Fitting a western saddle to my high withered, narrow horse...DESPERATE!?
I have a (they say...) quarter horse who, in some ways, looks a little more TB to some. At any rate, since I have been trying to fit him with a western saddle (or any type, for that matter... I have an aussie and hunt seat as well) I have discovered that his high withers and narrow shoulders are a BIG problem! I bought him from the trail ride stable I work for in the summers (hence the need for a western saddle more than the others) and you can still see the scars left on his shoulders and withers from ill-fitting saddles. Anyone with specific advice on fitting my boy, please speak up! Ive read just about everything available on the net for saddle fitting, but there seems to be much more in English than Western. I took a cut-out of him to the local tack shop, but the only saddle they could find to fit was a flex-tree Circle Y (with a 6 1/4 gullet, medium tree)... but im not THAT rich! Bought a roping saddle with a 6" gullet, but the flare (?) of the tree is still too wide and the whole thing sits too low! If I use risers to bring it up, wont that throw my weight backwards? He has had lots of problems with sore "lower" back, so that scares me. Can anyone help?!? Lol.
Rosi M2008-12-04T15:42:48Z
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I've owned horses with camel withers before. I grew up on a rental stable and learned early on how to fit a horse to a saddle and make sure that they didn't sore up.
Most of my horses have been TBs or running QH types, so I'm well aware of the problems with fitting them.
You need to look at "semi" quarter horse trees, these typically will give you the clearance you need for the withers along with finding a pad that is built up along the sides but nothing down the channel (Where it would sit on the backbone) but material.
http://www.toklat.com/dyn_prodlist.php?k=87236
I've been using cool back pads since 1974 and have yet to have one sore up any horse.
For a Western saddle, the quicker answer would be a saddle with semi-Quarter-Horse bars and a high gullet. However, I've had success fitting horses shaped like yours using either a Western Arabian saddle, or an old high-backed saddle built on a slick-fork tree (make sure its in reasonable riding condition). Some of the very old saddles that have little to no swell, will have a high gullet and will fit a really narrow horse.
I would try a cutback saddlepad (that has a hole cut out for the withers) first. If that isn't enough, I would try a built-up pad, the type that is thicker on the front half than on the back half; also with the withers cut out. (Sometimes referred to as a barrel pad). If neither of those pads works, I would spend a little more money on my pad and get one that can be filled with air to adjust it to the individual horse's back.
I would also use a breastcollar on this horse to help the saddle stay in place better.
Although they are very hard to find, and I think they only put them on English saddles, and adjustable gullet system would be my suggestion. My friend had a super small arab with the same problem, and that's what she used. If you really want western, witch sounds like what you need, I think the very best you could do would be either a flex-tree (pricey) or have a saddle custom made (also pricey, and it probably won't fit you.). Because both of those are of the very expensive end, you could always resort to getting a close fit and trying to get some miracle saddle pads..but this is still not a great deal. I think your best bet would be something I think is called a "soft saddle"(I know, I have a lot of different ideas!) you couldn't show in it, and it might be impractical if you are doing long, rough trails, but still, it would most definitely fit him! http://www.loristack.com/softsaddle.htm http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/206203/i_love_my_cashel_soft_saddle_and_my.html http://lorienstable.com/articles/z-fitting/cashelsoftsaddle/cashel_ss2.jpg
I have a solution I HOPE will work for you! I had the same problem with my Appy. He has extremely high withers. I rode him 3 times when I first got him 2 months ago and he was fine. I then tried to saddle him up one day, and he kept kicking his stomach, throwing his head back, and trying to run away from me. I thought he was being moody so I just let him go and tried the next day. This went on for about almost a month. I just thought he was lazy (he'd been pasture sitting for 2 years) so I basically started hitting the crap out of him to get him to stop. The farrier came by and we told him what was going on, and he suggested a cut-out saddle pad. It has a hole in the top where you place it over the withers. It raised my saddle by about 4 inches! My horse is perfect now (still lazy!) but his back doesn't hurt anymore. He also tried to buck me 5 times within 2 minutes because his back hurt (before I bought this pad) It was only $60! Some can get into the $120 range, but thats for like, really good foam stuff. I got the fleece one. Here is a link, I hope it works. If it doesn't, then just type in cut-out saddle pad on the internet and you can order one. Trust me, IT WORKS! (you can also turn the pad to where the hole sits behind the saddle, for lower back problems!)