saddle suggestions for hard to fit cob

Pigletsmum

Pigletsmum

Active Member
Oct 4, 2008
1,116
5
38
:help:

any suggestions welcome....

I am 5ft 4,short legged,size 16.

Frank is 14hh HW cob...

short backed - can just manage a 17 inch saddle
croup high
uneven shoulder
fluctuating weight as very grass sensitive,trying to get management right at present....

Currently have T4 cob plus - fitted by excellent saddler however seems to lift at back and pinch on right shoulder? Currently in wide gullet,previously in WXW but lost weight and dropped.

Torsion saddle - seems to tight in pommell area

I'm skint however would have some money if sold TG and Torsion...
:help:
 
After more trips to my yard than most people have had hot dinners, my long suffering saddler has just supplied me with a brand new Cliff Barnsby saddle for Louise :) She is a 14.1 flat backed very round witherless welshie, with gigantic shoulders and a massive movement - tonnes of saddles fit when shes stationary but I was beginning to think we were going to have to nail them to her back to keep them steady when she moved!! It's a slightly forward cut one so ideal for jumping and flatwork (I suppose it's a VSD though I think its probably classed as a GP) and its one of the approved pony club ones :)
 
I have a new trekker for my circular Fell. It has adjusted wide enough, is nicely soft under and I feel safe! It is 19ins long which fits her at 13.2.
 
Another vote for Ideal H&C, though if you ever feel rich a Wow would be worth a look as they can be adjusted to fit almost any horse, are quick & easy to alter if the horse changes shape & incredibly comfortable for the rider.
 
I would strongly suggest enquiring about a made to measure saddle, this may sound like the expensive option but it can actually work out at a a very reasonable rate. I have made to measure for both of my chunky girlies and they both fit fantastically, Puz has had hers for nearly ten years and it only just needed reflocking last winter, she's never had a back problem either.
 
Ideal H&C, Kent&Masters or a saddle exchange saddle. They are the guys who do the comfort saddles and native pony saddles. Been speaking to them recently about fitting my tank of a cob. They do so many sizes, fits, twists etc. They may just have something. However for a new one (i looked at the native pony glen and the comfort Seeker you'd be the best part of £900 excluding fitting (which i was quoted as £85, but that was them flying from Devon to Scotland!). They do seem very generous. The seeker i tried was only a 16.5 inch seat however there was plenty of room for my ample derriere!!!
 
Just wanted to add that there is a little confusion about Native Pony saddles at the moment - Saddle Exchange has split in two and the lady who designed the saddles is now here - website - and has a new range to replace the Comfort Saddles. She has kept using the very best Walsall workshop and the quality of the saddles is lovely. She also has a fitter in the Highlands who would probably charge you a lower callout :happy:

The H&C tree can work really well for many cobs and wide horses, obviously some get on pretty well with treeless, though on wide horses they can slip round. Do you think the tree width is right? If you girth up firmly, with no pad, and run your hand down from the pommel to the points under the front of the saddle, if it is too wide there will be more pressure right at the top, if it is too narrow there will be a "pinch point" at tree points. If it is about right, then I'd say the tree is too curvy which is common with the synthetic saddles on very flat horses.

We do several flat trees in GPs and working hunters, even dressage saddles.

Look out for four girth straps, a wide open seat (a long flat part means a flattish tree, through the bars, even if the pommel and cantle are a little higher making it look deep) though a high pommel will usually mean instability on a wide flat horse with little or no wither. You also want a wide head to the tree ie a wide pommel (in most cases) and flat panels next to the horse - some wide saddles still have "sausage" shaped panels which mean the saddle perches and will be unstable.
 
sbloom said:
Just wanted to add that there is a little confusion about Native Pony saddles at the moment - Saddle Exchange has split in two and the lady who designed the saddles is now here - website - and has a new range to replace the Comfort Saddles. She has kept using the very best Walsall workshop and the quality of the saddles is lovely. She also has a fitter in the Highlands who would probably charge you a lower callout :happy:
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for clearing that up! when i searched for the native pony saddles i found that website but (wrongly) assumed it was still linked to saddle exchange. Her fitter in scotland is the one saddle exchange used to use hence i was very confused when speaking to saddle exchange at the RHS when they said they'd come from devon and didn't have a scottish fitter.
 
It's all been a little messy and very protracted, we really hope to get it sorted in the next few months as customers have been very confused and it has caused us (Native Pony and Cob Saddles) some real issues when customers have thought they'd had stock from us but it was actually from Saddle Exchange. Clare Molyneux is the Highlands fitter but she, like me, will no longer work for Saddle Exchange.
 
I'm glad you cleared that up for me. Clare is much closer and i don't want to be waiting months for a saddle so i think i'll contact her. Do you guys still do the comfort saddles or is there an equivalent? I really liked the comfort seeker. Also a quick question on the Glen. It seems like an all round saddle, is it OK for jumping? no real plans to do a lot of jumping with my welshie but want the option there.
 
Lots of people jump in the Glen and it's probably easier to jump in than the Seeker to be honest - the latter is more showing/hacking/dressage. We make the Traditional Working Hunter but we also have the Lux WH in the Phoeniux range which is an updated version of the Seeker, no picture at the moment, sorry:

http://www.phoenixsaddles.com/saddles.html

The Trad WH is here:

http://www.nativeponysaddles.com/saddles.html

You could also consider the NP GP (formerly known as the M&M) which is a fairly straight cut GP, lots of people use it for workers.

When you speak to Clare say Steph sent you :biggrin:
 
And with apologies for getting sidetracked, to the original OP...the Thorowgood is either too curvy in the tree/panel (quite common with very flat backed horses) if it is lifting at the back. I can't comment on the Torsion at all as I don't deal with treeless saddles. A 17" should be okay for you - if you look for something with an open flat seat it should suit both of you.

Saddles that might work would be the Ideal H&C, possibly GFS Haflinger tree if you don't mind Argentinian, or several of ours like the Native Pony GP and the showing models.

I will comment on M2M saddles - I am often called in when all else has failed for REALLY difficult to fit horses and seldom need to even add a small variation and have a saddle made specially, and have never needed to have something made to measure, even for rider preference. Buying an off the peg bench made saddle means you get to try the saddle you buy, you should get a week's trial from most good saddle fitters, and there is no nightmare with having paid up front and finding it doesn't work for either you or the horse.

Hope you find a solution!
 
Last edited:
I have a short backed, small (14.1), wide Connemara. He does have withers but he is also prone to have a lot of fat!

He has a Kent&Masters GXW GP saddle and he goes sweetly in it. It fits a tad better when he is not quite so fat though.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back