Please somebody help me get my Haflingers saddle sorted before i give up altogether!!

raggydoll

raggydoll

Hattie & Bimble
May 16, 2005
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North Lincolnshire
AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I am nearing the end of my tether now:mad:

Brief history, got my thorowgood griffin cob just after i bought bim last august. When we came to start cantering it slipped onto her shoulder. Got fitter who sold it to me out who said i was positioning the saddle wrong but that day bim was lame at trot so she never saw me canter. Her suggestion made no difference. Since then i have tried a curved girth (made it worse) and a barnsby grip pad (very slight improvement) Have also gone from no fish to thick fish as she has changed shape. Went back to person that sold it to me last month to say still no different and she said to take it to another saddlers ask them to add some flocking to the front to lift it up and then she would come out and have a look. I wasnt happy with this so got a fitter my RI has used out to have a look. He said it was over flocked and he could make any adjustments to it until he had reflocked it and took it to do that.

My newly flocked saddle was returned to me today, it is nice and soft now instead of rock hard HOWEVER it made no difference what so ever - it still slips forward :mad: so the saddle fitter put more flocking in the front, no different, he put as much as he could in without tipping it and still no difference. Fitter concluded that the only explanation he could find was that the tree was flexing to much allowing it to slip over her shoulder:confused: no mention of the forward girth groove. He said i need a new saddle but not to get one yet as she is probably building topline at the mo so wait a month or so or until she is muscled up and then have her fitted for a new saddle.

I could cry. We have come soooo far since i bought her but now we are at stand still. I am considering finding someone who will make a saddle to fit her - any recomendations? IU have been through every saddle fitter here and ther are either crap or dont come out to me. I am totally at a loss as to what to do next. The annoying thing is that for the 10 seconds or so before it slipped we had the most beautiful canter. Somebody help me with what i shoud do, who i should go to? Anyone got a haffie? What saddle do you have? What companies make saddles to fit the horse? HELP ME:( :(
 
this is she in her saddle incase anyone has any thoughts

100_0568.jpg
 
Oh Sian, sorry to hear your not having much luck :( Sending you a big Minty hug your way :D

Ooh, definately check out that treeless option. You never know?
 
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WHat a nightamre :(

I can see why it slips forward though, cos apart from her shape (narrowing towards the front) the girth groom is seriously forward of the girth straps. No wonder it's trying to pull the saddle forwards. I'm suprised the curved girth didn't help :confused:

So suggestions - try a Wintec WIDE saddle, or even a normal wintec if she's not too wide. They seem to be better for not sliding forwards.

Consider getting a saddle company saddle made, but that will be expensive.

Try a treeless - unless you're planning to do loads a showing, a normal, cheap treeless (barefoot etc) might be the answer.
 
As ever thanks pinks lady :) a couple of questions tho

1. she has an xwide thorowgood but with thick fish in so am i right in thinking that her current correct size is wide?

2. We arent doing any shows at the mo but i am quite tempted to try it some time and i would like to work on our jumping - is a treeless going to be suitable?

3. Ive heard not so good things about treeless saddles not distributing weight correctly so i am a little apprehensive about going that route - any thoughts?
 
We have the very same problem with our Hafflinger. After 3 yrs of trials, we finally found one that's not perfect but as close to d*** is to swearing.

Let me see if I have the info on it & I'll get back to you.

Also, I believe it was KarinUS that mentioned a girth with a curve in it for a saddle that has that tendency to slip forward.

There's also a crupper that you could use.
 
Try a native pony saddle - or search on the highlandponyenthusiatists forum for all the threads there about saddles - Highlands have exactly the same problems!!

Treeless certainly seem to work for HiPos - and the other way to go is a working hunter style saddle - they are straighter cut, so they sit in the correct place without hindering the shoulder.
 
Another vote for treeless here, it has solved my Highland problem. I have an SBS which is not a cheap option but has been well worth it. Good for me as a tall person on a short backed round pony.

Years ago I had a Thorowgood on a Highland and it was never satisfactory, but at the time I could not spare the money for a fancy one. We then got a second hand Barnsby fitted by a saddler and that was much better.
The Ideal H&C (Highland and Cob) is a good saddle, reasonable price for the quality, have used that in a very wide Highland too.
 
Not sure that a barefoot would be much different, my treefree likes to sit forward (just as if it's got a life of it's own :) )& if I try to put it further back ruffles his coat as it gets itself sorted. Though I must admit it doesn't go up his withers just a couple of inches further forward than I'd like. Am glad I read this post Raggydoll as I was considering getting a moon girth & now I know it won't work, thank you. The only thing I can think of to help you is a crupper as this would stop the saddle moving forward, you can get them quite cheaply in webbing so might be worth a try, good luck.
 
1. she has an xwide thorowgood but with thick fish in so am i right in thinking that her current correct size is wide?
Click to expand...

umm........ (having to have a think).........yep, she's be a wide.

2. We arent doing any shows at the mo but i am quite tempted to try it some time and i would like to work on our jumping - is a treeless going to be suitable?
3. Ive heard not so good things about treeless saddles not distributing weight correctly so i am a little apprehensive about going that route - any thoughts
Click to expand...

Don't know much about treeless. I wouldn't buy one personally except as a last resort, but I know a lot of people love them and they can solve a lot of problems. As they are flexible, it doesn't matter if it slide forward a bit. Some are more traditional-looking than others, and easy enough to jump in.

I'd second the Ideal Hidhland and cob saddle - they're lovely, BUT they don't work for all horses. One little cob has one and it STILL rides up terribly on her shoulders. Definitly try one (and a saddle company saddle if you can) but they might not work.

GET A CRUPPER! They are comfortable for the horse if well fitted and will stop the saddle sliding forwards. Get one now as a makeshift measure until you get something else sorted.
 
It's too wide for her at the moment - the pommel is lower than the cantle when they should be level. So a wide fit would be too wide.
 
she looks to have no shoulders and a forward set girth groove, similar to my welsh a. long girth straps are good for that situation.
i would def look into treeless:)
 
just another quick thought can you wear a crupper to shows? I guess it depends on the show - ok then maybe i should ask which shows would you be allowed a crupper for? and is it a cr-u-pper or a cr-oo-per?
 
It's too wide for her at the moment - the pommel is lower than the cantle when they should be level. So a wide fit would be too wide.
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NO, I won't say it was too wide. The Thorowgood cob saddles have a long cantle and the saddle looks quite well balanced to me. Pommels slightly lower, but not much (as it should be), and the seats the lowest point. If anythign I'd have said it was very slightly too narrow (lot of wither clearance), looking at that picture, but if it's been reflocked and she's on a slope, it'll be about right.

long girth straps are good for that situation.
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Yep, they do help too - all Pink's saddles have dressage length girth straps.

No idea about the crupper (how it should be spelt, though if you're on ebay, try various spelling ;)) and showing. Don't see why not apart from possibly poncy showing classes ;). Jumping should be fine
 
Are you sure it's wide enough? Have you tried taking the fish out? Slipping forward *can* be an indicator of too narrow.

I'm not fond of point straps, though they were definitely invented for horses with shapes like yours. Thing is, they still strap the points of the saddle down and cause shoulderblade interference.

I just saw something quite clever (on a Hennig dressage saddle with long billets). There was a horizontal slit in the flap, just behind the knee roll. The front billet was threaded through this slit. That enabled the billet to act somewhat like a point billet, but *without* being attached to the saddle's points. Seems to me that on any long-billeted saddle it would be *easy* to implement; you just need a nice sharp knife ;) and something to guide it with so that it cuts straight.

I have 2 local clients I'll be suggesting this to, one next weekend. We'll see if it helps them, with their wide-backed forward-girth-grooved no-shoulder-pocket horses.

I wouldn't suggest it for short billets, of course, but the move from short to long billets is quite easy.
 
My mum's haflinger now wears a wintec wide. His previous saddle used to slip forward when going down hills as he also has a very forward girth groove and a fat belly behind. We had also been having real problems with him humping his back whenever anyone got on him and discovered that the saddle that was fitted to him by a saddle fitter was far too long and too narrow. This one has less clearance than would be ideal but he is definately much happier in it.
 
another voice for treeless saddles here :) by 'not distributing weight correctly', do they mean the stirrup situation ie how the stirrups are attached and cause pressurepoints? i wouldn't worry about that unless you're planning on riding around in a light seat for hours and hours. i take my feet out of the stirrups for a bit every time i ride to give the stirrups a little rest. had the treeless for about a year now and it's fine.

Julia

x
 
i would contact the association of master saddler, find a master saddler in your area and get them to have a look at it. To me your saddle sounds completely the wrong shape for your horse. normal saddlers tend to be a bit useless at fitting saddles properly, you need a master saddler they often do home visits as well!
 
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