Tried the Western Saddle... DOES IT LOOK RIGHT?!

EqUeStRiAn · 05-19-2008, 05:23 PM

Hey guys! So i finally got around to trying the western saddle on Daisy to see if it'll fit... we are buying her one for my mom to use to ride her while im off at University.... The saddle itself fits quite well in terms of width, tree and balance etc. however my only concern is that it might be too long for her short back... she is a purebred saddlebred, so its kind of strange how she has such a SHORT back, but oh well!

I am including some photos of the saddle on her. and will add videos asap! It doesn't pinch on her hips or anything....and they clear the skirt pretty good, but the skirt does slightly cover her hips at some points of her walk (im not sure if this is normal...). My other question is regarding the width of the back skirt. It sits pretty wide on her as it is (in a decent sense)... but its a brand new saddle. as it softens and sinks down will it widen a bit more? It seems logical that it would but I have no idea.

Anyways thanks for the help, i have no experience fitting western saddles... haha. but the fitter says it does suit her in terms of gullet/bars etc. so im not worried about that sort of stuff.

The skirt on this is 12.5" x 27" I believe.
Video: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=43893915226

jazzyjumper · 05-19-2008, 06:11 PM

im not an expert by any means, but to me it looks like the saddle is a bit wide in front. see how in the very first pic the skirt is sticking up a bit? and the bars in front are sitting kind of low on her withers. if im wrong someone else please correct me!

EqUeStRiAn · 05-19-2008, 06:18 PM

Yeah thats what i figured too. oddly enough it's actually not that wide in person. if anything it was a bit too narrow on her in the front.... Im not sure if its just because the saddle is new but... yeah. I could get 3-4 fingers in there at the beginning before she was cinched... and about 3 after.... hmm
Thanks!

jazzyjumper · 05-19-2008, 06:45 PM

no problem!
if shes not showing any signs of dicomfort then its most likely all right.
hoepfully someone a bit more knowledgeble than me can elaborate.

EqUeStRiAn · 05-19-2008, 06:52 PM

Yes that's what I was thinking as well. she's never had a western saddle on before either. so it was difficult to tell what was just "new" to her and what was potential discomfort... but she seemed pretty mellow overall. I posted a quick video..

QHGirl · 05-19-2008, 07:11 PM

What type of "tree" is it. For her being a saddle bred you might have to get an arab tree.

It almost looks too far back, the girth should not be that far back... See how it almost looks as if you forced the girth to be in the correct spot, BUT it sits almost 2-3 inches back on her sides?

HUM... I don't have any pics on my uploadable pics to show you... let me look more tomorrow on my work computer!

EqUeStRiAn · 05-19-2008, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QHGirl

What type of "tree" is it. For her being a saddle bred you might have to get an arab tree.

It almost looks too far back, the girth should not be that far back... See how it almost looks as if you forced the girth to be in the correct spot, BUT it sits almost 2-3 inches back on her sides?

HUM... I don't have any pics on my uploadable pics to show you... let me look more tomorrow on my work computer!

I believe it is a reg QH tree. We tried a couple arab trees on her but they are way too narrow... shes a pretty beefy saddlebred, to say the least....

Yes i noticed that too. It might be worth it to move it up a few inches. that might solve the problem?

lilrider · 05-20-2008, 09:53 AM

Have you tried Semi-QH bars on her? Its inbetween an Arab and a full QH tree.

iridehorses · 05-21-2008, 06:02 AM

In actuality the saddle you are trying is not too wide but too narrow. The gullet may be correct but the spread of the bars is wrong.

I just went through 5 saddles before finding the correct one. All five of the saddles I tried had a 7" gullet and were marked FQH bars. 4 of the 5 had tress that were made by the same mfg and tipped up in the back; it got worse when it was cinched up. The 5th saddle had a markedly different spread and sat down perfectly on my mare's back.

Moral of the story is that even though 2 saddles may have the same gullet measurement and be marked with the same bars, since there is no standardization in the saddle tree industry, you need to try each one.

Oh, and I don't think that the saddle is too long. It doesn't look like it reaches her point of hip. If you are that worried anyway, try a saddle with round skirts.

Anxious1 · 05-22-2008, 10:56 AM

Saddle is waaay too far back and try moving it forward and then take new pics for us to see...

05-19-2008, 05:23 PM	#1
EqUeStRiAn Senior Member+ Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: CALGARY, CANADA Posts: 3,865 Images: 130	Tried the Western Saddle... DOES IT LOOK RIGHT?! Hey guys! So i finally got around to trying the western saddle on Daisy to see if it'll fit... we are buying her one for my mom to use to ride her while im off at University.... The saddle itself fits quite well in terms of width, tree and balance etc. however my only concern is that it might be too long for her short back... she is a purebred saddlebred, so its kind of strange how she has such a SHORT back, but oh well! I am including some photos of the saddle on her. and will add videos asap! It doesn't pinch on her hips or anything....and they clear the skirt pretty good, but the skirt does slightly cover her hips at some points of her walk (im not sure if this is normal...). My other question is regarding the width of the back skirt. It sits pretty wide on her as it is (in a decent sense)... but its a brand new saddle. as it softens and sinks down will it widen a bit more? It seems logical that it would but I have no idea. Anyways thanks for the help, i have no experience fitting western saddles... haha. but the fitter says it does suit her in terms of gullet/bars etc. so im not worried about that sort of stuff. The skirt on this is 12.5" x 27" I believe. Video: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=43893915226 __________________ M YB E S T D A Y *~6 y/o Saddlebred Mare~* AkA: *"Daisy" http://community.webshots.com/user/MyBestDay* Last edited by EqUeStRiAn; 05-19-2008 at 06:52 PM.

05-19-2008, 06:11 PM	#2
jazzyjumper Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,094 Images: 5	im not an expert by any means, but to me it looks like the saddle is a bit wide in front. see how in the very first pic the skirt is sticking up a bit? and the bars in front are sitting kind of low on her withers. if im wrong someone else please correct me! __________________ When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have. -Sir Winston Churchill jazzy love <3 14.3 Appaloosa gelding got milk? XD 15.1 Paint mare

05-19-2008, 06:18 PM	#3
EqUeStRiAn Senior Member+ Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: CALGARY, CANADA Posts: 3,865 Images: 130	Yeah thats what i figured too. oddly enough it's actually not that wide in person. if anything it was a bit too narrow on her in the front.... Im not sure if its just because the saddle is new but... yeah. I could get 3-4 fingers in there at the beginning before she was cinched... and about 3 after.... hmm Thanks! __________________ M YB E S T D A Y *~6 y/o Saddlebred Mare~* AkA: *"Daisy" http://community.webshots.com/user/MyBestDay*

05-19-2008, 06:45 PM	#4
jazzyjumper Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,094 Images: 5	no problem! if shes not showing any signs of dicomfort then its most likely all right. hoepfully someone a bit more knowledgeble than me can elaborate. __________________ When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have. -Sir Winston Churchill jazzy love <3 14.3 Appaloosa gelding got milk? XD 15.1 Paint mare

05-19-2008, 06:52 PM	#5
EqUeStRiAn Senior Member+ Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: CALGARY, CANADA Posts: 3,865 Images: 130	Yes that's what I was thinking as well. she's never had a western saddle on before either. so it was difficult to tell what was just "new" to her and what was potential discomfort... but she seemed pretty mellow overall. I posted a quick video.. __________________ M YB E S T D A Y *~6 y/o Saddlebred Mare~* AkA: *"Daisy" http://community.webshots.com/user/MyBestDay*

05-19-2008, 07:11 PM	#6
QHGirl Senior Member+ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 7,079 Images: 276	What type of "tree" is it. For her being a saddle bred you might have to get an arab tree. It almost looks too far back, the girth should not be that far back... See how it almost looks as if you forced the girth to be in the correct spot, BUT it sits almost 2-3 inches back on her sides? HUM... I don't have any pics on my uploadable pics to show you... let me look more tomorrow on my work computer! __________________ I must not forget to thank the difficult horses, who made my life miserable, but who were better teachers than the well-behaved school horses who raised no problems. -Alois Podhaisky I've been Snowballed!!!!

05-21-2008, 06:02 AM	#9
iridehorses Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Upstate of SC Posts: 367 Images: 40	In actuality the saddle you are trying is not too wide but too narrow. The gullet may be correct but the spread of the bars is wrong. I just went through 5 saddles before finding the correct one. All five of the saddles I tried had a 7" gullet and were marked FQH bars. 4 of the 5 had tress that were made by the same mfg and tipped up in the back; it got worse when it was cinched up. The 5th saddle had a markedly different spread and sat down perfectly on my mare's back. Moral of the story is that even though 2 saddles may have the same gullet measurement and be marked with the same bars, since there is no standardization in the saddle tree industry, you need to try each one. Oh, and I don't think that the saddle is too long. It doesn't look like it reaches her point of hip. If you are that worried anyway, try a saddle with round skirts.

05-22-2008, 10:56 AM	#10
Anxious1 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: West Central MN Posts: 534 Images: 1	Saddle is waaay too far back and try moving it forward and then take new pics for us to see...

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