Question for users of Synergist saddles

["Tracey Zellmann" <Tracey_Zellmann@notes.teradyne.com>]

I am hoping that someone with experience on a Synergist saddle can give me some
advice. I bought a Synergist saddle about two years ago, and I have been using
it on my Quarter Horse. I had his back measured with a SaddleTech gauge and the
tree built to those measurements. However, I am having saddle fit problems. It
seems to be too tight behind his withers. I will be taking my horse and saddle
to Equine Affaire in West Springfield, MA this November to have Dave Genadek
look at it. He seems to be a very knowledgeable saddle maker and has an
informative video. He has a web site at http://www.aboutthehorse.com, which has
given me some more insights. This is my first horse, so I have limited
experience, but I think I see a problem. The saddle seems to be designed for
Arabians. The billets are slanted forward, to allow the girth to be fastened in
front of the "belly-bulge." However, I do not think my horse is built that way.
He is not a typical QuarterHorse. He is flat sided, high withers and somewhat
long-backed. When I tack him up, the saddle seems to fit OK. I attach the girth
and make it snug but not tight. After I ride for a while, the girth seems to
shift back and become vertical. The saddle pad also shifts back. It seems this
would make the saddle tip forward and would cause the saddle to be bearing down
in front. I could imagine that a solution to this would be to alter the billet
attachment so that it was vertical to begin with. Then I could set up the girth
in a manner that it would stay in position, without tilting. I might even put in
two girths, one in front and one in back. The rigging is in-skirt. Before I
contemplate that level of modification to the saddle, I wanted to see if anyone
else has faced a similar problem. Overall, I like the saddle, particularly the
fenders. However, I think it is not fitting my horse well and I have to solve
that. He gets dry spots behind his withers.



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