How often do you get saddle fit checked.

A

Andrew657

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 April 2017
Messages
318
Visit site
Just wondering because bringing back into work a horse after an extended period of box rest - long period of walk work etc with a tendon injury.

Am booking saddler in for adjustments every three months but finding that have to stop riding while waiting for visit as saddle going out of balance.

It's good news really as it means he's rebuilding the muscles.
 
For me it seems to be about 3-4 times a year currently but the beast lives out so changes shape quite a bit with the seasons and also does a lot less work in the winter so again affects shape.
 
My mare is hardly ridden at all atm, so this terrible owner checks herself and only gets a pro out if my mare tells me there is an issue (which she is quick to do)
 
My horse tells me if there is an issue. She even says if something does not fit when a saddler says it does!

I do keep an eye on it in case something changes and she becomes stoic, but I don't have a saddler as a regular thing.

My last horse had 3 saddles before he was fitted up after a year (he was changing as was young) but after that I only had them altered once in the next 4 years. For that I took a template and had a slight alteration which was correctly done. He did not think there was an issue with them, it was just that they were sitting a bit low.

Current horse is on saddle no 4, looking like growing out of that too. :rolleyes: I hope to keep the one I have until summer when she is fitter and then she may have her longer term one.

I don't program them in for a fitting. Just have them done if the horse or I think there is a problem.
 
The Draft mare needed 4 different saddles in 4 years, which fortunately we had in the tackroom. She was perfectly able to tell me whether they fitted or not, just as I was perfectly able to see if they were likely to be comfortable for her. Then we invested in Solution saddles, which can easily be shimmed to fit every horse on the yard, so much better!
I have only used a saddler when I knew that a saddle needed re-flocking/other adjustments.
 
Have had my horses saddle checked once in two years. If he drops weight I add a pad, if he gains I remove it. If the saddle started moving or he felt not right I’d get it checked.

He does get regular physio and I rely on them to pick up on any saddle related soreness. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it....

Personally I have no faith in saddle fitters as they can all say something different about the same saddle and Horse, so I just listen to him for any issues.
 
Once a year unless any major change in shape has occurred or they’ve had a significant amount of time off. I can check the fit of a saddle myself, so I know when something needs adjusting. Millie’s saddle has ever so slightly started to bridge, I know some flocking was put in last time so saddler is coming to have a look and see what needs changing.
 
Every day is very true it’s instinct to look at the saddle before I get on if the it feels different obviously you look and see .
My answer was for how often does the fitter look at the horse .
 
Goldenstar said:
Every day is very true it’s instinct to look at the saddle before I get on if the it feels different obviously you look and see .
My answer was for how often does the fitter look at the horse .
Click to expand...

I have twice had a "professional" saddle fitter look at my saddles; on both occasions they buggered up the saddles so completely that I had to have them completely reflocked. I do not use saddle fitters, I trust my own knowledge and listen to my horses' reactions.
 
I have rather more saddles than I should and swap them around as necessary. I have only had the saddle fitter out once in the last 8 years as I needed some flocking taking out of one saddle for a specific horse. She confirmed that the saddles that were being used on the different horses all fitted.
 
Andrew657 said:
Just wondering because bringing back into work a horse after an extended period of box rest - long period of walk work etc with a tendon injury.

Am booking saddler in for adjustments every three months but finding that have to stop riding while waiting for visit as saddle going out of balance.

It's good news really as it means he's rebuilding the muscles.
Click to expand...
As a rule every 6 months, but if the horse is out of work for any reason, then I wait until they’re back in work. Most of the clients on my yard though NEVER get their saddles checked 😳 it’s just something I place a lot of importance on and it surprises me some don’t 😏
 
Cortez said:
I have twice had a "professional" saddle fitter look at my saddles; on both occasions they buggered up the saddles so completely that I had to have them completely reflocked. I do not use saddle fitters, I trust my own knowledge and listen to my horses' reactions.
Click to expand...


Yep agree with this. What happened to just listening to the horse if there is a problem, or using common sense aka saddle rocking or slipping back/forward = problem....
 
In the past it's been every 6 months or so however the last time I had a saddle fitter out I was told "I don't have a narrower gullet to try so just use a thicker numnah" which really has put me off using them again.

There is another saddle fitter nearby who charges more than the previous that I will give a try next if needed.

I've read alot on saddle and bit fitting however and tend to make a judgement call myself alot of the time.
 
I suppose it depends on the quality of the professionals you work with .
I can’t reflock a saddle my fitter can on my kitchen table so convenient.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TPO
Goldenstar said:
I suppose it depends on the quality of the professionals you work with .
I can’t reflock a saddle my fitter can on my kitchen table so convenient.
Click to expand...

I can, but then we do many craft-y things as part of our business; I fully understand that most leisure riders probably don't have the experience to check saddle fit themselves, but it's not difficult to educate yourselves on the basics.
 
I've not had my saddle checked for about a year, but my horse has regular physiotherapy and they've done numerous saddle fitting courses and have experience in it themselves.
 
Depends on the horse, Rose and Bisto athough mature, weren't in proper work when I bought them so I had "temporary" saddles whilst they built up their muscle. Once in a proper work condition I just monitored them. B was very quick to tell me if the saddle was "not quite right" and he was never wrong. I don't know about Rose, she had the dressage saddle and GP fitted end of November and I am having them checked again in two weeks time. I have completely rejected her GP saddle as it's slipping backwards and clearly doesn't fit but the dressage one seems OK, actually feels better. I trust my saddler, he's been doing his jb for years and have not had a bad experience with him so I am happy to go with his advice.
 
I get one out when I've run out of ideas to make horsey happy. Mine are very expressive when they don't like their saddles, so I listen and change things. At the moment I am uhmming and ahhing about getting one out for the TB. Bareback in the meantime!
 
I've had my mare a year (bought as a skinny 5.5 yr old) and I've ended up having the saddler out to adjust saddle approx every two months as it's constantly needed adjustment as she's filled out. I know when it needs changing but I prefer to get a professional out each time as I've only educated myself better on saddle fitting in the past year or two and as I'm only 18 and from a non horsey background I prefer to get a more experienced person out to confirm what I see. As she's older now and roughly levelling out I will likely only get it checked if she drops off a lot or every 6 months or so.
 
Currently I have a winter check and a summer check. Daily sense checks myself, though I am clearly not qualified I can tell if the saddle is not sitting correctly.

However, when my mare was 5-7yrs she changed so often I had the saddler on speed dial and she would usually be checked and adjusted every 2-3 months.
It was an expensive couple of years!
 
Thank you for all of your replies - I get the impression that my experience is totally normal.

Will keep monitoring myself and booking saddlers visits every three months.
 
I work on an annually rule of thumb but my fitter will recommend when I should see her again at the end of a fitting. She's never been wrong so I go with what she says. Obviously I monitor fit myself every time I use my saddle but that's just a normal part of tacking up isn't it?
 
Not often enough.

I had a fitter out last year who didn’t even watch me ride and charged £70.

I’m thinking of investing in something like a pro lite to help keep it balanced as her weight fluctuates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top