how do you know if your horse needs full quater horse bars or semi quater horse bars?

Question

i have a gait saddle horse and he is a little over weight and im working on that but he is also naturaly a big horse. i found a new saddle that i would like to buy but its semi quater horse bars and i dont want to buy it if its not going to fit him right.

Answer 1

You should travel to a saddle makers store and request the wire or foam to size your horse for a saddle. Then you can take the wire or foam to the store where the saddle is and see if the saddle would fit your horse.

I'd hate to be the equines that the first answer owns- when they say semi quarter of full quarter bars it is talking about the measurements of how wide the wither sets apart or the width of the swell- NOT THE WIDTH OF THE BACK!!!
And most quarter horses now a days don't use the full quarter horse bars- this is because the breed conformation has changed over the years to where people are over breeding their equines with really refined bloodlines- such as horses with a lot of TB bloodlines mixed in with quarter horse. If you want to see what the quarter horse looked like back before the cross breeding you should take a look at the foundation quarter horse- who has remained intact with very little cross breeding to TB or TBX.

Answer 2

Take a piece of wire about two feet long, mark it at the half point with a piece of masking tape, then put the tape over the withers where the saddle would sit and bend the wire so it lays against the horses shoulder exactly. Now you have a perfect hold of your horses shoulders and the spacing you need for the saddle's bars. Measure this area and measure the saddle you want...you need the perfect fit.

Remember too that most saddle dealers will allow you a three day return policy so you can try out the saddle on your horse. With english saddles you can also get a good saddle maker to stuff the saddle based on your horse's back...it's worth every cent!

Answer 3

It all depends on how wide your horse's back is(its just like the tree size on an english saddle). My horse has a very wide back so I have to use full Quarter horse bars.(Most Quarter horses have to use full quarter horse bars)Although most gaited horses have narrow backs some are wider and have to uses wider trees.