Ridecamp: Re: [RC] need a saddle for a very tall man...do they make them?

Hi Dreamazon,
    Welcome to The Great Saddle Hunt!  Here are a couple of things to ponder:
1. A lightweight saddle won't be strong enough to support your fiance's weight and protect his horse's back so a heavier saddle would be better.  The few extra pounds won't bother the horse and, in fact will help him.  In my opinion, for a large rider, a 40-45 lb. saddle built on a sturdy rawhide wrapped wooden tree is a much better choice than a lightweight saddle built on a non-wood tree.  Wood trees don't bend under weight, some of the other materials do.  Your fiance should seek the most protection for his horse's back he can get.
2. You may very well have to pay more for the saddle than for the horse.  Many of us have.  A saddle is a unique piece of equipment because it works between two living, breathing, moving, feeling, thinking beings.  The closest human analogy is our shoes but they only have our feet to answer to, the pavement doesn't have feelings.  A saddle has to fit both the horse and the rider.  I'll bet your fiance shops for his clothes in stores catering to extra tall people and, even then, may have to have special alterations done to get legs and sleeves long enough.  Well, think of his saddle as a piece of clothing.  Most clothing is manufactured for "average" sized people and so are most saddles.  So, your fiance probably will have to have a saddle made specially to accomodate his long legs.
    Don't be too discouraged.  There are a number of saddlemakers who make very good saddles for reasonable prices and who even ask for the rider's inseam length when the saddle is ordered!  I'm most familiar with endurance saddle makers but some of them also make "western" type saddles.
    Good luck!
Laney

Ridecamp Guest wrote:

> Dreamazon smcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> My fiance has been looking for a synthetic or lightweight trail saddle for his new horse for about three months now.  Everywhere we go, it seems the distributors are saying he has to get it made custom for the length of his legs.  He is 6'4, and I know there are other tall men out there riding!  We do not want to pay more for the saddle than the horse, and that is what we've been face with.  Does anyone know of saddlemakers that include long fenders as an option?  Or is there any way to order fenders separately for a saddle?  I do not know where to look for this.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  fyi...we are looking for a 17-inch, full-quarter-horse bars saddle with long fenders (he is looking primarily for a western-type saddle).  It would be great if we could find something synthetic or lighter weight since he is so big.  We will use it primarily on trail and need to go fairly long distances.  Thanks in advance for any help
>


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