# Small pony sadles



## dangerranger (Mar 9, 2014)

Our youngest granddaughter wants to show this year so we got her a small pony saddle. The saddle fits the pony's back well but is still a little big for the grand. She is 4 and still under 35 lbs. Her legs are too short for the stirrup's. What I'm thinking of doing is making a set of stirrup leathers [ like an English saddle ] till her legs grow a little. The current fender wont let the stirrup up any higher. The top of the stirrups will end up only about 3" below the saddle skirt.

Has anyone else had to do something like this? Is there any reason I shouldn't ? Its good to know before I start. Thanks DR


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## chandab (Mar 9, 2014)

I've seen commercial stirrups like you are talking, used on adult saddles, here are some: http://www.horse.com/item/mustang-nylon-kiddy-up-stirrups/E005691/ I honestly don't know how safe it is, but at 4, I doubt your grand daughter will be doing something like barrel racing with them, so its up to you as to how safe you feel your grand daughter will be.


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## dangerranger (Mar 10, 2014)

Chandab, She will only be in walk and jog classes this year. She has a set of stirrups like those But they are set too far forward. they hang off the horn. I want to hang these off the tree as they should be. She has been lead lined in Gymkhana last year, but this year she wants to show and next year be Rodeo Queen! At least she knows what she wants! DR


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## Performancemini (Mar 10, 2014)

Dangerranger, I understand what you mean. My sister has always had that problem. She is only 4' 8" tall (as an adult) and really needs the 15" seat western saddle; but the fenders on them also don't go up short enough for her (her legs are kind of short too). She even tried the youth 14" saddles, but they still didn't work right. Since she isn't showing, she just went to an english saddle. But I would think you could do like you mentioned. If you can't do it yourself, I think a good leather repair shop or harness repair shop could do it for you. I wouldn't think it would cost too much. We have an amish harness shop within an hour of us that does just about anything we need for more than reasonable prices.


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## amysue (Mar 10, 2014)

Can you un buckle the whole stirrup leather and fender and swap them out with leathers from a smaller saddle?


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## Marty (Mar 11, 2014)

_The current fender wont let the stirrup up any higher._

Oh yes it will! LOL!!! Former horse show mom here would love to share some hints!

I had this same problem with my boy's saddles but it is fixable. You have to unbuckle the whole fender and where you would normally hike it up into the top hole, you just keep on pulling and pulling. Its hard. My husband had to do it. You pull it way way way high up past all the holes to the very top of it. It will become wide but that's ok. Keep going. Don't cut it or anything, just keep yanking it. until it becomes too wide to go anymore. I think we used pliers at some point.

For leadline and walk classes, we then added a 2 X 4 block. We cut it out to fit inside the bottom of the stirrup, I would say about 2" wide or so, and duct taped it in. Just wrapped it around and around the block of wood and the stirrup. Then we set his little foot in it. On top of the block so his foot would rest on the wood part. His chaps covered it so it didn't show. It gave him good support. Chaps can hide a multitude of sins. But if she isn't wearing any, be sure her pants are way long. Cuff them up before your class and when she is mounted, let them down.


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## dangerranger (Mar 13, 2014)

Thanks All! I knew someone had been through this before. This is a very pretty little saddle that she could be in for awhile. I don't want to cut or mark up the fenders, so Ill just replace them with a 2" belt. That would let me pull them up all the way to the saddle skirt if need be. And as she grows I can put the fenders back on. I do like the idea of blocking the stirrups, kind of like blocking her trike pedals! Ill post up pics when she does her first show later this month. Thanks again DR


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## Marty (Mar 15, 2014)

At the very top of the fenders, way way up underneath the skirt, there will be a built in clip. Probably brass. It opens and closes and is very hard to open. That's what you need to keep open when you bring the fenders up. No cutting or anything and they won't move out of that space.


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## dangerranger (Mar 15, 2014)

Marty, I don't see any clip. the fender goes up under the skirt, over the bar [ tree ], and back down between the bar and padding. I would have to cut away a lot of the fender to get it over the bar. I found a weight lifters belt that I can make two mini fenders from. Ill just dye them to match. Its about 6" wide and about 6' long.


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## paintponylvr (Jul 27, 2014)

I always like pictures. Did you get any of your grand daughter and her saddle with your fix?

I'm sooooo jealous!!! Our daughters all started riding in 1995 - when they were 5 yrs, 32 and 23 months old. The two grand daughters are now almost 4 and 2 1/2. Neither is happy with the ponies and I've been a little heart broken and disappointed...

Since they aren't into the ponies, I wonder where their interests will take them.


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