5 Best Saddle for High Withered Horse

It is natural to search for the best saddle for high withered horse when you own an athletic riding type or other thoroughbreds.

These horse types have high withers that make fitting saddles hard. Generally, a lot of people believe that the solution to this would be to use a narrow saddle but this is a misconception that is not always true.

A lot of these horses have withers that taper into a broad, athletic back with a well-sprung rib cage. A narrow saddle on this type of horse will cause pain.

Best Saddle for High Withered Horses

High-withered horses can benefit from models with thicker gussets that fill in hollow areas behind the shoulders.

We have handpicked some of the top saddles for high withered horses below:

• Thorowgood T4, T8
• Wintec
• Kent and Masters

Thorowgood T4 Original GP – HGP

The High Wither Standard GP is a wonderful saddle known for its size, with a spacious seat, deep rear gussets and a small curvature in the tree.

This saddle is mainly ideal for horses with an apex shaped back and is a great saddle to pick for beginner riders.

This saddle is mainly designed for high-withered horses, like the Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds, with panels and tree uniquely crafted to provide you maximum wither clearance.

It is very light and caring to your horse’s back, and is recommended by the Veteran Horse Society and the Veteran Welfare Trust.

It extremely comfortable seat provides you with more in-saddle comfortability and security.

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Lastly, its versatile GP is forward enough to allow for cross-country and jumping as well as hacking and schooling.

Luxurious suede-effect seat covering and knee pads are non-slip and really comfortable to ride on.

 ALSO SEE: Kieffer Bridle Review

Thorowgood T4 Compact GP – HGC 

The second on our list of the saddles for high withered horse is the Thorowgood T4 Compact G4.

This saddle has a small flatter tree on the underside and a small panel that lets the rider feel closer to the horse, but is still deep enough to ensure the highest clearance along the length of the spine of a high-wither conformation.

Yes, the seat is true to size, but it offers a unique feel to the Original GP and small riders or those with a narrower hips may feel this suits them better.

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This saddle is perfect for shorter backed, high withered horses and those wide spinal processes.

• High wither dressage
• HDR/HDM/HDS

The deeper gusseted panel makes sure there is very high clearance along the length of the spine, making this horse saddle great for shorter backed, high withered horses and those with wide spinal processes.

 

Thorowgood T8

The T8 saddles makes use of the same model design the T4 saddles use and are produced from quality leather seat, knee pads and trim with a synthetic underside.

This extra luxury provides the feel of riding on an all leather saddle, while keeping the saddle light in weight.

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• High wither GP (HGP)
• High wither compact GP (HGC)
• High wither dressage with surface mounted block (HDS)
• High wither dressage with moveable thigh blocks (HDM)

ALSO SEE: Collegiate Saddle Review

Kent and Masters High Withered Saddles

Kent and Masters is basically a primary full leather version of Thorowgood saddles. It boasts of a similar range in design and fit.

Kent and Masters have designed a high wither saddle option for both their GP saddles and dressage saddles.

• Surface dressage block – It comes with a large surface mounted thigh block that aids the rider better enjoy comfort and stability while riding. The slim panel too offers a close contact feel.
• S-Series Dressage Moveable block – It is created with a moveable support block, secured by Velcro under the saddle flap, that can be positioned to suit the rider. The design of this saddle is arched to make you feel close to your horse.
• Original dressage –  It has a moveable thigh block, that offers rider the flexibility to adjust the position to their preferred position.
• Original GP – This saddle features board panels that work super great and boasts of high wither gullet depths to meet the high with profile. This saddle is really versatile saddle and would suit a rider who needs to participate in hunting and jumping as well as schooling or hacking.
• S-Series Compact GP – Designed with a compact, neat seat for petite, slim riders, or those with narrower hips.

Other considerations

Drop Panels

Drop panels in a saddle provides you with more surface area that would sit in the hollow behind the wither on high wither horses.

Traditional panels are straighter, so do not support adding extra flocking to lift the saddle off the wither.

Front Gussets

The front gussets serve as an extra piece of leather stitched onto the front, that allows for more flocking in this area.

This is an ideal withered horse saddle that we recommend. It can be flocked to lift up the front, ridding pressures off the withers.

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