I have a very very wide horse. I tell everyone you could set up dinner, including all the serving dishes, for two on his back! It is also very short, maybe as short as wide actually… Recently I tried a Thorowgood Cob T4 Dressage 17" saddle with the XXW S Plate in it. I have tried the Wintec 4XW bars as well and they are comparable in wideness, but I like the bit of outward flare the Thorowgood has to theirs. I love love loved this saddle! It was amazing for me in for and security, sadly not for my horse… He needs at least two more sizes up. Does anyone have a recommendation of a saddle like the Thorowgood T4 (I love the synthetic seat) but that is wider. It doesn’t have to have changeable plates. My guy is my one and only. I have several Treeless saddles that work well for us, and I’ve done custom. What I would really like is one that fit me like the Thorowgood, oh and the price point of those is nice…I’m tired of spending several thousand on a saddle…lol. I’m just dabbling in English so nothing fancy for sure…but there has to be a saddle brand I’m missing out there… You guys must know of something 
Don’t know how comparable it is to the Thorowgood, but maybe something to check out - Duett saddles. They are in the market specially for the super wide ones out there. A friend has an xx(xxx)w pony who is, affectionately put, a bit of a table with a leg at each corner. No conventional saddle options ever worked (interchangable trees, reflocking the wider saddles they could find to customise fit, etc). It was the Duett that’s worked for them for the last five or so years. I have no first hand experience with the brand, but I’ve sat in the saddle a time or two and it rode well enough (not a good fit for me size wise, so can’t be super detailed on that) and the make seemed good (FWIW, I believe ownership has changed since they bought theirs so it may be a different experience now - I defer to anyone with more recent interaction with them).
No personal experience, but I’ve heard of these from folks who have ponies with similar builds.
Kent and Masters - adjustable gullet - nice price - leather - flat panels. Hastilow carries them as well as several others.
IWantAllThePonies, how long of a panel length do you have to work with? My very wide pony has only about 16" for saddle to fit between his shoulders and last rib. I tried out the Thorowgood T8 from Smartpak’s trial and the 17" was too long and the widest gullet they had (orange) wasn’t nearly wide enough. Really liked the saddle but didn’t get to even ride in it. It also seemed to sit on top of him instead of fit around him.
A boarder at my barn has a Duett that she let me try on my pony. It has a hoop tree but didn’t fit right and seemed to perch on him as well. Maybe I’m just used to my 30 yr. old Barnsby that doesn’t have so much cushioning. The Duett was very nice and not too heavy either.
Some saddles have pony panels and non-gusseted upswept panels in the back that make the surface shorter. I loved the adjustability of the Thorowgood since my pony is just starting regular work and will change shape. It’s a really nice saddle and lightweight but I don’t have the opportunity to try a 16 or 16.5" XXWide on him.
I was under the impression Kent and Masters were similar as Thorowgood, just all leather, same sizing. Is this incorrect?
They are nice Saddles, I’m in the US so fitting for custom is an issue. Plus, not wanting to spend 2k
Just checked and same gullet system on the Kent and Masters as the Thorowgood. As a side note, I contacted Thorowgood and was informed that it is unlikely a horse would need a bigger plate than their xxw… I laughed and laughed and laughed some more as I cuddled my massively wonderful riding buddy 
I had a similar issue and ended up with a wide (really xwide) Cardanel saddle from the UK. It fit my beer keg horse very well. There are a few in this country and the price isn’t all that bad considering what the ‘in vogue’ saddles are going for these days.
A friend has a smiliar horse and has Loxley by Bliss. Very comfy saddle for rider too.
A friend of mine had a Loxley made for her extra extra wide and short backed arab. It was very affordable for a totally custom saddle. She had a couple Duetts but their twist is very wide and she couldn’t do it.
Balance International saddles are excellent quality and they do remote fittings (they’re in England). More expensive than $2000 though.
http://www.balanceinternational.com/
They offer saddles that go to 8x wide.
You might be able to get one used in this country for less than that.
In fact, there’s one (a GPD in brown) on ebay now, and I’ve seen them (used versions) at Pelham saddlery.
The link to the ebay one (I have no connection to this saddle)
One thing to keep in mind with a lot of the saddle specifically build for wide horses is that they tend to be on flat trees, which can be hard on shorter backs, especially if they’re croup high. I’ve been dealing with similar issues with my horse, although she doesn’t sound as wide as yours! My fitter did not recommend the Duett for her because the tree was too flat and would put a lot of pressure on her lower back.
There is a FB group for these types of saddles called “Used Native Pony & Cob Saddles For Sale in the UK”. While they are in the UK, I’ve seen some on there for very cheap so it might be worth taking a look!
I got a Duett Rondo for my table-backed Perch/QH mare and it’s wonderful. Literally her first ride in it was amazing, and it doesn’t slide sideways at all. I bought mine “lightly used” for $850, so they’re not exorbitant, but nice quality.
Try a Duett. They are good quality for the $. Otherwise, Frank Baines goes to 8x wide and you can get them for a good price.
