Wide fit saddle?

[Kowgirlkate]

I'm currently looking at purchasing a 14 year old mare (lol she's done growing) who was a big ol ranch horse, emphasis on BIG. Most of the time her owners ride her bareback cuz she's safe and hard to fit. I would however like to try to fit her with a saddle- I have a full QH Bar saddle that I havent tried on her yet but I wonder if that will be too small :huh:. Any good reccomendations on brands? I have my favorites but they're normal sizes, I've never had a horse as wide as her. Are treeless any good or a bunch of hype? I'm sure somebody somewhere has run into this and has some pointers for me. Thanks for any help

[Remali]

Seems like the people who have tried the treeless saddles really love 'em, I've never tried one myself, but maybe that would be the way to go if the full QH saddles aren't wide enough?

[vicklynn]

Do you have a saddle shop around, that you can take the horse to, and get it fitted for size?
I wonder though, if this horse has ever been saddled, cause if not, then your talking about training again, and IF you dont wanna saddle train the horse, you may want to rethink the purchase.
Just a tad bit to chew on. Id make them saddle her up and ride her if it were me.

[cloedoll]

Good luck my friend, good luck! Lol.

Here's my mare's back (would take a 36cm tree, English, that is).
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=68

I'm just curious, how does her back compare to Miss Cloe? I had a hard time finding a saddle and did find one that fit, but I just love bareback too much now.

Definitely look into treeless, I would love to help more, but I am not too familiar with Western saddles.

My recommendation would be to have a professional saddle fitter out if you are able to afford it. =)

[Cat]

Cloe sure doesn't look wide compared to my haflingers! LOL.

I would try the full QH bars you already have - each brand is a little different and that one might fit. However, if it doesn't, I vote treeless. That is what my husband and I both have - I have haflingers and he has a draft cross.

Your other option is to take a wither and back tracing and take that into saddle shops to see if you can find a fit. They do have "haflinger" saddles and small draft saddles that might work.

I believe there is a Australian saddlery that takes wither tracings and will find you the best saddle they carry that will fit your horse.

Oh, and duetts. If you like english-type saddles that is a excellent source for wider horses. Just do a google search for them. If you have the right page you will see some haflingers and other hard-to-fit horses featured on the site.

[cloedoll]

Well, she's probably not, but she is still wide, hehe. xD

It is kind of funny, when I sent in wither tracing/pics/etc. to Duett and they recommended a 36cm, they said that's the size most of the Haflingers they deal with use. Lol.

[Annie&Dixie]

I ride in a Bob Marshall treeless. I love this saddle to death and I don't think I will ever go back to treed saddles. In fact, I plan on getting a barefoot treeless for my english saddle. Bob Marshalls are by far the best western treeless saddles available, they have barrel, trail, and endurance models. They are somewhat pricy, even used. I just bought a used one for $750, it's in great shape though. I keep on saying that they're like Hondas, they hold their value like crazy.

[luvs2ride1979]

You can demo a treeless to see if you like it. I would demo a Bob Marshall and a Freeform Freewest. The Freeforms seem to do really well on the super wide horses, but they are not as traditional looking ;). April can help you with demos of both. http://treelesssaddle.com/ She also carries Barefoot, which are great for wide horses too (with a wide pommel insert), though they are even less traditional looking, lol. She's just redoing her web site, so some of the pages are "under construction".

For a treed saddle, look at wade trees in a FQHB. They seem to do well for wide horses. The Oklahoma made Billy Cooks are some of the widest FQHB saddles that I have seen around.

[Kowgirlkate]

She was a working ranch horse before her current owners bought her 10 years ago, and did cattle work, roping, and ponying colts. The current owners dont have a saddle that fits her so they never worried about it, but on the ranch she worked in one. I rode her in a saddle but it was too small so we went bareback instead. She didnt fuss about it though, so I dont need to worry about training her, but I cant knowingly make her wear something that doesnt fit. I hope to ride her again this weekend and will take my other saddle with a small hope it might fit. I plan to take some pics too :)

[mustangluver]

I have tried tons to fit my mare!!! Were talking about 15 saddles lol.

The only 3 brands that fit her well, tex tan, wintec and abetta. So I got an abetta endurance.

I do have a western wide for sale its synthetic though.

[vicklynn]

She was a working ranch horse before her current owners bought her 10 years ago, and did cattle work, roping, and ponying colts. The current owners dont have a saddle that fits her so they never worried about it, but on the ranch she worked in one. I rode her in a saddle but it was too small so we went bareback instead. She didnt fuss about it though, so I dont need to worry about training her, but I cant knowingly make her wear something that doesnt fit. I hope to ride her again this weekend and will take my other saddle with a small hope it might fit. I plan to take some pics too :)
Ok cool! Glad that you've riden her with a saddle, that had me worried for you.