How do you evaluate saddle fit?

[doverpack12]

Looking to hear how anyone else evaluates saddle fit.
I’m not having issues but would like to get my pack saddles assigned to a horse and know they fit well.
Riding saddles I took the horses to a lady who fits them on the spot by first using a bent electrical wire to pick out saddles that might work, then you sit in them and pick out 5-6 you like then they go on the horse, no pad and she slides her hand between the back and bar feeling for how they fit. Instantly ruled out the bad fit. I’ve tried it and can sort of feel a bad fit but it’s pretty tough.
I’ve also bent my own wires ( one 4” back from the shoulder blade and one 4” off the spine along the back strap) for each horse and compared to my saddles and friends saddles.
I also compared those to my pack saddles and have an idea what material needs to be filed off.
I’ve read Smoke Elsers book and Bob Hooverstines book that each talk about fitting pack saddles by sprinkling flour on the back and filing the bars where the flour touches them until you get full contact.
Knowing a horses back is a roundish triangle if the bars fit perfect with no pad then adding a pad, especially a thick pack pad would make them too tight or pinch in my mind.

Curious what others do and how. I’ve set each pack saddle on their backs with all rigging removed and taken a good look at the bar fit.

 

[rayporter]

i use an adjustable pack saddle so i can adjust to stop hot spots. as a general rule adding more pads to fix sore backs if folly.

there are for sure a lot of sore backed equines out there.

 

[Coues123]

The methods you mentioned work well.
A poor fitting saddle is like a poor fitting backpack, miserable to carry. Just as packpacks have evolved, so have pack saddles. IMO you can't pad your way out of a really poor fitting pack saddle.
I quit fitting them 30 years ago when I got my first tree that had adjustable width forks and form fitting bars. I still have a few rigid bar pack saddles and use them on occasion as needed.
This did not answer your question but a possible long term solution.

 

[jthomas]

The methods you mentioned work well.
A poor fitting saddle is like a poor fitting backpack, miserable to carry. Just as packpacks have evolved, so have pack saddles. IMO you can't pad your way out of a really poor fitting pack saddle.
I quit fitting them 30 years ago when I got my first tree that had adjustable width forks and form fitting bars. I still have a few rigid bar pack saddles and use them on occasion as needed.
This did not answer your question but a possible long term solution.

Are you talking about the Philips Form Fitter saddle? In theory i like the idea of them. I have used them before but I kinda think about them like a boot, if the foot moves in the boot, you get hot spots. Won't you get hot spots if the saddle is constantly flexing and adjusting itself?

 

[rayporter]

the bars are hinged and can be spread out to fit wider backs. they dont continually flex.

 

[Coues123]

I use a similar version and have a Phillips.
I like the ability to spread the bars whenever.

 

[jthomas]

I like this style a little better than the Phillips. Aren't these made in BC? Where can you buy one of these saddles?

 

[Coues123]

I got mine from Wyoming Outdoor Industries.
They have been out of business for years.
I haven't been able to find anymore.
It looks like the one RayPorter showed has a tag on it. I hope he has a good source.

 

[rayporter]

the first one i got was from Wyoming outdoor. it is green and has horse bars.
the second one came from Canada. i believe it was from BC and was made there but i forget the name, it is orange and has mule bars. a friend bought one at the same time and it is orange with horse bars.

a mule was getting real nasty and was about to go to the killers. the saddle cured her and she turned into a good packer.

 

[jthomas]

View attachment 518251I use a similar version and have a Phillips.
I like the ability to spread the bars whenever.

I guess you can treat this saddle as a decker and Mantie loads on it? Do you use a half breed with it? I got in touch with the company they are located in British Columbia. So from what i gather on there website the green bars represent low wither and the orange bars are high wither both can be bought in a mule bar and a horse bar.

 

[Coues123]

I use a half breed.
I have a couple other Deckers I use for manties only because the pictured saddle the forks are square and the rope doesn't slide as well. If I was going to mantie most of my loads I'd get the type RayPorter posted. Decker rings would also work on it.
Can you post the contact information for the company.

 

[jthomas]

Custom Pack Rigging | The Best In The World

 

[doverpack12]

Thanks for that link. Really not a bad price for the tree. How have you guys determined to go with the high wither or low wither bars. Or the sawbuck bar?
My horses are all quarter horses right around 1000 pounds.
I have plenty of Latigos, cinches, britchen and breast collars so rigging one won’t be a problem.

 

[doverpack12]

I use a half breed.
I have a couple other Deckers I use for manties only because the pictured saddle the forks are square and the rope doesn't slide as well. If I was going to mantie most of my loads I'd get the type RayPorter posted. Decker rings would also work on it.
Can you post the contact information for the company.

How well do these version of pack saddles work to mantie loads? Seems the rope will want to pinch in that bar hinge area.

 

[bmart2622]

Not a fan of plastic bars, I do like the Phillips Formfitter pack saddle though. Lots of guides and outfitters who pack for a living have great things to say about them

 

[Coues123]

Definitely better forks/arches for mantie loads.

I got the adjustable forks thinking they would fit anything. Since I ride and pack everything I own, I've not found a horse/mule that it hasn't fit yet.

 

[Pony Soldier]

The interesting part is back in the middle 70s, I was working in the 7Devils in Idaho and found an adjustable pack saddle similar to those in an abandoned building. It didn't have half breeds or rigging, just the tree. I had just bought a couple forest service pack saddles with full rigging for $50 each so I left it. I hadn't seen anything like it since.

 

[Coues123]

Not a fan of plastic bars, I do like the Phillips Formfitter pack saddle though. Lots of guides and outfitters who pack for a living have great things to say about them

What makes you not a fan of plastic bars?
I have a Phillips and the adjustable forks/arches. The Phillips has the back sewn together and the only way to spread it would be heat the arches. Am I missing something in this equation?
Are we talking manties only.

I know us packers from the southwest are blasphemous pannier and bag packers but manties would last about a mile before the brush from our uncleaned trails has the mantie tarps torn to shreds.

 

[bmart2622]

I prefer a good wood tree. Ive owned probably 7 different pack saddles and used them on I dont know how many different horses and have never had a single issue with a decker not fitting and and causing any kind of soreness

 

[bmart2622]

I manty and use panniers but that doesnt factor into not using the pack saddle you are using