Stupid saddle!

[Mel953]

So I got excited and bought this beautiful tiny western saddle for my mini, without measuring anything on her first cause I'm an uncontrollable impulse buyer haha
Anyway, finally sat it on her today and nope, too big, too long and too wide... think I'm gonna have yo get a boring little pony pad for kiddies. I'm going to eventually saddle break her to be a lead pony for all my friends lil kids and thought this western would just be amazing. And it is, but it doesn't fit

 

[chandab]

That's darling, but not right fit for her.
Seems English saddles fit the minis better.

 

[Mel953]

Yeah looking at pony pads for her, dont need nothing fancy for her just yet. I jumped on the western cause it came on sale. Who can resist a sale right? Hahahah

 

[Dragon Hill]

That saddle is adorable! At least you have enough sense not to use it. I'm trying to remember if I have ever seen a mini with a saddle on that actually fit...

 

[rgsiiiya]

It is definitely hard to get good saddles for the minis.
The #8 saddles tend to fit a little better, but then the saddle is too small for most kids.
The #10's tend to cover their entire backs...But that's the nature of the beast.
Finding a saddle with a tree that fits is the hardest part unless you want to spend the money for a custom built saddle.

I ended up sticking with #10 saddles as the saddle is more comfortable for the 40# - 50# kids.
I use mini size saddle blankets under my saddles. Helps compensate for the minor misfittings.

The stirrup length is the next thing that is a challenge. My 6-year-old granddaughter's legs are soooo short, I had to cut some leather of the straps to get the stirrups high enough LOL

After some tweaking...both my boys now do very well with their saddles and riders.

 

[Mel953]

Thanks so much for your comment, she would only be a lead pony. She wont be trained for pony club or even trained with a bit and bridle. That's even if she takes to a saddle, she's quiet enough