Saddle for wide Haffies

Now on Gibson.  He is one big Haflinger, very drafty and nearly 15 hands (Sweet  P is drafty but a short 13.1 hands!)

Oooh, thanks for this.  That looks like a nice saddle.  My fjord is going to be needing a new saddle in a year or two I will have to keep this company in mind.  They seem to be pretty reasonably priced.

UPDATE:

I got in touch with the saddlemaker, and the saddle shown was built on a 7" gullet draft tree.  I am having one made for Sweet P, they are going to shorten the bar and I am choosing to have cordura skirts to decrease the bulk under the cantle. 

The saddle I am having made will cost $780 including shipping, they were willing to take a down payment and I will pay the rest when it is ready to ship (about 3 or 4 weeks).

It is a cross between these two models:
http://www.montanamountainhorse.com/store-products-MHD4-Go-Light-Draft-Horse-Saddle-18-lbs_14253197.html
http://www.montanamountainhorse.com/store-products-MHD13-Deluxe-Draft-Trail-Lite_1096686680.html

It will have a mahogony and black leather seat, leather-covered wood stirrups, a round skirt, in-tree flank rigging, crupper rings behind the cantle, brass D's on each side of the pommel, and saddle strings front and back, plus synthetic wool underskirting (I wanted real wool but this is not compatable with the Cordura binding!)

I reccommend this company for people with draft horses, wide ponies, and mules!  They have draft trees in 7". 7.5", and 8" gullet width, plus a Friesian tree for the high-withered draft or extra-big Walking horse.  They have a full-QH bar flex tree that flexes to 7 1/4" gullet, plus mule trees in regular and wide bar angles.  They also have a narrow gaited hrose tree and a 7" gaited horse flex tree, and your regular old QH and semi-QH trees for those lucky enough to have a 'normal' horse!

When it comes you must post pictures!  I would also be interested in your opinion of the over all quality of the saddle.  I'm waiting for Reidar to finish filling out a bit more but one of these could be in our future.

I had a Mountain Horse saddle built for my now-deceased Arabian, Taz.  I had the upgraded leather and a padded suede seat.  It was a well-built, sturdy saddle and very comfortable to ride in.  The stirrups they use are large enough to acommodate insulated winter boots. I also borrowed a Mountain Horse Haflinger saddle a few years ago for Sweet P (packed a 91-year old into the Olympic National Park on her) and rode in it a few times.  Even on a wide Haffie the saddle was comfortable and balanced. 

I would say they are not top-of-the-line but they are good saddles and worth the money.  The one in the original picuters on this thread has the 'regular' leather (not upgraded) and has been rode hard in for 2 years.  There are scuffs and stretch marks on the leather but it is still solid, no cracks.  The higher quality leather on Taz's (my late Arabian) saddle did not scuff or scratch, though it got the normal dents and dings that a trail saddle will 'earn'. 

The dark colors (black and mahogany) are dyed before the leather is cut, so the 'edges' will show a light brown. For this reason, I reccommend not getting a black saddle like I did for Taz.  However, I remedied the problem with a black permanent marker (and I really think the saddlemaker ought to have touched up the edges before stitching the saddle together).

I will let you know how the cordura saddle measures up to my standards.

Pics of Taz's saddle.  It was made on a narrow gaited horse tree to fit his high withers.