[Lucky Duck]

My friend has a very thin, high withered Saddlebred. She has a narrow-tree saddle but it still does not fit well. Are there special pads to compenstate for this?? If so, where would you find them?

[Moostang]

You may want to look into saddle pads for sway back horses which normally work on high withers also. Here are some http://www.horsesaddleshop.com/tufpadswaypa.html

[Blistering Winds]

NARROW saddles will never "FIT" a horse with pads. If the saddle fits fine without a saddle PAD, then go with a blanket only.

There are cutback pads for high withered horses, but they will not help a saddle fit properly that is already too narrow.

[Simon Says]

she really needs to get a saddle that fits correctly, a pad won't help very much if the saddle doesn't fit correctly!

[Cierra]

It's all in the saddle! My horse had an injury to her withers and I thought she'd never be ridable. She's fine, but she has not only the scarring, but high withers. I use a cutback pad. But, I also had to have a saddle made for her. The pad is pretty thick also. The price to have a saddle made is about the same as buying a good namebrand one. Just watch the saddlemaker every step of the way. Takes a while to have one made, so I chose to have it made during the winter months when there's less riding.

[KZWestern]

Get a saddle that fits. I rode a horse with very large withers and a thin back and her saddle fit fine, however, we still doubled her blankets for extra padding.

[SammyDoodle]

You do get good pads for high withered horses but if the saddle is a poor fit then this wont help

My horse is very high withered - his saddle has a medium tree but the saddler put "thoroughbred pannels" in. These are filled out to fit the "dip" area below the withers and keep the saddle up off the withers.

A good fitting saddle is a must - if a saddle is too narow it can pinch and it can stop the development of the back muscles

[kddoublink]

I'm going to be asking my vet tomarrow. Would you like me to post what she advises? I have the same problem with my mare. She's either getting a swade back or she just has hig withers.

Katy

[Super_Trooper]

The pads at the place I work and therapeutic and are apparently good for high withered horses. They DO say that because no saddle is perfect, you have to rely on a good PAD. When you add bulk, you are adding more pressure, like adding insoles to a shoe thats already too small. You want thin and shock absorbing, off the spin and wither relief. The pads are on the website www.oldmacsusa.com and they are used by the Canadian reining team and so on.

[TrickPony]

hey!
not sure if you ride english or western - but if you're a western rider try a WON pad. They're kindof expensive, but I can not say enough good things about this pad.
I have a very high-withered horse who is hard to keep from getting sore, but I haven't had a problem since I bought it. Forget the website, but you can do a google search. I had to order it out of Canada.