How long for flock in brand new saddle to bed in?

Opinions vary and I think it depends on how the saddle has been fitted and what flocking is used, I find that most of the bedding in does happen in the first few hours of riding, but more can happen later on, say 2-3 months, and of course it does continue to drop very fractionally over a long period of time hence old saddles can have very hard panels.
 
my mum went on a saddle reflocking course, and was told if its been flocked with proper wool you should use no numnah as the sweat will bed it in quicker. i think she said it takes 24 hours of riding for it to fully bed in, but im not sure on that one.
 
I'd not personally recommend riding regularly without a numnah, sweat in the panel damages it. I find that whatever numnah the saddle has been fitted for is fine. And there really can't be a fixed time, a small amount of flocking will take less time to bed in than when it's thicker, and it will depend on the type of flocking and which part of the saddle you're talking about. The most bedding in happens at the tree points at the front, where you get wrinkles. New saddle owners should certainly keep close eye on clearance over the wither, you can monitor it by checking how many fingers you can stack underneath, doing it after getting off without loosening the girth, the time when the saddle is at its most consistent in fit.
 
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