Hello all, hope you all rode this weekend and had some good weather wherever you all live...
anyway, I have a question about a saddle we bought for my husband.
We bought him an Abetta sport saddle in a size 18 seat. He's a heavyweight, but the saddle fit him well, and he was comfortable. I also liked the way it positioned his legs. He had good alignment from shoulder, hip to heel. We tried this at the store.
Then, the hard part...fitting to the horse. The horse he was going to ride (just a walk, and maybe a trot at this point) is an arabian paint cross. She is built husky, but not too bulky, however, she does have a funny back to fit.
The saddle fit nicely at the withers and comfortably behind the shoulder so she had movement. But what we noticed to our disappointment was that there seemed to be some "bridging" underneath and behind the seat area, and also the length of the saddle (due to it being a size 18 in Western) was right at her loin area. I didn't like that cause it looked like it would rub there.
She seemed to appreciate the "liteness" of this saddle I noticed and she was quite quiet for the fitting.
Anyway, what I would like to find out before I take it back is can bridging cause real problems for her, and also the length...is there another similar type saddle that wouldn't have the back so long. I'm not too familiar with western/endurance type saddles so I don't know what that portion of the saddle is called, so I'm sorry to not be able to be real specific in that area.
Anyway, I we also don't want to spend a ton of money on a saddle for him, because he doesn't ride that much, and is just learning all over again; plus this horse won't be the one he'll ride long term as he is not experienced enough to handle her properly yet. She is a very enthusiastic horse and can be a little strong at times.
