Have I any hope of selling this saddle?

metalmare

metalmare

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I have a Wintec saddle which is in good condition but is probably partly to blame in making my horse's back sore and certainly won't be going back on him.

As his muscles have developed unevenly so the CAIR panels in the saddle have become asymmetrical.

I believe it is expensive to 'mend' the CAIR system but that another option is to replace the CAIR with wool.

Is this prohibitively expensive?

Is it worth advertising the saddle at a lower price along with this information?

Or might a saddler take it and flock to sell on?
 
If you have a CAIR fitter come out then they can put inserts in to rebalance the saddle. Also if your horse has more muscle one side then the other make sure your not riding lop sided and affecting it, because if you are you have a whole load of other problems going on too with your horses back, pelvis, meck and poll!
Hope this helps
 
He's had a body worker out and been re-aligned and is undergoing a program of rest and carrot stretches and is going to have continued treatment. He came to me with a crooked back, quite possibly because of his previous rider, although we can't be sure.

As you say, he has problems in all those areas, however the body worker says he will be transformed after the treatment.

So he is being worked on and he is also having a new saddle fitted.

I don't want the saddle re-balancing for my own use though because it's too long for him and too big for me, anyway. But if it's inexpensive it might make the saddle saleable, just.
 
I should have made clear in the OP, I've discussed all his treatment, etc on here already and I'm aware of his problems and they're being addressed.

So the query really is just relating to the saddle :-)
 
I've just a Bates CAIR converted to all wool flocking, it cost me £120 for the work + £30 to have it fitted. This was probably a little more expensive than it could be as I used the yard saddler for convenience!
 
No, it's put me off CAIR. The saddle came with him and I was excited about CAIR but never again!

The saddle is a bit long for him and a bit big for me anyway, so I'm still wanting to sell. I think flocking would be the way to go, though.
 
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i had Flair in my dressage saddle (air bags so slightly different to cair) and it cost me £145 to get it removed and replaced with flocking... not sure if thats any help at all :o
 
Then it shouldnt matter as the saddle can be adjusted to the next horse anyway there isnt really a factory setting as it were apart from having no inserts. But dont put his bad make down to just saddle as they are very good, but it being too long will not have helped at all!
 
frannieuk said:
I've just a Bates CAIR converted to all wool flocking, it cost me £120 for the work + £30 to have it fitted. This was probably a little more expensive than it could be as I used the yard saddler for convenience!
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Yikes - I don't think the saddle's worth that... I might as well give it away to someone who can be bothered to get the work done!!
 
JBP said:
Then it shouldnt matter as the saddle can be adjusted to the next horse anyway there isnt really a factory setting as it were apart from having no inserts. But dont put his bad make down to just saddle as they are very good, but it being too long will not have helped at all!
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I didn't think CAIR panels were adjustable??

I'm sure they're perfectly good saddles, but it isn't proving to be suitable for what we need just now.

It is borderline too long, but as his last rider needed a 17 inch and I can manage in a 16 inch I might as well opt for the smaller saddle and make us both more comfy :-)
 
Definatly agree with saddle size if its not right for you then change it. Cair is very adjustable its not called a saddle for life for nothing, change your horse you may not actually have to change your saddle unless you need to go to a really wide one, they have a special one for that.
 
To be clear, I don't think the saddle caused his bad back... I think his pervious owner rode him crooked for 3 years, thus damaging the back and the saddle and that he cannot recover now in that saddle as it has taken on his incorrect shape rather than the correct shape I am trying to build.

So I don't believe the saddle was the cause, but I do now find the CAIR panels very inconvenient, as a flock saddle could simply have been adjusted as his muscles rebuilt.
 
JBP said:
Definatly agree with saddle size if its not right for you then change it. Cair is very adjustable its not called a saddle for life for nothing, change your horse you may not actually have to change your saddle unless you need to go to a really wide one, they have a special one for that.
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Could my saddler adjust the CAIR panels then? Because she thought she would have to send it off and it would cost a couple of hundred pounds.
 
Not at all! Its quite cheap it would have to be a cair trained saddle fitter to adjust but you could just sell it as it is as the cair inserts will readjust the cair panels when fitted to a new horse.
 
JBP said:
Not at all! Its quite cheap it would have to be a cair trained saddle fitter to adjust but you could just sell it as it is as the cair inserts will readjust the cair panels when fitted to a new horse.
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Ahhh... as in they will give and re-mould themselves to the shape of the new horse?
 
Sort of, they arnt self fitting but like flock cair settles, sounds like they have settled to me so couple of things can be done change of gullet if wrong fit or little yellow inserts put in on top of air panels to help mould to horses back, some people have illusion it fits itself, it doesnt the inserts fit it, thats why its so adjustable.
 
The new Bates have inserts you can change, dunno about Wintecs.

I will NEVER have another Cair saddle. I have a saddler coming out on Monday to flock my Bates, £85, same as a conventional re-flock. It's the second time the airbags have failed, last time I had them replaced it cost £150. That was about six years ago. I also had a Wintec 500 that went flat, sold it on eBay to a saddler for £48. It wasn't very old and had had very little use.

When they worked they were great, but you don't notice them going down and it gave my horse a bad back, so no more.
 
Okay, that sounds promising. I'm glad it's not a right off and I'll get it advertised but with the recommendation that the buyer has a CAIR saddle fitter fit it to their horse.

Thank you for the info.
 
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=549056

My old thread about it, Clava's bit is interesting.

Nope, I was told they don't settle as it's air. The leather might soften a bit, but that's it.

They went hard. There are four bags inside, my back lady said she sees a lot of horses with pressure points from the joins between the bags. Flair is adjustable by a trained fitter though.
 
There are no empty joins on cair saddles though the panels overlap so they have a flush join so no gaps. Cair should only be adjusted by a trained fitter also. It does settle then has to have inserts put in it to help plump up the panels again then it should be ok unless horse changes shape! Its not self fitting as I said before so does need checking.
 
JBP said:
There are no empty joins on cair saddles though the panels overlap so they have a flush join so no gaps. Cair should only be adjusted by a trained fitter also. It does settle then has to have inserts put in it to help plump up the panels again then it should be ok unless horse changes shape! Its not self fitting as I said before so does need checking.
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That's the first I've heard and I've spoken to four different saddlers about it. None of mine were adjustable (other than the gullet), they didn't settle and they have no provision for inserts. Maybe it's because they're older? When I bought my Bates, it was advertised as maintenance free, as, unlike Flair it didn't need to be adjusted or 'topped up' due to the sealed air panels, the air adjusted to the horse.

There's definitely a join of some sort in the Bates, you can see it through the leather on the panel.
 
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I think its only the new Bates and Wintec saddles which have the inserts. I recently got a new Bates dressage for my mare and the saddler was showing me the inserts - he also said that if the airbags failed it wasn't a problem - he could just get some more and replace them no problem, although he did say that he hasn't had a problem with the airbags - it was me who was very dubious about getting the cair. I think it's the older Bates and Wintec where the problems lie - the new ones are completely different.....
 
As long as its cair it will take the inserts and be fully adjustable. The new ones which were developed about 4 years but they revamped materials thats allncair panels same idea as before.
 
Guess mine are odd then. There is nowhere to put an insert of any kind. It is old, I bought it when they first came out, about 10 years ago I think. It's not set up to be opened up at all, other than to change the gullet. The only thing they have are small slits for flocking.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

This is an older model I would say. Out of interest, I've just run my fingers between the gullet and the panels and I can clearly feel a velcro slit and I can see how easy it would be to access the panel area if the two big screws were undone, so I'm guessing inserts could easily be added to this saddle.

On this basis I'm now thinking I've advertised it too cheap, but then Wintec are not overly expensive in the first place and I've always been one to sell and get shot of clutter rather than hanging on for ages for the best price.

I certainly don't feel bad about selling it now, though - I can clearly see how the work can be done on it. Initially I thought I would be chucking it in a skip!
 
I'm justwaiting for my wintec dressage saddle to come back from being reflocked, I was quoted £50 for a full reflock. Mine was flock to start with, but was packed full of hard synthetic flock so I have had it replaced with real wool and apparently it is much softer. Can't wait to get it back.
 
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