I recently bought a young off the track  Standardbred speed racking mare.  She just turned 4, her croup is about 6" higher than her front end.  I'm hoping (!!!) this isn't her permanent shape.. have had her almost 4 months and it hasn't changed.    she's a sweet horse and is doing very well under saddle.  problem is,  due to her shape right now saddles don't fit very well and I don't want to make her back sore.

are there any pads or maybe saddles w/ shims anybody can recommend?   or should I just stay off her back a few more months and hope she levels out?    thanks!

My mare grew again at 4yrs. Up though. I would think the croup high is what she will be though. Use a treeless saddle. They wont hit at the shoulder blades because this IS where the treed saddle will hit a "down-hill" horse. I tried a Bob Marshall endurance saddle on my mare and absolutely LOVE it. Am going to look at two of them today. Hopefully I like one enough to buy today. I have owned one in the past and it is the way to go. No more saddle searching. I rode my mare hard for 4 days in a row out camping and no sore back. All the other saddles I have tried were making her sore. I have tried the freeform but didn't feel secure in it as the stirrups seemed to stretch when I posted on her. ( Her gaits are so rolly-polly) My mare both racks and will trot when asked as well. The Bob Marshall felt totally secure. The stirrups and fenders are set up differently than the other treeless saddles. A friend of mine has a Rocky Mountain gaited horse and he too is croup high. She has had all kinds of saddle fitting issues with him. She ended up getting a flex panel saddle. I thought she should go treeless  though. will be interesting to see if she has issues with this new saddle.

You can get the bob marshalls used but they go very quickly. They have a great re-sale. Check on e-bay or horseclicks.com

Treeless may be a good option until your horse finishes growing and developes some muscle. Tom at Skito can help design a pad to help you with many fit itssues, treeless or treed. If you choose to go treeless, there are many, many options out there. Do some research first and be sure you understand the mechanics of which saddles work with which back types best. There are many oportunities to demo as well from the different dealers. You can get a lot of info from the treeless saddle group on Yahoogroups.

Best of luck with your new horse!

I remember when the Bob Marshall treeless saddles came out yrs ago when I was doing endurance.   A lot of people (me included) got one.   after a year or so horses seemed uncomfortable and the general concensis (sp?) was they did well for very light wt. (110 lb and under)  riders but after a season of doing 50's and 100's plus all the training miles most horses had sore backs and the riders had to switch back to tree saddles.  

now, that was in the late 80's so I assume they've improved since then.  I'm conisiderably more than 110 lbs now and wonder if that would still be a problem, even tho I'm not riding endurance anymore and probabaly won't be.  

Interesting idea tho.. several people have suggested treeless. 

Your thoughts?

Treeless saddles have come a looong way in just the past 4 or 5 years. The pad you use is just as important as the saddle especially for heavier weight riders.  There are many folks doing 100 mile rides in treeless saddles. The Freeform is a popular model as well as Sensation, Barefoot, Trekker, Bob Marshall and many others. There are a lot of choices now and many of the saddles you would not guess are treeless when riding in them. I got into treeless saddles when I had three different horses in my barn. I got tired of buying and selling saddles. I figured it was a lot cheaper just to change out padding. My butt has not complained since and my horses are happy. Like a treed saddle, it is still important to get the right saddle to fit your particular horse. Not all horse's backs work for treeless but most will with the right padding.

Thanks Tammy,

I'm sure they have changed a lot the past few yrs.  Will start doing some research and try to find a few to try out on this 4 yr old.

Yeah.. I also have a funny feeling she won't level out.  Shame on me for buying a horse sight unseen from a Youtube video...  I didn't even ask for pics w/ out the saddle I just was thrillled watching the speed racking and told myself I had to get THIS horse.  Now I'm so attached to her I won't give her up.

guess I'll just have to play around w/ saddle/pad/shims whatever to keep her comfortable.   don't think I'll be using her for any long distance rides tho since she's so downhill.  

Downhill built horses are not very good riding stock. Many folks wonder why they have problems with gait, etc, only to find there is no cure for a downhill built horse. This needs to be checked before we start them under saddle.

thanks, bbsmfg3... I do  realize all that,  and  as I said, I was probably stupid to buy this little horse sight unseen but I've grown too attached already, so she's staying.   guess worse case I can always make her into a nice driving horse but I'm not ready to give up on the riding quite yet.

just took some pics of her - how do I post them on this sight?