Saddle size...

[ForestGump]

What measurements is a narrow saddle from D ring to D ring.
I'm looking on ebay for a saddle and have read that 8inch is wide on one thing but then its narrow on another thing so I'm mightly confused now! :confused:
So can anyone tell me please? ;)

[Clava]

I'm absolutely no expert but I'd say anything less than 8 " was narrow. My tb (Belle) was recently fitted with a saddle, I'd been told she was narrow and she ended up with a medium wide which really surprised me.

[Anro]

Wouldn't it depend on the length of the saddle as well?

[x x Summer x x]

Rule of thumb 7.5 and under is narrow

8 is medium

8.5 med/wide

anything over wide /ex wide etc

but its how people measure it that you need to bear in mind, sometimes they can be economical with thier tape measure :D

[unicornleather]

What you must realise too is that every tree maker has their own idea of size, for instance, what is narrow in one make will be medium in another make, there's no fixed rule for sizing only as summer says, just a rule of thumb!
Then there's the shape of the head that will affect the size too, a full cut head back might seem narrower than a sloping head, the measurement between the fall down staples ( dee rings) is not very accurate and we in the saddlery trade do not use that measurement to govern the width of a tree.
The best bet is to make an ACCURATE template (not with a coat hanger!) using lead flashing and go round some of the tack shops and offer the template up under the saddles to see if it's a close match, then select a few to try on and get a saddler to fit it properly and flock it as necessary, by doing some of the leg work like this it will help keep your costs down a bit, Oz :)

[ForestGump]

So if Forests saddle at the moment was say 7.5 inches D ring to D ring (not measured just hypothetical) then if I bought a saddle that was 7.5 inch D ring to D ring would it be the same fit from D ring to D ring? (ignoring the fit of the rest of the saddle for the moment) :confused:

[Wally]

A plastic bag full of plaster of paris is another way to get a mould. The fill it with that expanding foam to get a positive pattern.

Unicorn Leather is spot on. What one tree maker calls wide, is another one's medium.

High withers and a narrow saddle is not always the answer.

[ForestGump]

High withers and a narrow saddle is not always the answer.

Huh? You've lost me, why don't high withers and narrow saddles go together? :confused:

[atd87]

I think what Wally means is that sometimes when a horse has high withers the saddler will use a narrow saddle to make the saddle clear the withers, but this can mean that the saddle is actually pressing on the withers.

[joshes mum]

[QUOTE=atd87;1778079]I think what Wally means is that sometimes when a horse has high withers the saddler will use a narrow saddle to make the saddle clear the withers, but this can mean that the saddle is actually pressing on the withers.[/QUOTE

Thats when the muscle wastage starts.:rolleyes:

[eml]

A high withered horse may actually need a bigger width to accomodate actual width, we have a narrow horse with no wither and one in a mediumwide with a cut back head to accomodate wither.

A narrow saddle may appear to clear the wither on a high withered horse but not actually fit elsewhere