Originally posted by KarinUS
Do they have an explanation why the majority of saddles are designed narrower in the back?
Do they have any preferences or suggestion?
Explanation:
People want a more narrow twist, and in order to get the narrow twist, the gullet is made narrower. You can get around the appearance of the gullet narrowing towards the middle by making the front look nice and wide. Most people never even look at the back. I certainly didn't.
Suggestions:
Several.
1) Find a saddle that fits better. When asked for suggestions of brand names, he just shrugged. Said that the saddle industry fluctuates heavily, and a saddle that becomes popular usually goes down in quality almost immediately as the company tries to cope with increased production for increased demand.
He said that County and Schleese saddles are definitely made with quality control, individually made and well done. He also liked Passier. But he also said that you can't count on something that is good today still being good tomorrow. And some brands that are sloppy today were quite good in their day. You just have to examine each individual saddle to see if it is any good.
2) A saddle that was made with quality materials can sometimes be altered. You can take the saddle apart and change the shape or placement of the panels to make it a consistent width across the gullet. Since I am not putting my Courbette back on a horse in its current condition, I'm planning to take it apart and see what I can do. I'll surely post with my results even if it's disappointing.
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