The horse with ideal conformation for saddle fitting rarely exists! Each horse I visit comes, with its own unique challenges, which combined with the needs of the rider, can cause some initial head scratching.
Pictured here, is a 23 year old mare. She is very wide across, and behind her shoulders (where the saddle tree points sit). Her back is also starting to dip, due to the ageing process, and you can see she is ‘bum high’, which normally would mean that saddles would tip forwards. However, in this case the saddle fitting area is reasonably level – her back only starts to rise behind where the saddle sits.
Luckily, I did not have to fit a new saddle in this case, merely check an existing one, a 17” dressage saddle, and because of the slight dip in her back, it tipped the rider backwards, (which became evident when I saw the horse ridden). I flocked the rear panels of the saddle to achieve balance and, being a dressage saddle, the flaps were not affected by the width of the shoulders.
For further information about my saddle fitting services please browse my website www.wills-saddlefitter, or contact me on 07941 512933
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