Flop Era

So . . . I bought the wrong saddle. But it's not my fault! I specifically asked the seller if it was the high wither version of the T8 saddle. She said yes, and the panels did have a drop to them. Like, I literally went back and forth between her pictures and Thorowgoods, and they looked identical. So I pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, it was the medium wither, boo!

It nearly went back on the market immediately until I started to compare it to the Circuit saddle my trainer originally had me in on Fuego. Y'all, just putting these things on my flat saddle rack . . . there was a huge difference in how they sat. The Thorowgood sat much higher and had significantly more clearance than the Circuit. That's not to say that the Thorowgood is better than the Circuit (tbh it was quite the opposite), but these are both "average" saddles in that they're medium tree, medium wither, average back, and yet they fit completely different. This echoes what I was saying in my last post: don't take a brand's word as gospel. At the end of the day, we live in a society. Companies are trying to sell you something. It's better to do some digging and better understand the type of horse that a brand might cater to, e.g. Stubben caters to A-frame, Thoroughbred types.

I learned the hard way . . . twice . . . that you should also be cognizant of the type of rider that a brand may cater to. First instance was when I had to pass on a Passier after I'd already purchased it because they're built for tall, long-legged Germans. Second is this damn Thorowgood.

I took some time before my last lesson to see how the Thorowgood compared to other saddles we've cycled through over the past year, with the exception of the Circuit that now lives at my home.

Would like to preface, none of these fit, hence the search for something different. We've tried to mitigate, but he needs something of his own at this point. This is also a learning experience for me

First I tried was the school saddle that Trainer T bought to replace the Circuit. I always thought it had better contact than the Circuit and confirmed when looking closer. What surprised me about all of these saddles is that they actually aren't bridging. They each had good consistent contact across the full panel. What we're struggling with is wither clearance, tree width, and shoulder shape. No idea what brand this saddle is, but it's a curvier tree, which likely contributed to it sitting better, even if it still wasn't the right fit.

Second saddle is the one I swapped to after realizing I could barely ride in Trainer T's new saddle. It's another student's saddle, and it fits me pretty well. Contact through his back was nice, but it ended up being too wide, which came as a surprise.

Last to check was the Thorowgood. Here's how it compares to the saddle I'm currently riding in:

Thorowgood on the left, current saddle on the right. Gusseted vs. Non Gusseted rear panels.

Much deeper panels. In this case, the Thorowgood is a slight drop panel and they're gusseted at the front and back. These are typical on saddles made for higher withers, which made me think this was still worth trying. Ungirthed, I loved how it fit. Even contact with significantly more wither clearance, tho still not enough. I liked the shape of it against his shoulder as well. It checked off a lot of boxes, and I was excited to try it out.

Once I girthed it up though . . . not liking it as much. It has the point billets installed, which didn't work in our favor. It started to lift in the back whenever he cocked a leg. Still, I figured lets give it a shot.

Hard, hard pass. For clarity, what I purchased was the MGC Thorowgood T8. The MGC stands for medium wither, general purpose, compact panels. This thing fit me like a Dressage saddle. It was generally awful to sit in. It was super uncomfortable, which was shocking considering how many people gush about how comfy they find Thorowgoods. I can kind of hack in it so long as I don't sit the trot . . . or canter.

Neither of us are happy here. Lifting in the back and not enough flap for me.

Jumping was 100% a no go. I was fighting over the smaller fences. Trying to do a meter course in this saddle was impossible. I get that I have things to work on, but the flap is way too straight to do any serious jumping.

So yeah, we're quite literally back at square one . . .