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[Pamela N.]

The English saddle is a Duett Encore.  For the western saddle, a local saddle maker came and did a 3-dimensional mapping of Blessi's back.  The model was sent to a tree maker who made a custom tree.  The saddle maker then made a plantation style saddle (English rigging, western tree and horn, sheepskin lining, butterfly back, etc) to my specifications.  I had to go sit in the saddle several times so he could build up a felt seat for me before he added the leather.

At one point, I was talking to the owner of the Steele tree manufacturer (not Steel saddles) and he was willing to custom make a tree for me that I could take to any saddle maker.  But I went with the local guy who had more experience taking measurements for trees.

The saddle fits Blessi really well.  During my first ride, I did the typical newbie stunt of dismounting and forgetting about the horn.  I got my shirt and jacket hooked over the horn and was dangling about 5 inches off the ground.  It took me a few minutes to disengage.  Blessi planted his legs and never moved--and the saddle never shifted.

Regards, Pamela N.

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[Iceangel]

Pamela, nice saddle!!  Love seeing Icelandics in Western saddles!  My Crates Meleta Brown just comes in a standard size.  It is for a wide horse with a flat back.

[bigdogmomjc]

The English saddle is a Duett Encore.  For the western saddle, a local saddle maker came and did a 3-dimensional mapping of Blessi's back.  The model was sent to a tree maker who made a custom tree.  The saddle maker then made a plantation style saddle (English rigging, western tree and horn, sheepskin lining, butterfly back, etc) to my specifications.  I had to go sit in the saddle several times so he could build up a felt seat for me before he added the leather.

At one point, I was talking to the owner of the Steele tree manufacturer (not Steel saddles) and he was willing to custom make a tree for me that I could take to any saddle maker.  But I went with the local guy who had more experience taking measurements for trees.

The saddle fits Blessi really well.  During my first ride, I did the typical newbie stunt of dismounting and forgetting about the horn.  I got my shirt and jacket hooked over the horn and was dangling about 5 inches off the ground.  It took me a few minutes to disengage.  Blessi planted his legs and never moved--and the saddle never shifted.

Regards, Pamela N.

Thanks for all the info and the cute picture!!!  I am still considering saddles and waiting for $ since it is time to get the hay in for the year. 

[Pamela N.]

Since we don't often see Icelandics in Western gear,  I thought you might enjoy seeing my Icelandic Blessi being ridden by Jessy in his Western (plantation style) saddle.  This is the first time anybody asked him to actually run the barrels (Blessi and I have always walked the barrels before this.  His time of 28 seconds is not bad for an 18 year old horse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro0n_S4pv6I

Enjoy, Pamela N.

[G84me]

Pamela, I watched the rest of your Blessi videos, just for fun!  That is SOME horse you have - and SOOOO pretty!
You have the complete package in Blessi!

Joann

[Pamela N.]

Thanks Joann!  I am very, very lucky to have Blessi.  I am a timid, nervous rider but Blessi takes care of me.  He has given me the courage to try cowboy shooting, mounted archery, medieval equestrian games, cattle sorting, etc.  With a better rider, he does well at lower level dressage and gaited competitions and trail competitions.  He is a once in a lifetime horse for sure.
Pamela N.

[Kellie in OR]

I have a very light endurance saddle made by Allegany Mt Trail Saddles. It has single skirting, double billet English style rigging and plastic EZ ride stirrups that help keep weight down. They use Steele trees (same as DL) and have many bar shapes, many that can be spread extremely wide, as well as a bar made for drafts and light drafts that are wider yet. Call Stacie at AMTS.

[Iceangel]

Pamela, Yes Lukka is also.  Once in a lifetime horse too.  I smiled when I read your post.  We sure hit the gold mine when we got our girls. Your Blessi sounds just like Lukka. Almost perfect. The Steele trees wouldn't work on my very wide Luna. We couldn't find any that worked.

[Kellie in OR]

Interesting how different the American Icelandic's are than the ones I saw & rode in Iceland. None of them looked that particularly hard to fit.

[Pamela N.]

Hello Kellie,
I can't address the horses you saw in Iceland--other than I am extremely jealous of your trip.  ;-)

Blessi was imported from Iceland and he is fairly typical of the breed.  We have trouble finding saddles for the Icelandics since they tend to be round, low withered, extreme boulder shouldered, very short backed.  Blessi's gullet size is 8.5 inches but another 13.2 Icelandic that I know has a gullet size of 12 1/4 inches.  At the stable where I board Blessi, I chuckled to see an 18 hand Clydesdale wearing an Icelandic saddle--and it fit him beautifully.

I took Blessi to a clinic with Manola Mendez, former chief riding instructor of the Royal Anadulsian School of EQUESTRIAN Art in Jurez, Spain.  Blessi was the first Icelandic that Manola had ever seen.  He spent 5 minutes going over Blessi amazed at the differences in the breed--size of spine, angle at which ribs come off spine, etc.  He said he had never seen a horse built like an Icelandic--a horse breed meant to go through fire, ice, snow.  Sometime I'll have to get permission to post that video.  ;-)

Also, Kellie I want to thank you for helping me evaluate the AMT saddles.  You sent me a demo saddle and I absolutely loved it.  It just about fit Blessi so I would suggest that anybody who has an Icelandic on the medium to narrow side should check out these saddles.  As a matter of fact, I used the style of saddle that you posted earlier in this thread to help design the saddle that I had custom made.

To the other Pamela:  Yes we are really lucky in the horses that we have.  I love hearing about Lukka and Luna. 

Regards, Pamela N.

[KysaSD]

Kellie, maybe they choose to export the hard to fit horses, so the ones at home are easier to fit!

[Cassidy]

Kysa .. rolling on the floor laughing 

[Kellie in OR]

I think they must    Really, we looked at over 100 Icey's and I don't recall seeing any that were table top flat with no withers and wider than a draft.

[Pamela N.]

Here are some photos of Icelandic horse backs, which can vary a lot in shape.  One or two of them might fit the description of no withers, table topped, wide as a Clydesdale.  ;-)

http://iceryder.net/backshape.html

Enjoy, Pamela N.

[Pamela N.]

I went to the stable and took some wither tracings across a variety of breeds.  The good news is that I came away from the exercise with a greater appreciation for knowlegeable saddle fitter/makers; the bad news is that Blessi, despite maintaining his weight has thickened up through the withers again so I am going to have to re-evaluate saddle fit.

From top to bottom:
- my 18 year-old, 14.1 hand Icelandic imported from Iceland.  Measurement 3 inches from top of gullet is 9.5 inches.  This tracing illustrates the challenge of fitting Icelandics.  Like many draft/pony breeds such as Fjords, wither shape is usually an upside down bowl with no indentations (usually) for the withers.  Only a few English saddle makers such as Duett and Thorowgood make saddles for these rounded backs but even they have slight indentations for the withers.  There are even fewer English saddle makers who make a true "hoop" saddle.

Blessi's wither shape is typical of the Icelandics.  At 8.5 inches, he was above average width for an Icelandic.  At 9.5 he is well above average and he weights about 980 right now (lowest weight was 920).  When I was looking at off-the rack Western saddles, only the draft saddles were wide enough through the gullet but nothing else about the saddle fit.  The sides winged out so far that Blessi looked like he had the Flying Nun's hat set on the middle of his back.

- This tracing is for Rocky, a 5-year old, 18 plus hand Clydesdale.  Measurement is 11 inches.  Rocky wears the Icelandic style saddle (as opposed to an English or Western saddle).  And I really did measure one extreme outlyer of an Icelandic who is 13.2 hands and measured 12 1/4 inches.  His back was so flat you could set plates on it.  He ended up with a 36 or 38 cm Duett saddle.

- Thor is an 8-year old, 15.3 hand mustang.  MtDNA analysis indicates his genetic heritage is 98 % Iberian (his herd was really isolated).  Measurement is 6.5 inches.

- Raffiki is a 5-year old, 17 plus hand Dutch warmblood.  Measurement is 8 inches.

- Sunny is a 12-year old, 16 plus hand Quarterhorse.  Measurement is 6 3/4 inches.  He hasn't been worked regularly now so he is not in as muscled up as normal.

So my experience with saddle fitting for Icelandics may be limited to those I have met.  Other Icey owners, do you agree with what I have found?  Or do you have different experiences with saddle fit?

Regards, Pamela N.