What do you all think of my mare under saddle?

Sorry but you need a new saddle. She has high withers I can see from a mile off and that saddle is going to make her miserable. A cheaper route is a quality made synthetic saddle with an adjustable gullet. That way you can get one saddle that lasts you through many horses. Plus they look great (for everyday), the newer models are more comfortable than leather (my opinion and I've had about a dozen English saddles), and are zero maintenance. Wintec and Thorowgood(my favorite and under $500) are top brands.

You would not pad her wither here as that will make the space between the gullet and her wither even smaller. In fact, you rarely pad the wither as this cramps up that area. She needs a bump pad or riser to level out the saddle because of her prominent shoulder. You need two to three finger widths (stack your index finger and middle finger on top of one another) space between the gullet of the saddle and her wither or it is too tight. That is rule#1 in fitting the saddle. A too small saddle with make her lame, make her buck or just generally miserable and sore. It looks here you have zero space.... Not acceptable at all.

You are better off riding bareback than in this saddle in my humble opinion.

The saddle is about 6-12 inches too far back. Her conformation looks actually pretty good from what I can see. But her hip is poor, she's not fit (fits with her story...poor thing), she' s still underweight (she has a big frame--look at that powerful shoulder) and you can't see the whole horse. Also, there is something up with swelling in her front feet/pasterns. They look stocked up and that's unusual for the front. Also the angle looks off but I can't see through the muck she's standing in.

That's what I see. I also wanted to thank you for taking on a rescue horse. I used to rehab horses myself and it is a labor of love. You learn so much from these horses as you are dealing with all kinds of calamities both physical and mental. I'm sure she appreciates your kindness and attention to doing the very best you can by her to get her great fitting tack.

Tip: tack shops will often let you demo saddles. Bigger shops will even let you bring your horse and line up someone who understands saddle fit to help you if you make an appointment. That way you can try dozens of saddles to see what actually works in a very condensed and helpful format.

P.S. As she fills out in weight and starts to get fit, her back will likely come up some (she's sunken now due to her circumstances likely). This will change her saddle fit pretty dramatically. It's best to have something adjustable and take a look at things critically, with professional help, a couple times a year at least.

Edit_here's a good article for you:

http://www.saddlesthatfit.com/ElementsOfFit.htm

She looks pretty nice. I think that the saddle fits horribly. It looks too wide for her right now. It looks as if it is at least almost hitting her withers if it isn't already. If you pushed it up to where it needs to be it will definitely be hitting the them. You want the edge of the saddle tree to be about two inches back from her shoulder blade. Don't worry so much about the girth, it will fall into place where it needs to be if you have the saddle in the right place. Also different horses have different girth lines. The saddle might fit a little better once she puts on more weight. I wouldn't even ride in that saddle right now, it could hurt her. I would ride bareback for now with a pad.

I wouldn't be worrying about a hay belly right now, she looks like she has earned the right for a little hay belly. If you are going to ride her I would just walk and maybe a small amount of trotting. Let her gain some weight.

I think a hunter green or dark blue would look nice. I don't like the burgundy on a red horse.

The girth is definitely too far back. I can't see the saddle well enough to tell if it looks to be a good fit- there's some good videos on YouTube to check a fit of an English saddle. Definitely get a half pad and/or a rear riser pad because the saddle looks angled way too uphill. In all honesty, I would not ride her yet. At all. If you want to muscle her up, do lunge work and long-lining (ground driving)

I can't say anything about her conformation because to accurately judge conformation, you need a side photo on level ground with the horse standing square.

I don't mean to chase you away from English, but if you don't know how the saddle should look on the horse and you barrel race, wouldn't it be better to ride her western until you know more about English..? Western and English are pretty different if you look close enough.

She's cute in burgundy, but a real bright blue would also be fun on her too :)

The girth is definitely too far back! I think she has lots of potential. I think maybe the saddle looks a little short. The saddle should be further up the withers and the girth behind the legs. Maybe a bigger numnah would look better. a rectangular one maybe white as she has white on her face xx Hope this helps! Lovely horse! well done for rescuing her!

you're basically riding her loin area and that's tough on her lower back.

english saddles sit a little more FORWARD not back.

and that saddle and her...a fit? doesn't look like it either.

she seems to be a trooper to be putting up with that.

personally, she looks sad and not a horse I would be riding yet.

she's also probably got thrush pretty bad or mud fever? if she's staying in that bog of bacteria, poo and mud. not healthy. certainly not for a rescue.

she's too gaunt to be ridden.

you want to exercise her? walk her around, do some simple lunging of sending and stopping (walking)

honestly, she's too in need to gain weight for any real exercise yet.

also, she may have ulcers if she was neglected before food wise. I would recommend getting her checked out if you haven't done so already.

Saddle looks about right but it's impossible to tell from an angle and without looking it over in person. Girth is possibly too far back and looks pretty tight to me but could just be weight.

As for conformation,it would be unfair to judge because of her condition, the tack and the camera angle.

Burgundy looks nice on her. Good luck with her :)

I ride english and that girth is way too far back but any mares pretty with a heart

I say great job on taking good care of her (: thank you for being such a great owner! I absolutely hate it when people abuse their animals, especially horses! I think this color looks ok on her, but she might look better in blue. That is, a light blue.

horse not enough muscle tone in the bum and neck!