Conformation Lessons From a Saddle Fitter

So obviously with all the saddle fit problems, I've been in contact with Jen. We've been going back and forth and I'm seriously considering using the saddle company she's using. I'm not quiiiite there yet but it's looking that way. 

One thing she did was put me in contact with her saddle fitter friend Mary who helped her so much! I also highly recommend Mary because WOW she is so good. I sent her just one picture of TC standing almost square but not really in the cross ties and she told me all these things about his conformation and made some guesses about his saddle fit issues that were spot on.

The photo I sent, he was so bored of my antics lol

First, she said that he has huge shoulders, which is not news, but what WAS news was that he has big withers. I did not know this. I guess they're just hidden by his big shoulders. 

I mean, it makes sense, mostly. He's not a rotund guy, I know he looks like he should be really chonky just naturally with a well sprung ribcage but he's really not all that wide. Rico was like twice as wide as TC is. TC honestly feels pretty narrow for a horse of his stature. 

His withers aren't so prominent that he's hard to ride bareback but I definitely don't love riding him without a bareback pad. Plus his back is relatively well muscled at this point (and honestly always has been pretty decent) so maybe that contributes to the illusion. 

There was a baby cow born recently! So cute!

I told her the saddle shifted forward on him and she asked if it was forward toward his nose or forward into his shoulder and I said absolutely the latter. 

She then gave me recommendations! They're similar to what Connor needed and they have the same issues with how they go in saddles they don't like (don't keep the chest plate up, don't lift the withers as well) so it all makes sense. 

- Short and ideally flexible tree points. 

Like Jen has said several times, Mary thinks that dressage saddles are made for riders and not horses, the shorter and more flexible the tree points, the more shoulder freedom. Most dressage saddles have long inflexible tree points that get in the way of the shoulder. 

- No point billet 

The point billet is attached to the point and therefore drives the front of the saddle down into the horse's shoulder, not good for shoulder freedom! Ideally I could have a saddle with billets that were set fairly far back. 

- High wither clearance 

TC has high withers and therefore needs some good wither clearance! Again, not knowing this about him means that I never really looked specifically for that. That also explains why he loved the butterfly saddle because it had a cutback pommel. I'm sure he feels a little claustrophobic lifting his withers into a shallow pommel. 

- Short gussets 

The gusset (I had to ask) is the length of the padding down the front of the saddle. Dressage saddles tend to have long ones and they sit behind the shoulder and prevent it from being used properly.

- Ideally a velcro block

That may be tough for me to find (because I love an exposed block monoflap) but she said that a fixed block can get in the way of a shoulder too. Especially if it's tightened down with a point billet on a long gusset. 

This guy was so hilarious, I gave him
a lot of cookies and will get him out
today!

So that's what we are looking for! I wrote all that down and am going to start ruling out saddles. I did happen to notice one thing though... I sent Mary pictures of my current saddle and she agreed that it is LITERALLY the opposite of what he needs: 

Look how freakishly long those
gussets are omg

That's a point billet, yep

Sooooo that sucks, I love this saddle but I definitely don't think I will be putting it on him again. I have half a mind to take it to a saddler and see if we can put a new billet in the back and redo the panels but that seems like a LOT of effort, especially given that I can't fix the lack of wither clearance and the tree points. It's time for that saddle to retire. 

Maybe it'll somehow work on my new horse and it's the saddle I got my Gold medal in so I'm keeping it forever. Maybe it can be made into an office chair  or a stool for me?? Hahaha anything to still be able to sit in it. I love that saddle but can very much acknowledge that it was made for the rider, not for the horse.