Frequently, we are asked about fitting saddles to developing, young or out of shape/ out of work horses. The question is usually whether the rider should wait until the horse changes shape or whether they should get a saddle immediately so that they can work on getting the horse in shape..
There are many things to consider in this situation. One wants to develop the horse through riding and ground work but without a saddle that can be challenging. Typically, as fitters, we can only fit what we have in front of us and unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball to predict how the horse will develop.
Young horses, as they gain muscle and strength, can change quite a bit structurally. Some “pop” a wither, some develop enormous shoulders and still some get leaner. A horse that has been out of work will develop muscle, and depending on the breed, may bulk up or lose weight. Most horses in good work will build their topline, often filling in on either side of the spine and sometimes what was a scoopy topline becomes flatter as the muscle builds and the abdominals get stronger.
If you are familiar with the line that your horse comes from and there is trend in how that line typically develops, that can be helpful to know. Thoroughbred horses, for example, generally have a similar build with slight variations. Even young, most will develop in a similar and predictable way. Of course,there are exceptions to every rule. Most Quarter horses are of a type as well, stocky, round and so on, but we do see more variety in them. Arabs and Morgans, although typically the type that require hoop trees can be far less predictable longitudinally and laterally. The same is true with many of the Baroque breeds. Certainly, some are curvier and/or more angular than what is generally the norm. If you have a cross then the ability to predict the developmental outcome becomes that much more challenging.
So, how does one choose a saddle? Should you wait or buy now? There are different thoughts on this. If you have the time to focus on groundwork with long lining, longeing, etc, then by all means work on that to build up the horse. If the need is more immediate and you need a saddle as soon as possible, understand that the horse may change enough in the future that a different saddle may be necessary down the road.
Saddles with an adjustable gullet system, if the general fit is good, can be useful with a changing horse, particularly wool flocked ones.. However, keep in mind that the only change is the gullet plate. The rails or lateral and longitudinal shape remain the same and may not accommodate substantial changes in the future.
Recently, I checked on a saddle that I had fitted late fall of last year. I had also done a wither tracing at that time. The horse had not worked over the winter and although ten years old was really just beginning to do more meaningful work under saddle. Previously, the owner had done a lot of Parelli ground work. Fast forward a few months. The saddle seemed to be pommel low and she brought the saddle to the shop to have the flocking adjusted. I “bumped” it up quite a bit. Two weeks or so passed and we made an appointment for me to stop by her farm and check on the horse and the saddle. It was still a bit low in front but not bad. I decided to do another tracing. Holy moly! I like to use a different colored marker on the same original tracing so that one can track the developmental changes in the horse. Before, the horse’s tracing had looked like I put the bendy ruler over an oil drum. The second tracing showed a far more angular, although still wide wither. The change was remarkable! This change was more extreme than the usual ones we see. We opted to use a correction pad with a bit more flocking also added to the saddle for now because the horse will have the winter off. I suggested that we see how the mare comes out of the winter and then make some choices. It may be that the saddle will need to be narrowed if she doesn’t bulk up again or she may wind up having to use a correction pad if she does bulk up over the winter and then loses weight when under saddle again. Her topline stayed more consistent, though there were some changes.
As I mentioned earlier, we have to fit what we have in front of us at the time. We can’t go narrower, hoping the horse will lose weight. We can go slightly wider and use a correction pad, assuming the horse will build muscle. An OTTB might come off the track very lean and the temptation would be to go with a very narrow and angular saddle to clear the wither. My suggestion would be to make sure the saddle had the proper panel support such as a deeper front panel and perhaps wither or full front gussets but I might also want to use a correction pad to allow for some muscle development. If an undeveloped horse is fitted too tightly, there is no place for the muscle to build.
As much as I would like to be able to tell a customer that the chosen saddle will be their “forever saddle”, it just isn’t possible. If only we had a crystal ball!