It is important to have a good fitting saddle in order for your horse to perform thier best. When Price is a Factor My Motto is "Buy a good Used saddle instead of a Cheap New Saddle".
 
Quarter Horse Bar or Semi Quarter Horse Bar is by far the most common tree. It has a higher pitch as opposed to the flatter pitch for FQHB. It is for the medium back, decent wither and often mixed blood descent (1/2 Arab, Appendix or other mixes). QH/Semi QH bars usually have the higher pitched angles.
The FQHB tree (usually 7" gullet) is often used for the "Bulldog" Quarter Horse or horses with broad backs and sometimes mutton-withered Quarter Horses. The FQHB will usually have a flatter pitch than the QH/Semi QH bar.
Arab saddles are for Arabians they have a narrow (usually 6 1/2" - 6 3/4" width) gullet like the Semi QH but a flatter pitch angle like the FQHB - sometimes flatter yet, than the FQHB.
Gaited horse bars have a higher gullet for high withered horses. They usually have a wider gullet front that narrows towards the back to allow shoulder movement. They usually have more rock.
Haflinger saddles (7 1/2" gullet) are great for Haflingers or short backed mutton withered horses. Often have the flatter pitch and very little rock.

Draft Horse bars (8" gullet), are for the large Draft Horses.

Goal in fitting: Make as much saddle bar to horse back contact as possible.

How much is enough contact? Two things determine this.

The set angle of the bars on high and low withered horses (angle exaggerated)

The horizontal measurement is the Gullet width

1. How much the rider weighs. The heavier the rider, the more contact is needed. Vise versa, with a lighter rider, you can get by with less contact. Remember you are trying to distribute pounds per inch.

2. How much bar surface is available. The less bar availability the more contact is needed. Vise versa, the more bar availability you can get by with less contact.

There are two major areas of concern when fitting a saddle.

  1. Wither: In the saddle industry, there is no definition for tree width sizes. There are generic terms such as semi-quarter horse and full quarter horse, which give an idea of what type of horse the tree should fit, but there is no rule for measurement. Each tree builder has their own idea of what fits each breed of horse the best. There are several things to consider when fitting the wither.
    1. Width
      1. If the saddle is too narrow, there will be contact at the bottom of the bar and not at the top.
      2. If the saddle is too wide, there will be contact at the top of the bar and not at the bottom.
    2. Bar Flare
      1. If the bar is flat at the wither, it can cause the saddle to be pushed back as well as restricting shoulder movement. This is more evident with gaited horses.
      2. Bar flare can be evident in the front and rear of the saddle. As the front can restrict movement, the rear can dig into the croup if the rider is heavy and sits deep into the seat, or the horse is short backed, or sway backed. Each of these could cause sores if the saddle doesn''t have adequate rear bar flare.
  2. Slope: There are two areas of concern when looking at the slope of the horse''s back.
    1. Bridging. Bridging occurs when there is bar to surface contact on the front (wither) and rear (croup) of the horse''s back but not in the middle. Usually, you can tell your saddle is bridging if there is a sore or white hair in the wither and/or croup area. This is caused by one of two things.
      1. Bend or Rock. If the saddle doesn''t have enough bend in the bar to fit the sway of the horse''s back, it will bridge.
      2. Length of Back. If the bar is longer than the horse''s back, it will bridge. This is most evident on Arabs, Paso Finos, Missouri Foxtrotters and other short backed horses.
 
White hair and sores are not always a sign of bridging, it could be a result of:
        1. Tree width - explained above.
        2. Rigging position. As a rule, most horses do not need full rigging. They need rigging that gives more pull toward the center of the saddle or throughout the whole saddle rather than the front only. There are four rigging positions available in the industry.
          1. 1. Center-Fire. Lines up directly in the center of the saddle.
          2. 2. 3/4" rigging which is 1 - 2" in front of the center.
          3. 3. 7/8" rigging. This rigging is most common and gives the best option between the 3/4" and full-rigging option.
          4. 4. Full rigging. This is when the rigging is directly beneath the swell or pommel. Most ropers like this type of rigging because of the pull on the horn when roping.
            Saddle Parts
          5.  

2. Rock - The opposite of bridging. Rock occurs when there is more bend in the bar than the horse needs, therefore it makes contact in the middle of the back before it makes contact in the front or back. Usually, when rock is visible the saddle will tip back and forth on the horse''s back. When the saddle is girthed up it will tip forward with the rear of the saddle sticking up in the air. When the rider sits in the saddle it will force the saddle down in the rear causing pressure in the front of the saddle going toward the middle of the back. This is most evident on mules. Be aware if the saddle is sticking up in the rear it may not be a rock problem but could be a width problem.