Don't know if anyone has mentioned the Boz saddle yet, so I will throw in my experiences. I bought my Black Beauty (leather seat) when I was riding a 14H, 750 lb. mare. Took a couple rides for me to get used to it compared to my old saddle, but she never had a problem w/it. Then started using it on a 15 H, 1000 lb, very wide, big butted Quarab. Again, it worked very well on him. I tried it out on several other horses - where the horse did not fit me - who were all different sizes, and they did fine w/it too. My next horse was a 14.3h, medium build - neither light build like the mare nor heavy like the Quarab, Arab-Saddlebred cross. Because of his Saddlebred part, he had very prominent withers, and I didn't like how close they were in the gullet of the saddle. All the other horses were ridden w/the standard 1" pads. I talked w/Boz people, and they made me a shimmed pad - about l l/2" at the front and the 1" at the back. With the new pad, he did very well in the saddle. I now have a l3.3 h Icelandic pony. She is only 6 and has no withers at all, so I am still using the shimmed pad I had built for the last horse. She is doing really well in this saddle also. All of the above horses had good sweat marking on their sides over the whole pad area w/a dry strip right down their spines showing the saddle was never touching there. One of the things I really like about this saddle is, I get the plain pads. After each ride, I just wipe the pads down w/a wet cloth and the saddle is ready to go next time - no saddle pads/blankets to wash - ever. And I have never had a sore back on any of these horses. The pads are easy to change, because they attach w/wide velcro strips. But I have never had one slip either. To top it all off, the saddle is very comfortable for me. I never want to ride in anything else. They are a little pricey, but I would highly recommend the Boz to anyone.
Lonnie
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