddles have wider gullet channels and you can also have some ordered with more space between depending on what saddle fits for both of you. Additionally, some saddles will then sit right down on the spine with a very wide gullet channel, even in the back if the depth of the panel isn’t right.
Schleese and Albion are the two that come to mind, however jay makes a very good point above, that a saddle that is wide but ill-fitted might sit down on the spine.
I am hoping that the thorowgood I am planning to order will be just right (with the appropriate gullet plate of course).
Just to clarify I am looking for a wide channel between the panels, not a hoop tree or xwide tree itself- something along the lines of the schleese design.
As I recall, the Passier Relevant has a very wide channel.
I have an XW Passier and County for my 4 footed sofas. They are not real easy to find but found them haunting eBay for long enough. I tried adjustable gullets but found when you get to XW it isn’t wide evenly throughout the whole tree, was wider in front/ not in the back and didn’t work out well.
My horse requires a saddle with a really wide channel. After trying multiple brands through the years trying to find something that didn’t make him back sore (including some represented as having a “wide channel”), I got him a Schleese a few years ago. It has made a world of difference for him.
It was funny getting used to carrying it. I usually put my forearm in the channel to carry a saddle, but the Schleese channel is so wide, I have to be very careful about the balance, or it will slip right off my arm.
If you like the Schleese design then you may also like Regal Saddles, DK Saddles and Hennig saddles.
Cheaper construction, but both Thornhill and Duett have wide spine channels in all their models. I think Duetts start at 32 cm gullet width, but i could be wrong. I know for sure that Thornhills come in narrower sizes. Both makes have 4+ fingers of channel width, for most models.
The new Pessoas/PDS are generous, too.
