# Saddle for thick shouldered horse



## walkinthewalk

My friend is retired and has been hard trail riding her entire life.

She has invested more on custom saddles for this particular horse than some folks spend on a horse. Steele being the next to last saddle, and it is collecting dust.

I forget what brand she has now but the maker is supposed to come to her farm to check the fit and offer suggestions.

Her vet suggested she try an endurance saddle. I offered to come in this section and see what suggestions the well experienced endurance riders might offer.

She is not endurance riding but still slogs thru the mud and digs up river banks in the mountains.

She has had this horse 7-8 years and saddle fit has always been an issue due to his big shoulders.

He is a 15 yr old, 15H Rocky, a gaited horse. As I said, he is not fat but his shoulders are huge; something very common in gaited horses.



She is a cancer survivor so also needs something light weight.

Any thoughts, suggestions, links to saddles are appreciated and I will forward them to her.

I don't have any pics of the horse by itself as we now live 11 hours apart.

Thanks in advance


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## phantomhorse13

Most endurance saddles are designed to sit behind the shoulder, to allow maximum freedom of movement. Sounds like your friend may need to not only get a saddle with the appropriate width tree, but a pad that allows for shimming to modify the fit behind the shoulder.

There are lots of types. Personally I have ridden other people's horses in a Stonewall, a Boz, and a Sharon Saare. I found them all to be very comfortable for me, but there are lots of other good brands. The Stonewall was pretty light, the Boz was not, and the SS was somewhere in the middle.


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## tinyliny

I often recommend Dave Genadak's saddles for horse with thick shoulders. he is all about flair in the tree.


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## tinyliny

Information - About The Horse

the above is the link to his web site. you have to read on their system for bar/size/shape. it has a lot to do with how flat the back is, and how well or not well the ribs are sprung. I might guess said horse is a #2 or #3 bar.

there are some nice second hand saddles for sale on his website.


deals- About The Horse


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## Eole

Specialized Saddle Eurolight. Their saddles are deep, secure, light, comfortable and can be shimmed and adjusted to almost any horse. You have to do the saddle fitting yourself or have someone knowledgeable around to help. 
Award Winning Endurance Saddles - Specialized Saddles Endurance Saddles


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## walkinthewalk

Thanks all, for some really great links:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Even though I'm not in the market, there's some really great stuff to learn on web sites I wasn't aware of

My friend is a great researcher and very analytical -- she wants to know WHY 2 + 2 equals 4. For my part, if it looks too difficult, I tell her to tell me when she gets the answer:loveshower:


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## Hadassah

We had a breeder of Rocky Mt horses recommend the Freedom saddles made for gaited horses. They are not exactly cheap but around same price as Specialized (which I love, too)


Freedom Saddles


If she wants light and the ability to set the saddle up for the horse, it has two foam underpanels that Velcro and basically adjust to fit the horse...the Pandora saddle is only about 6 pounds and I think runs around $1500. This saddle intrigues me.


PANDORA | Australian Made Performance Saddles

Because we are looking at gaited horses I am starting to learn saddle fit for them has to do with their shoulder movement and they need the freedom to move from the shoulder. It has been an interesting study. When I trained my Arab for endurance ten years or more ago I ended up getting a Saare saddle made for him. I'm hoping to not have to go down the saddle fit angst road this time around and get something that works right off.


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## Saddlebag

We are back to the same old problem of each tree maker having their own version of width. The synthetic endurance I'd purchased, I'd been assured was a wide tree with flair at the front. It was the same as fqh bars which is too narrow. That saddle tree was made of a southern pine and not a Ralide.


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## Rain Shadow

If she's interested in the Pandora, Karen Chaton has a trial period on them. You can find her on Facebook. She rides her endurance horses Pro Bono and Granite Chief in them. Pro Bono did the tevis in the Pandora.


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## sabowin

I had the same problem with my big drafty mustang mare. Bar angles mattered far less than shoulder room in her case. I first got her on a lease/trial basis, so was riding her in the saddle she came with, but the seller wanted it back after I purchased her. So I bought a western saddle made for a draft horse locally from Craigslist, on the condition I could return it. It was actually a little TOO wide in the top part of the gullet--without a pad it sat all the way down on her withers. But a cutback pad built up thick helped that, and didn't seem to hinder her shoulders TOO much, even confirmed by a saddle fitter.

So I used that saddle a while while still hunting for one that would work better for both me AND the horse. I tried a couple different Tuckers, including an extra-wide tree, but they all pinched badly in the shoulders. I think I tried a couple other saddles on her, luckily without committing financially. Then I saw an SR (Stevie Ray Gonzales) saddle for sale on Facebook, from a few states away, no returns. The photos of her horse looked similar enough to my horse, plus the saddle maker is right here in my region, so I figured I'd buy it, and be able to re-sell it locally, maybe for more than I paid, since the maker was here and could custom fit it to some degree. Actually, I think I e-mailed him first, with photos of my horse, to ask if he thought the basic tree would fit her (if so, it can be re-flocked to fit perfectly). He has records on every saddle he's made, and measurements of the horse they were made for, etc. He said no promises, but possibly. 

I bought the saddle, put it on my horse without any pad, and it seemed to fit her like a glove. YAY!!! And it sits BEHIND her shoulder, not over it, and is far enough back that even when she strides forward, and her scapula slides back, the saddle doesn't pinch. (It was weird seeing so much real estate when I switched from my western saddle plus pommel pack to this saddle without a pommel pack at first, though I use the pommel pack now.)

I was using a thicker pad (I'm heavy and want to distribute my weight well), but have tried a thinner pad with an impression pad, and it seems to fit her fine, so I'm switching over, barring any problems as mileage increases again this spring. It just makes sense that if the saddle fits well, you don't want a thick pad. It'd be like wearing thick socks in well-fitting shoes.

Oh, and I did end up having Steve do some custom work for me--the saddle was originally made for a much shorter rider, and he doesn't make very much room for adjustment in them, so I had brand new fenders made for me. He does excellent work, and has an immaculate shop.

So yeah, try finding a saddle with a smaller "footprint" to take the shoulder out of the equation entirely--it ended up being the best fit for my linebacker, anyway.


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