Does anyone else have a horse with a very flat back?

[angelfben]

Scoured the county for a saddle fitter I was happy with to check my new saddle, eventually found a master saddler that was highly recommended to me and prepared to travel to me - and very nice he was too

Anyway it turns out I have a very strange shaped horse!

He said initially he though the saddle would be too narrow as it sat quite high, but then when he checked there was no tightness or pressure and plenty of room, it was just that he had no real wither for the saddle to sit over.

He watched me ride and deduced that there was definitely no pressure points and my saddle was really a very good fit (*phew*) but that because of the shape of his back there was quite a bit of movement with the back of the saddle. He's going to try a slightly narrower gullet as Alps is borderline between sizes and see if that helps the saddle sit a bit stiller, but it may be too narrow for him.

Alternatively he said it shouldn't cause any problems as I always use thick Nuumed sheepskin numnahs anyway and there are no pressure points.

My physio did say he has some tension and sorenes across his back where the back of the saddle sits, but we were not sure if this was his old saddle or his new one. She's coming back in 4 months to look at him again so if the soreness has returned then I'll know it's his new saddle!

Does anyone else have a very flat backed horse? How do you get on with saddle fitting etc? Alps isn't especially 'cobby' which is what surprised me about the shape of his back

 

[Alex T]

mine does or at least its very straight!!she is an arab and an xxwide!!im yet to find a saddle that fits
when you say movement do you mean it comes off his back like this

this saddle is the most recent one iv had fitted shes muscled up and it is now too narrow for her and therefore the pressure is in the middle of the saddle about where the stirrup bars are.she now has small pressure lumps here

if the saddle moves id be very reluctant to say it fits especially if it is bouncing( im no expert although having to learn fast)

the last time i had the saddler out we tried a dressage saddle which had an extra deep gusset (bit at the back which is sitting off my horse in the pick)
this seemed to fit very nicely and is so far the only saddle that actualy touched her back!shame i dont want a dressage saddle really
the saddler did say she may need the extra deep gusset as she has such a straight back!!

hope this kind of helps as for actualy finding a saddle im thinking of getting one made for a resonable price of £650 but the saddler is on holiday so im just waiting for the phone call

 

[Daffy Dilly]

Yes

But we don't have any problems at all with the saddle moving. It's a specialist saddle though, truly built for natives, so perhaps that's why.

 

[Tots N Dots]

yes! I was gutted as i had saved my brand new Bates Caprilli for Pickle, but bates and wintecs have a very curved tree from front to back
so that was a no go, he is also and Arab cross and is seeming to get wider
Poohsmate off here (bless him) came along and had a look at him, I was interested in the Saddle Company saddles as Pickle is only 4 and will still change shape some more and the Saddle Company saddles have an adjustable gullet
I had to have it reflocked as it still needed to be flatter front to back, but at least Pickle is at least getting a little bit of wither I have also had to go for the working hunter style dye to his very chunky shoulders

see he is a great shelf

 

[coss]

how old is your pony? i have an arab with a flat back

but his withers seem to have developed as he's got older, when i first got him he had basically none, i would say around the age of 10 you could start saying he had withers
my first saddle was a 16.5 gp and it fitted (luck not judgement!) but that was a mw, at the end of last year when he'd muscled up a bit i was starting to think it was a bit tight, over winter he had no work but got fat (on chaff and winter grass ) and when i tried the saddle on march-ish it was pinching at the back, lead him in it to see and he bucked/reared etc so promptly took it off. I had the woman from "Fusion saddles" out to me and she brought a selection of saddles and commented on his back etc. he has long loins so needs a short saddle... i have long thighs so need a long saddle
she said that he need an XW (for his width) - from the MW - and i'm meant to be getting the saddle with gel foam panels as they curve more at the back so the seat is big enough for me without putting so much pressure on his back near his loins (he really needs a 15" saddle but my bum is much bigger than an 8 year olds!) if the saddle is bouncing then it doesn't fit and i would say it was too narrow (i think) although if the horse is tense the saddle will bounce in a different way to when the horse is relaxed - noticable on the lunge but a rider tends to hold the saddle on the horse if it fits properly.
This is the only photo i can find at the moment that sort of shows his back

If any of that helps then yey... if not, i lost track of what i said

 

[bellazebra]

Yes, both of mine have very flat backs and one is on an X Wide tree, the other is on an XX Wide tree despite having just had lots of time off work and lost all his muscle.

When the saddler came up, he took one look at Luke's back and told me to eff off.

 

[angelfben]

Oooh I'm not alone then

if the saddle moves id be very reluctant to say it fits especially if it is bouncing

He said there is some movement when he'd rather see none at all, but he said we do have to bear in mind I was riding in it with no numnah so he could see any movement and he's obviously looking for even the slightest movement. Obviously any movement isn't ideal but he didn't see it would be causing him any discomfort or problems, just something we want to eliminate if we can.

yes! I was gutted as i had saved my brand new Bates Caprilli for Pickle, but bates and wintecs have a very curved tree from front to back

Oh and of course I've just gone out and bought him a brand new Wintec GP for jumping... How typical *sigh*

how old is your pony?

Alps turned 11 a couple of weeks ago, he definitely seems to lose his withers even more so in summer though, and it's not even really fat he just 'fills out' and muscles up more along his topline - maybe I need a winter saddle and a summer saddle?!

When the saddler came up, he took one look at Luke's back and told me to eff off.

Here he is anyway, don't think I have any decent 'back shots' will see if I can get some but gives you an idea. He's Hanoverian x Welsh and I think he definitely inherited the Welsh Cob back!

 

[teabiscuit]

i've been told that the ideal working hunter saddle is good for horses with shapes like that- i think it was Baxter on here that told me that.

 

[parsharainbow]

yes! I was gutted as i had saved my brand new Bates Caprilli for Pickle, but bates and wintecs have a very curved tree from front to back

i was just going to say that the thoroughgoods however are quite 'flat' if its synthetic saddles that you're after.

Liking your shelf by the way

 

[touchstone]

Yep I've got one with a flat back too!

The Ideal Apex H&C is the only saddle that would go near mine; I had to specially order it in an xxx-wide

It does fit well though after trying loads of different makes. They are supposed to fit Arabs well too.