Hello - I am new to this forum and was hoping someone might be able to help me out. I have a 15 year old arabian mare that I would like to start riding her dressage - She lost her left eye and I thought this would be a great way for her to trust me as a rider.

I am in need of a dressage saddle for her. I found one that I loved - it was a colligiate jessica 17" seat regular tree. It fit me perfectly and I am very comfortable in it. The problem is that she does not have much of a wither. When we put the saddle on her i could fit my whole fist under the pommel and it seemed to me that the saddle might be to narrow for her. Our friend thinks it is to narrow for her. As you looked down the sides the leg panels did not lay flat to here body there was alittle space.

Any help would be appreciated - I can take pictures of the saddle on her if that will help - The saddle is used and I have it on trial up until Tuesday. I have not actually tried riding her with it - I just basically sat it on her with no pad or girth. Does this change the fit?


I am new to english - i usually ride in a western saddle but my little girl is riding english and would like mommy to also.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Grey Affirm

Many Arabians are actually quite wide backed. I would suggest that you get some help from a saddle fitter if you can. You can even get advice long distance via measurements so that you can look for saddles that are good possibilities. I highly recommend Trumbull Mountain Tack. Their website has instructions for measuring for a saddle. If you send them the measurements they can recommend possible models and sizes for you. They sell new and used English saddles for dressage, jumping, and endurance/trail. I found them incredibly helpful --and quite knowledgeable about Arabian saddle fitting issues.

A visit with a saddle fitter is a great idea. I might also suggest at least visiting the Duett Saddle website. I came close to buying one, but there are so many saddles out there, I went with a different one. I have heard good things about there saddles for broad backed horses with low withers. Stay away from Wintecs.

The Duetts have "hoop" trees that are designed for the wide bodied horse (like many Arabians). Black Country also makes models with hoop trees (as do a few other manufacturers), but the Duetts are more moderately priced. (BTW, Trumbull Mountain sells Duetts --used and new.)

wide horses and "hoop" saddle trees

Duett saddles (at Trumbul Mtn)
Duett website

Also, amature looking into Dressage possibly. Here are some stupid saddle questions. Do saddles come in medium or wide or is there a medium/wide? I am looking at a saddle I asked what size she said med/wide. When I look through my catalogs I see med or wide? (I know saddles with changable gullets come differently)
When you say most arabs wear wide. That is a wide(for a horse) not a "wide" (as in warmblood,draft,cob type)? Curious.
I ended up buying a Wintec close contact for jumping because I have a variety of sized horses, quite amazed that my high withered 16.1 NSH measured Wide(low wide on the gullet system) and my 14.1 1/2 arab very little withered boy measured med/wide (on the gullet system) I thought my NSH would be narrow due to his high witheredness.
I was also considering a all purpose saddle. I will probably (short of the lotto) never be riding upper levels of dressage. I would like to say maybe 2nd level, but reality would be lower levels. What would be your thoughts on a all purpose?
Thanks
Rox

Dressage saddles come in many many tree widths and each saddle maker/company has their own system. Example: a wide for Stubben is actually a medium wide for Albion.

Your best bet is to find a tack store that will let you try a bunch of different saddles on her, so you know what will fit.

As Dawn mentioned, Trumbull Mountain is a great resource. They have instructions for obtaining correct tracings on their website. You send those in to them and Nancy at Trumbull will suggest various saddles, and ship you saddles that she feels would be an appropriate fit.

Another good resource (also in Vermont! is Colleen Meyer at Advanced Saddle Fit. Just google for their website -- it is a wealth of information. She is a master saddler and is wonderful to talk to. She is also making her own saddle now, which is very similar to the Albion, but about $1,000 less.

It is important to remember that there is much more to saddle fit than tree size. Tree shape, placement of stirrup bars, type of panels, gussetts, etc., all play a large role.

And as Tam said, one saddlers Medium might be another's wide. (I have a Sommer for sale that is stamped as a wide, but it is a 36cm tree. For other manufacturers, that would be called a XW or perhaps even an XXW.) So, it is important to go on actual measurements, and not just the medium, MW, or W tree designations!