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ABOUT THE FIT OF THE SADDLE

The bars should lie parallel to the angle of your horse's shoulders, give or take about 10%, according to the Society of Master Saddlers.

Remember, apart from the tree seat, which does not touch the horse, since it sits over the stuffed panels, and apart from the metal bars, everything else on a saddle is flexible leather and stuffing.

When you put a saddle on your horse, check the shoulders to make sure there is no pinching. Run your hand between the shoulder of the horse and the saddle to be sure your hand is not squeezed. Look at the pommel and the withers. There should be space over the withers - never should the saddle sit on them.

However, many people believe that if there is lots of space between withers and pommel the saddle is too narrow. This is not necessarily true.

On horses with low or no withers, there will always be a space under the pommel. This does not hurt your horse. Furthermore, whether there is space, or how much, will depend on the shape of the pommel arch - for example, some saddles have a low pommel arch while others have a high arch, and often the high arch is created in order to create seat depth, as in many dressage saddles.

The shape of the pommel arch is independent of the width of the tree.

Note about Duett Rondo and Trail models

These are designed with a wider than usual pommel arch in the wider trees ... not JUST wider bars. In this way, the panels are spread further apart and will better fit your broad-backed horse. This will make the saddle more comfortable for your horse as well as more stable on his back.

So don't worry unduly about that space. Rather, after making sure the angle of the bars is correct, check two more things:

1. The balance of the saddle on the horse ... make sure it is level and does not tip either backward or forward. The cantle should be as high as the pommel or higher, but not lower than the pommel.

2. Check for bridging ... lift the flaps and make sure that the panels make contact all along their length with the back of the horse. Do keep in mind that the way the saddle sits on the horse will change when their is (your) weight in the saddle. Thus, some slight bridging may well disappear.

Keep this in mind also: both slight imbalance (assuming the saddle bars are the right width) and bridging are easily corrected by a saddle fitter in a saddle with wool flocking.


Remember that you are responsible for making the decision on fit (tree width, seat size). A saddle fitter can help you make this decision. Also, it is not uncommon for a saddle to require flocking adjustments--saddles are flocked to fit a "hypothetical horse," and if your horse's topline differs, you may find the saddle does not sit quite as nicely on the horse as you wish. In this case, we suggest that you contact a saddle fitter to determine if a flocking adjustment will improve fit.


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