DefinitelyDressage.com

I have a saddle on trial, It doesn't fit exactly right but I am looking for opinions on if it will be able to be tweaked to fit. I know it's a little low in front. The back floats off his back by about 1/4", it isn't much but I worry about the panel configuration. Any thoughts?

more pics.

If you shim the front up a bit, does that stop the back lifting?
Is it a little long? I don't think the panels should go past last rib?

Do you think it goes too far back? The first pic is from a wonky angle. The bottom one is more accurate. He's a big guy so I guess I didn't ever look at that!

It should be ok length wise but try shimming it up with a towel in front to see if it sits down better, and see what it does when he's moving. It's so hard to tell from pics, hopefully there's a saddle fitter out there that can look at the pics and give you better advice!

No sadlle fitter. Its a 10 hour round trip to the nearest one, which isn't feasible. If there'd was one I wouldn't be online looking for help

It's so hard to determine from a picture, but here are my thoughts:

It doesn't need to come up much in front, seems doable, but I'd need to look at the shape of the panel and of the horse without the saddle. If the panel is narrow there may not be enough panel depth to work with, or if the horse has wither pockets.

Any time you lift the front there is a danger of disrupting the contact further back and creating a situation where the saddle bridges, which I cannot determine from these pictures, or really any pictures. Part of that determination is how much the horse rounds his back up in movement which is why I always do a dynamic saddle fit and watch the horse move under saddle.

Things that concern me that cannot be changed:
Length of the saddle, as already mentioned.
Stitch line of the front of the panel is too high where it will interfere with the trapezius and spinalis muscles.

My concern would be if you lift the front. the back will be cantle low. It already looks as if the low point is slightly behind center. Often mounted, if it is only a little, the problem will be solved but not if the front is already too low. My initial thought is that this horse might need a full front gusset and straighter or deeper rear. Without all of the pertinent info, it's hard to know what would be best.

jaybird660 wrote:My concern would be if you lift the front. the back will be cantle low. It already looks as if the low point is slightly behind center. Often mounted, if it is only a little, the problem will be solved but not if the front is already too low. My initial thought is that this horse might need a full front gusset and straighter or deeper rear. Without all of the pertinent info, it's hard to know what would be best.

Rich has all my tracings and pics He suggest an Albion thatt you have. I thought my saddle was sold but it came back so I am trying to juggle some things around.

trivia - years ago, I tried a Lemke saddle and it was one of the most comfortable saddles I've every ridden in. I wish I had bought it.