looking for a wider saddle

[Gem's Mom]

I'm looking for a wider English saddle on craigslist. It's kind of a passive search. Whenever I see one posted I ask the person to measure a few things for me but so far no luck. Am I having them measure the right stuff?

Here's what I ask:
measure from front rivet to front rivet (that should be the width right?) mine is: 6
measure from front rivet to middle of cantle: mine is 18
measure from middle of seat to bottom of long flap: mine is 21

I want the same size seat and flap because that's what I'm used to and if the flap is shorter then it catches on the top of my boots/half chaps and tries to push my boots off.

Am I having them measure the right spot for the width?

[cloedoll]

I really never understood that and never tried to for a few reasons. One of the main reasons is I think people can measure it in so many different ways and for example, two saddles could have the same measurements, heck they could be the same exact saddle (same seat, same brand, some model, same tree size, same make of year, etc.), but the flocking in one could be different than the other, thus making the saddle fits much different. I guess it could be a good guideline, but I dunno.

How wide are we talking? xD If your horse is a truly wide horse, I would look into Duett Saddles (http://duettsaddles.com/). They come in many different tree sizes, from 32cm to 38cm I believe, but you can have any in between size ordered and some models even come in up to 42cm trees. Depending on your price range, you could of course always have a custom saddle made like a County. When I had the County rep out to evaluate Cloe he said an x-wide tree would fit her (she normally takes a 34cm/36cm tree depending on the brand) so that's pretty wide. Another brand to look into would be Thornhill (http://thornhillusa.com/home.html), everywhere I read they say Thornhill's extra wide tree is truly a wide tree. If you don't mind synthetic saddles, you could look into the Thorowgood's, I know their "S Bar Gullet System" has gullets that go really wide. If you're horse isn't too wide and again, if you don't mind synthetic saddles, you can look into Wintec's with the changeable gullet system - the x-wide gullet is supposedly 34cm. Or you could always look into Bates since it's the same changeable gullet system. The last brand I can think of is Killington (http://www.trumbullmtn.com/Saddle_%20pages/Close%20Contact/New_Killington/Killington.htm), I've only seen them on eBay and at Trumbull Mountain and they are again, a truly wide saddle. Of course if your horse isn't super wide, all of that typing was for nothing. :p

As far as the seat sizing goes, this is how I was always told to determine what size it is:

(A to B, measuring in inches)
http://i43.tinypic.com/nfmloo.jpg

You can always check under the saddle flap to see what size the tree & seat is marked as because a lot of saddles have the tree size, seat size, and many other things (serial number, etc.) stamped there. Of course, it is always a good thing to measure, but even then you can't be sure because your saddle could be a 17", but if it is a more flat seat, it might fit more like a 17.5", if it is a deeper seat, it would maybe fit more like a 16.5" and you get where I'm going, hehe.

Sorry for the really long post!

[IrisGreen]

Ohh, Nooo Not wide saddles!!! :doh:I am so not looking forward to searching for one that will fit my boy! I'm looking for a western though.

Good luck with your search!:)

[Gem's Mom]

The last one I found on craigslist I asked the gal if I could come compare mine to hers. Still waiting to hear back from her. I'm not in a super rush. Really all I do is trail ride. I haven't ridden much in a while since it's been so cold and not sure if Gem is 100% again. Guess I need to work him to see if he's ok or not though.

[cloedoll]

Does the one you have currently fit your horsey? If it does, what brand is it, tree size, model, etc.? Maybe someone here knows something similar to it and can help you out..

[Gem's Mom]

No it doesn't fit, he's actually growing wider now (about time, geesh he's almost 8) so it's getting too narrow. I on the other hand love the saddle and it fits me great. So that's why I want same seat/flap size but wider saddle. The one I have is an old Barnsby but it's at the farm right now so I can't inspect it for a # or type.

[JetLagaside]

Make your life really easy get a saddle fitter out :) have a tracing done - that way you can take it with you to test saddles because just like cloedoll said not every x-wide is going to be the same, just finding one is a challange or can be.

Another brand depending on how wide he is, Collegiate in the convertible line (I was told by the my saddle fitter to try the extra wide for my mare).
It makes it really hard to figure out because there is no "standard" for trees some makers use N, M W others 34, 36 but they are still not all the same.

[Gem's Mom]

How do you find a saddle fitter? I'm in the St Louis area if you know of anyone ;-)

[cloedoll]

How do you find a saddle fitter? I'm in the St Louis area if you know of anyone ;-)

I would just google it or if you are a member of a local forum, have tack shops, or any horsey store nearby, just ask around...or at least that is what I would do. :D

[Gem's Mom]

Guess I'm gonna google...

[cloedoll]

Guess I'm gonna google...

That's what I had to do and you will find something. =)

[Gem's Mom]

I'm trying to clean the house right now, so too fidgety to read a lot about saddle fitting (I'll read the www.saddlefitter.com website later) but I figured I'd search craigslist again. There's an 18 inch icelandic trail saddle for sale. I emailed about the width. Should be wider right? Icelandic ponies are round-ish? Ugh, back to cleaning, inlaws are coming to help us look at that farm tomorrow.