24/04/2026
Let's take saddles. More specifically Western/stock saddles.
So often I hear "I need a 7in gullet for my horse", but what does that mean?
You see a saddle posted on Gumtree, the tape measurer pulled across the front of the gullet. Unfortunately this gives us little to no information on if it will be suitable for your horse.
Its realistically a useless measurement that has been adopted as a common tool.
Why it this useless? Well... Short answer: it’s not completely useless, but on a western saddle it’s one of the least reliable measurements for fit, and often misleading if used on its own.
Here’s why!
It only measures one tiny part of the tree. The gullet width is just the distance between the bars at the front (around the fork), but saddle fit depends on
✨️Bar angle
✨️Bar spread
✨️Bar rock (curve front to back)
✨️Overall tree shape
It ignores the horse’s actual shape!
A horse’s back isn’t just “wide or narrow".
Bar angle matters more than width. You can have a “correct” gullet width and still have a badly fitting saddle that the angles are not matching the horse it is sitting on.
I believe relying on on small piece of information like this gives people false confidence, and potentially buying a saddle that still doesn’t fit—because the rest of the tree wasn’t considered
There is no industry standard between brands on what their definition of sizings are.
Two saddles can have the same gullet width or labled "FQH", but fit completely differently because the rest of the tree is different.
Western/Stock brands don’t use a universal sizing system. One maker’s “7-inch gullet” can fit very differently to another’s 7-inch.
So comparing gullets across brands is basically apples vs oranges.
Compare this to if you were shopping for jeans. You might go into Kmart and find a pair of size 12 jeans that fit fantasticly. So you buy them, and then go online and see Ariat is having a sale, so just buy their size 12...they arrive, but whoops... their too small. Maybe too gapy at the waistband, not long enough in the leg.
There are so many variations to the exact thing labled as size 12.
And let's not even get into the fact that you might lose 5 kgs and the Ariats now fit, but now your Kmart jeans are too big (until Christmas dinner anyway 😝). This also is applicable with horses as they change shape throughout the year!
So what do we do now?
Im a big believer of try before you buy. This isn't always possible, but I feel its necessary to ensure it'll work. If youre investing the money, you want to make sure its right.
