Saddle Fitting

[Round Brim Hat]

[Round Brim Hat]

So I also noticed something else on the tree that I should have caught earlier...the rawhide where the stirrup leathers go is not bonded down to the wood, not sure if this is a flaw in the tree or if its something I can put staples in to keep it down. I would be nervous about stapling it down and cracking the rawhide.

Kronic

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Kronic,

It is hard to say anything for sure just from pictures and conversation on the net, but here is what we are thinking at the moment. The fact that removing the stirrup leathers makes a big difference tells you that the stirrup groove is too shallow for your leathers (which you have seen on the tree), so the leathers are increasing the rock and creating a pivot point and a pressure point on your horses. Is this the area they were sore last summer?

The fact that removing them didn't totally eliminate the problem tells you there more going on that just that. The powder is basically along the upper/inner edge of the bars, showing that the bottom of the bars are not touching the horse. The tree therefore has too much angle and or is too wide for these horses. So you have both the too wide and the too much rock problem happening which is what is causing the saddle to pull down in the front and pop up at the back. Pulling a too wide tree down on the front creates pressure points right where the black wear marks are on the first photos you posted and I expect that is where your horses were sore on the front end, and would explain why your broader horses didn't have the severity of problems your younger ones did.

The fact that the back of the right bar has no powder on it at all and the left has more could be just the way you powdered the horse or it could be the tree is twisted somehow. You may want to check that out more.

This would explain the reason behind the problems. I doubt that deepening the stirrup grooves, even if that were possible, would resolve your problems. There is too much else going on.

[Round Brim Hat]

Well to update everyone on what is going on with this. After calling and talking to Rod (which was a very big help thank you) I called the shop I got the saddle from. I have been talking to them about this just to see if they had problems in the past so they knew what was going on. So after talking to them today they told me to put it back together and send it down and they'll send me a new saddle. Only thing is I would like to be able to go down there and look at what I'm getting before I just say yeah I'll take that one over the phone. I'm also thinking I'm going to make a pattern of the horses back first using wire then possibly cutting it out in plywood and get kind of a set up built so I can possibly go down there with the pattern in hand instead of dragging a horse across Alberta.

I was very surprised over this that they are going to take it back with no issues even after using the saddle lightly for two years (didn't get used much since it didn't fit the horse). Just means I have to undo and modifications (which were minor) to the saddle.

Thanks for all your help.

Kronic