No Withers

Horses with no wither or no clearly defined wither, are limited in the choice of saddle that will suit.
The tree needs to be fitted very carefully for this conformation - a flatter tree with flatter rails which is wide enough at the top of the arch to let out across the withers and with long enough points to get some purchase either side of the wither.
Otherwise the saddle will sit too far off the back, and the saddle will slip forwards or to one side.

A wider gullet in the saddle that fits a horse with higher withers rarely works.
If the fit looks right across the front, the back of the saddle will be off the horse’s back, causing all the rider’s weight to be taken by the points and the stirrup bars
Likewise if the rails of the tree are at too great an angle, excess pressure will be taken on the outside edge of the rail – and this can happen however flat the panel looks.

Good choice - very wide arch needed in this saddle THIS WORKS

Saddle sitting behind shoulder and not slipping forward THIS WORKS

Saddle slipping forward on to withers - horse looks short in front and rider is ineffective THIS DOES NOT WORK

Saddle tipping rider forward, causing strain in rider's back - disproportionate amount of weight over front third of saddle. Foregirth in use to prevent saddle going up neck THIS DOES NOT WORK

	Flatter tree shorter points, flatter rails Curved tree,longer points more suitable for high wither conformation	Realistically, nobody gets to see or choose the tree in their saddle but these illustrations are here to concentrate the mind and demonstrate that at The National Saddle Centre we have addressed these issues and have saddles on suitable trees for this type of horse

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NSC saddles which address the above General Purpose/Jumping - Horse – Highland and Cob, The New Grandee
General Purpose/ Show/Jumping - Pony Classic, Marjorie Show, Pony Pro Jump
Dressage - The Original Dressage and the New Aotearoa Mark 2 Flat Back Pro Dressage