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Hello Dawn,
Datezz, grey arab, 16hh but narrow with high withers. Saddle is a 16" 
OrthoFlex Patriot. I removed the spacers and bolted the panels 
directly to the tree. Just snug the bolts with glue on the threads, 
not tight, so the panel can still pivot. The saddle stays back off 
his shoulders, has lots of gullet space at the withers, panels never 
touch the spine, the cinch never gets pulled up into the elbows and 
never causes any chaffing, the horse has lots of freedom of movement 
and can reach for and get a treat held at his flanks without the 
panels jabbing into his shoulders. I have used this saddle on this 
horse for 7 years and we have completed over 30 50's without any saddle issues.
Good luck with your search,
Don Huston

At 09:49 AM 10/8/2007 Monday, you wrote:
> We're hoping the collective experience of you RCers can provide some 
> ideas here...
> Can anyone suggest some saddles that will fit a horse that has a 
> very prominent spine, is rafter-sided (ribs are not 
> well-sprung...rather, they slant downward.  This is a 13 yr old paso 
> Fino gelding.  He's currently being ridden in a treeless saddle 
> (Barefoot Cheyenne), but his spine is so prominent that on hilly 
> rides the spine is impacted by the rider's seatbones, and he gets a 
> small bump on his spine.  His back is more muscled up now due to 
> being worked in frame and rounded (not hollow), but that spine is 
> still very prominent, and always will be.  He needs a treed saddle 
> to give spine clearance.  He's very narrow, so needs a narrow 
> tree...but with good flare/clearance for the shoulders, as he has a 
> *very* laid back shoulder and is very sensitive to any impingement 
> on it.  He also has quite high withers.
>
> At this point my husband (the rider) doesn't care if it's an English 
> style or western style saddle...just wants some ideas to investigate 
> that will work for the horse.
>
> Any ideas?
> Dawn Carrie, Texas

Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif  



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