Saddle Fitting

English or western?

Both:
...Make sure the bars (the part of the saddle that will actually touch the horse) are flat or as close to flat as possible. Some saddles are made on a curved bar like the Tucker saddles for example) and that might have been done in good faith, buttttttt the horse must have room to move and curve his spine (collect themselves) and a curved bar makes it uncomfortable for the horse to do so. I owned a saddle like that and he lost all muscles in his back because my horse wasn't able to carry himself like he normally does.
...I never ever fit the saddle to the horse...meaning I won't put the saddle without the pad and be like "hmm ok this fits I'll get it". The horse's shoulders expands so much while they are in motion that somehting that fits perfectly while the horse is standing still will NOT fit when the horse is in motion. Put your hand right where the withers are with the pad and saddle on top...feel the clearance and then have someone lift up the one leg really high...is it pinching? if yes then the saddle is too small. I always suggest to get a saddle too big and pad up. I use the Theraflex pad to pad up my saddles. You are able to put shims in them (pieces of felt) to raise the saddle off the shoulders and get the saddle in the right position.
...for both saddles, you want the lowest part of the saddle seat to be close to the back of the saddle so you are sitting on your balance point not your crouch.

English:
...Make sure the bars of the saddle are wide. English saddles are of course, smaller than western but that makes the weight not distribute on a wide of surface for the horse, making it alot easier (though it is just as easy in  a western) to get dry spots and just be uncomfortable for the horse.

Western:
...Try both a square skirt and a round skirt on your horse. How short is your horse's back? For some horses the square skirt is way too big and hits them and causes problems to their back, muscles. Normally it hits the point in their back that can't carry alot of weight cause underneath lies the kidneys.


For western saddle wise, I really perfer Wade trees. It flares out by the withers giving the horse alot of wither room for movement. English wise, I perfer the Balance Saddles, Duetts, Fluidity, and SOME of the Wintecs and Bates.

Let your horse tell you how the saddle feels. Is his gaits the same? Where is his head placement? Is his head bobbing up (head bobbing down means lameness normally...head bobbing up normally means the saddle doesn't feel right)? Is he stretching under himself?

Best thing to do....get pictures AND videos of you riding bareback and then pictures and videos riding in the saddle.

Good luck to you. Hope this all made sense. I was rushing to write it since I have to leave for work soon.

Thanks that helps a lot...and this is for a western saddle and she has a looong back[]
 
Okay so how do I know if it's pinching exactly? Do I just put my hand between the horse and the saddle and if it seems too snug that would be pinching.

[quote=mickeyhorseluver]

Thanks that helps a lot...and this is for a western saddle and she has a looong back[]

Okay so how do I know if it's pinching exactly? Do I just put my hand between the horse and the saddle and if it seems too snug that would be pinching.


If she does have a long back then she probably would be fine in whatever skirt you choose.

What you do is put your hand inbetween the pad and the horse (with the saddle on the pad of course). Lift the saddle up if it's hard and put your hand right where the withers are. How much room is there...can you open and close your fingers easily? Now have a friend pick up the one leg (the one that would move the withers that you have your hand on) and have them lift their legs up almost perpendicular to where the leg normally stands. How how much room do you have? Does it feel tight? So tight that after a while it's uncomfortable? Can you move your fingers? You want to have enough room where when the leg is extended you can still move your fingers and have enough room. Remember that the freer the shoulder is for the horse the better the horse can move

There's a great company that has an online store on ebay.  They are out of Alabama and have been custom making saddles for like 40 years.  I bought one of their saddles and can't promote them enough.  They will take your tracings and help you find the gullet/saddle that matches your horse.  They are VERY reasonable!  I paid $450 for my saddle.  it was a well known signature series saddle and it was stunning! 
 
They will custom make a saddle to your exact specification and they stand behind their saddles with a 10 yr warranty I believe.
 
If you want to know the name, just send a pm and I'll send it to ya.

okay, so just so I'm clear on this: the only measurement that I should be really concerned about is the gullet width and if it pinches there. (and of course if it fits me) is this right?

[quote=mickeyhorseluver]

okay, so just so I'm clear on this: the only measurement that I should be really concerned about is the gullet width and if it pinches there. (and of course if it fits me) is this right?


The saddle can pinch anywhere but the withers are the most common. What type of horse do you have? I always suggest getting the wide and padding up if it's a bit too big. It gives the horse plenty of room to expand muscle wise and will fit really any type of horse.

Okay, thanks for everyone's input. []

I'm back...lol...sorry I have another question:
 
I just brought home a saddle to try.  It's brand new and I'm questioning if it fits.  It's an extra-wide, and seems to fit alright.  I did the pinch test with raising the leg and it didn't seem to pinch too much...but.....when I tightened the cinch it seemed really tight.  Is that normal? It could be something I've never noticed before, too I don't know.  I rode her with it, and she behaved normally for the most part.  After about an hour though she started bending around and looking at her side and swishing her tail.  I suspect it could have been a bug too though.  She does often like to turn and smell my leg, being she's only been ridden a couple of weeks.
 
So ya, I don't know.  Lol it sounds kind of pathetic after I read over it again, but whatever.  I figured I could get some input and see what everyone thinks.  I do tend to overthink things [8|]
 
She was able to ride fine.  I walked, trotted, and loped her without any problems.  I plan on getting her to sweat tommorow and see if the saddle fits that way too.

I had some problems fitting my Horse, a friend told me to call www.southerntrailssaddle.com , they take into account the wither tracing, the breed of Horse and want some pics to judge the structure of the Horse, yes the back of the Saddle fit is important too.

They have some really awesome saddles in the 700-800.00 range, they do have others from 350.00 and up to 1600.00, if you really want to get fancy []



CJ

I had my mare measure for her saddle i took her to Mr Larry Allen he makes beautiful saddles custom saddles not for just how you want them but the best part the saddle fits your horses back you dont have to worry about your horse being in pain or the saddle not fitting......... I got my saddle for 1,780 .... it was the best money every spent i dont have to worry about my horses back hurting.   i would get your horse measure for a saddle before you buy one that doesnt fit