Saddle advice

[whatthefuckisnext]

I'm trying to pick up a second hand saddle for a short term loan horse. She's a thoroughbred, 15.1 and well built. I'm not looking to spend loads as it's short term so looking at an adjustable wintec. Can anyone advise likely starting point for saddle length and that colour gullet to use? I reckon she'll be about 6 inch in the pommel. Thanks

Ps I'm not horsey and can't get hold of a saddler so doing my best to get a comfy fit for the horse

Are you going to shoe her yourself too?

I wouldn’t be letting someone who admits they know nothing about horses and nothing about saddles anywhere near my horses’ backs. An incorrectly fitting saddle can do untold damage.

No my plan is to acquire an adjustable saddle and the correct attachments and then ask some of my much more knowledgable and experienced horse friends to help fit it properly which is the best I can do in the situation. Farriers are plentiful.

Oh and none of said friends have a similar sized horse so thought this might be an appropriate forum to find someone that does.

If you aren't horsey and don't know how to fit a saddle then you definitely need a saddler (even if you are horsey you should always get a qualified saddle fitter out). You can do a lot if damage to a horse's back with a poorly fitting saddle. TBs can be hard to fit also.
A poorly fitting saddle can cost £££ to rectify eg physio etc to repair the damage caused

That’s not how buying saddles usually works.

You get out a saddle fitter that sells secondhand saddles and get them
to see what they have that fits.

They will likely buy it back from you afterwards.

@AlltheFs that's a useful suggestion thank you. There's really not a lot of them around here but will keep asking around.

Yes, a decent saddle fitter is a rare thing and a valuable person to know. This is why you have to book them in advance with plenty of time and be prepared to pay for their expertise.

Let’s take an example that relates to humans. Say your child needs dental braces and there is a long wait for the orthodontist and they are expensive. But someone on a forum just finished with their Invisalign braces and said you could have them to shove in your child’s mouth. Would you do it? Why not?

I’ve seen the damage a badly fitting saddle can do, and sadly (not through my actions but through the actions of someone else) had to rehabilitate a horse with a damaged back. It took months and hundreds of pounds.

Anyone can buy a cheap adjustable saddle off eBay, but to get a good fit you would need to be either more knowledgeable than the average horse owner or very lucky. But it the horse is not yours and you are going to give it back soon, fuck it - the damage probably won’t show up immediately and then it won’t be your problem (and people like this are why most horse owners would be well advised not to put their horse out on loan to a novice.)

I'm sorry but wintecs are only so adjustable. They cant be adjusted to fit everything. Can you ask the owner what size and make of saddle the horse was in and pick one up 2nd hand then get a saddler to fit it?

You can look on the saddle bank website, it shows you how to take a template that you can send to them and they can advise what is likely to fit. It would still need checking and adjusting by a saddler.

Thoroughbreds tend to be sensitive so you could be setting yourself up for no end of problems if your saddle isn't quite right

You need a saddle fitter. Just Because they are adjustable doesn’t mean they fit everything

I'm certainly not in the 'fuck it, she's a loan horse' camp. That's why I'm asking advice. I've got friends who have hundreds of years experience with horses between them and if I can't find a saddler, that's my only other option. That's why I'm asking for advice. I've had my horse broken by a loaner I'd never do anything that will hurt her. Thanks to all providing useful advice

Which area are you? Perhaps someone in the area can suggest a good saddle fitter who can come and see the horse. We have a good one local to me who will come out, advise on a suitable saddle, you buy it and she comes to fit and flock it. Saddles aren't interchangeable between horses.

Although good saddle fitters are hard to come by, you can search through the Master Saddler website. They should have a list of ones in your area
I'm surprised that the friends with 100s of years experience haven't been able to give you advice on this! They must have good, reliable fitters that they use?

I'm in a fairly remote area, there are a few that visit the area but not for one horse. I don't have transport to take the horse to the saddler. Bit of a catch 22.

To answer the question, for a random saddle I would suggest a 17" and either a medium or medium wide gullet. The gullets are £10-20 used on ebay so two of them is potentially £40 and a saddler is about £60. Mine doesn't charge for gullet swaps.

My saddler also prefers thorowgoods over wintecs for his own reasons but I haven't had either so I can't comment. They look similar in price.

Selling a saddle is obnoxious, it will save you money and time to get a saddler out if possible.

You can also mould a wire coat hanger to the horse's withers (check youtube for how to's) and compare to a gullet template. Better slightly too big than slightly too small.

This won't make the rest of the saddle tree fit if it's the wrong shape for the horse, though. A thick sheepskin half pad may help.

Massaging the horse's shoulders and back and watching her reaction can help you see whether any pain or soreness is developing. Wearing a badly fitting saddle is like wearing badly fitting shoes -- you can get away with it briefly if it almost fits, but long term use will cause discomfort (best case) or damage (worst case).

Where will loan horse be kept? Usually you'll find livery yards have saddle fitters who visit fairly regularly and people coordinate so they're not just coming out for one horse. If you have local friends who are horsey they will be able to recommend someone unless they're old school and take the 'add another numnah' approach.

Many saddle fitters no longer carry 2nd hand saddles and tbh I don't know any who recommend wintecs. They do seem to like thorowgood though, and Cavaletti but those are hard to get 2nd hand. A thorowgood compact gp is a good choice as has a huge range of horse shapes that it suits but it does still depend on the horses wither profile which one you choose and also on the size and build of the rider. Agree 17 inch is standard although some Tb's can be short coupled and actually need smaller. Saddle company saddles can also be great but you need a saddle fitter to adjust

We got a saddler to measure our pony and then bought a second hand saddle based in the measurements and got them to fit and reflock it. As other have said, I wouldn't just randomly buy any second hand saddle without having the measurements.

It's not just the gullet width. The shape of the tree needs to be right too. And wintecs are a shape that doesn't suit every horse.

What area are you in OP?
I might be able to help with suggestions. I have to say I am usually only getting a saddler out to one horse at a time and have never had issues with this, you just pay for their fuel to you from their last appointment.

Maybe a Heather Moffat treeless saddle might do the job, but I'd only want a new one, and I know they don't suit a lot of horses.

Possibly a stupid question, but where is her regular saddle? Can you just use that? Why is she a short term loan - surely the saddle will just be sitting there unused until she's returned to her owner?

Just echoing the point about the tree shape being important.
I have a TB and a Welsh D. Both in XW saddles (not adjustables).
Neither can wear the other's saddle, the TB's has more upright tree rails and the cob is in a hoop tree.
There's a saddle fitting page on FB where you could get some information, also Poppy Webber posts loads of information.
Changeable gullets only alter one small part of the saddle.
Can you give us a rough area to see if anyone knows somebody?