Issues with Saddle Fitting Company

Finn

Finn

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Hi

I was after a little advise on what you guys would do in this situation

I will try to keep it as short as I possbly can.

Had professional saddle fitter out in March last year as previous saddle didnt fit, they had one that did fit so I bought it. In June horse had to have Tendon surgery which resulted in 7 months box rest and weight being put on. Was given the all clear by the vets in Jan this year to start bringing her back into work slowly so got the same Saddlers out to re check her saddle and they said she had put a bit of weight on but it still fitted her. As time went on I was having a few issues with her when being ridden, didnt like the girth being done up, wasnt forward going, would bunny hop and threaten to rear when asked to go from walk to trot and the saddle kept slipping to the left. I had them back out and they said she was starting to loose weight and not to worry as it still fit. Anyway had them back out again about 6 weeks ago as I wasnt too convinced it did fit her as was still having the same issues going on and they said it needed a slight bit of flocking but it did still fit. I trusted them as they are the professionals and it is their job and should know what they are doing.

2 weeks ago went out for a lovely hack and although she felt tense/tight in her back she was otherwise ok until out of the blue for no reason what so ever she went vertical, I came off and she fell on top of me onto my head, neck, shoulders and chest.
I managed to get up and decided to walk her back, we were all on the way back anyway. As we started to walk she went vertical again, thank god she didnt go over again!

All the way back I was trying to figure out why she had done this so suddenly and could only put it down to either her back ( pain) or saddle

We got back to the yard and checked her over and she didnt like her back being touched but was otherwise ok and not to hurt thankgod! I on the other hand ended up in hospital at 4am on the Sun, took straight through to Resus, neck brace on, blocks either side of my head and strapped flat down on the bed having all sorts of X-Rays and scans etc.I suffered a badly bruised Sternum and variuos other injuries and am still in a fair bit of pain now 2 weeks after the event

I had my Mctimnoy Practitioner out straight away to check her over and she said her back was a mess and from what she could see/feel it was telling her that the saddle didnt fit. She treated her and is aslo coming back in a couple of weeks to re treat her and is bringing with her with a muscle back specialist to help sort her muscle sore spots out.
I then had a different saddler out and he took one look at my saddle before we even put it on her and he said there is no way that saddle has ever fit that horse! We put the saddle on and he said it was no where near wide enough, it was pinching her shoulders and there was too much flocking in the back panels which was causing it to tip forwards. He asked me who I got the saddle from , so I told him and he then asked if I minded if he rang them so I said no feel free I have nothing to hide. So he did. He was really diusgusted that a company could sell a saddle that quite clearly didnt fit and never had done!

He has taken my saddle away to be complelty re adjusted to fit but has lent me one in the mean time that does fit her and my god! I rode her over the weekend and it was like riding a different horse!. She was so relaxed and chilled, no tension, no arsey ness, no nothing it was amazing! Some people were watching us and they all passed comment on how different and more relaxed she was.

Anyway I have sent them an official letter of complaint stating they have 7 working days in which to respond but I have since found out that at least 4 other people at my yard have had exactly the same problems with their saddles not fitting from the same company although to be honest I dont reallty want to get involved in that as that is between them and the company. All I'm bothered about it getting my horse back right again and a saddle that fits her.

My trust in this company very nearly got me killed and has caused injuries to my horse's back!

I will never use this company again as my trust and faith in them has completly gone and will certainly not be recomending them to anyone!

Someone has suggested I report them on the Master Saddlers Website or write to the Master Saddlers to make them aware of what is happening.

What would you do in you were ever in this situation?
 
Learn the the lesson if your gut tells you something seek advice from a second professionalnk and learn about everything for yourself shoeing saddle fitting everything, knowledge is you're weapon to stop this sort of thing happening.
I learnt this lesson the hard way years ago with farriers unfortunatly some lovely horses ended up lame before the penny dropped that just because someone Is qualified and has trianed for years and has the right pieces of paper is no reason to trust someone without question.
In this case if you want to take some sort of action against this company I think you will need a vets report and probally a report from a fully qualified equine physio this will of course involve you in cost and if the vet did not examine the immediatly after the fall this might prove problematic .
In the mean time get the mctimothy lady to show how to indentify back pain
I am so glad you are not more badly hurt in many ways you have been lucky it could have been much worse.
 
Ouch I hope you are feeling a bit better being reared over onto is so horrible :(

I had a similar situation last year with my mare....went to combined training did a dressage test on one saddle and she went like a dream. Changed into my jumping tack climbed on walk a few strides and she reared bolt up right (she had never reared before!!) I straight away thought the saddle so jumped off re-adjusted it and got back one queue lots more rearing and she wouldnt even go into the ring!! I got the physio out the next day and she did not have a sore back so called the saddle fitter who I bought both saddles from less than 2 years earlier (both are checked every 6 months by him) he said they were both fine! Now my mare has always been slightly quirky so we put it down to maybe attitude! She then refused to go into the start box at kelsall with all the rearing :( I ended up getting the vet he said there was nothing physical he could see so we put her on regumate as a last option......roll on 6 months I had stopped riding her (she is based with a pro rider) and bought myself a nice sensible type and used a different saddler only because the other guy I had used dealt in expensive saddles. I just happened to be telling her the tale about my other horse and she said it has to be something to do with the saddles which is what I had always been convinved about.

Any how she had a look at both and said the dressage fitted but the jumping saddle was too narrow in the gullet and said when he ardenaline is up her muscles go up into the space and were being trapped by the saddle and it was so bad she said she wasnt surprised she reared :( I borrowed a saddle off her that same day and my mare never reared again!!

I was so mad that we had lost half a season eventing not to mention putting peoples lives at risk!! I wrote to the master saddlers and got no reponse :( What I did do though was tell every one locally what had happened so I hope he has lost business over it!
 
Hi Goldenstar

Many thanks for replying and for the advice.

I rang the vets first thing on the Mon morning and they said as she wasnt lame or didnt have any obviuos injuries ie cuts, gashes swellings or anything then they were happy for me to get her back checked out by my McTimony Practitioner first and also get her saddle checked and if she still wasn't right after that then they would come out to see her. Since her back has been treated and now has a saddle that fits she is like a complelty different horse!

I do feel really guilty when I look back as all the signs were there I just didnt pick up on them and to be honest I thought I was doing the right thing by keep getting the same company back out as I thought seeing as they had measured her and fitted the saddle then it was only fair for them to come out to check on it all be it 3 times in 6 months and I did put my trust in them and thought they knew what they were doing. I thought I was doing the right thing by getting them out each time we had issues, now I know different and should of got someone different to check it. It was a hard and very painful lesson to learn! But by god it is one that has certainly been learnt.

I will always think twice now about things and follow my gut instinct and if I feel something isnt right will go and seek a 2nd opinion.
 
I would also add, that I would not have the saddle touched, because you'll need it to show it's bad fit, if you do take any action.

Your vet should aslo have checked the horse, for the same.
 
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There are different schools of thought on saddle fitting. Some fitters fit snug into the withers and others fit following the lines of the shoulders.

I imagine from your story that your saddle fitters fall into each camp and therefore both would find the other unacceptable and probably neither are wrong.

Some horses like to have a 'comfort blanket' and like a saddle fitted snugly and some like to have freedom to move - your horse for instance.

It is perhaps a shame that you didn't get the second fitter out before your accident as your gut feeling was correct for your horse, but I would put the episode down to experience and trust your heart next time.

I hope you and your horse make a full recovery.
 
Hi EmmaH and AmyMay

Many thanks for replying.

Yes I am so very lucky as I could not be sat here now writing this and there was 5 other people with us when it happened and every single one of them said none would of been able to of sat the rear as she just went vertical complelty out the blue no warings signs no nothing and they couldnt believe I managed to walk away from it afterwards and walk her back to the yard. Im just thankful it was her bum that landed on me and not her head or back or anything else and she tried really hard not to stand on me when she was trying to get back up apparently. At least i now it was down to pain that she did it and hopefully now shes being treated and has a saddle that fits she will be back to her normal self.

AmyMay

I have written to them ( last Weds) an offical letter of compalint and gave them 7 working days to respond but havent heard anything back from them yet. I will give them till Fri of this week. Someone also suggested I ring my insurance help line as they have solicitors on hand for things like this and they will be able to advise me and take the case on my behalf if I decide to take it further if they dont respond
 
I try and work with my clients to show them how and why a saddle does or doesn't fit - I think it's really important, as others have said, to know the basic benchmarks of fit (and personally to me there is little grey area in correct tree width - it sits on the ribcage and should sit with the points more or less parallel to the angle of the ribcage) so that you know when you're being fed a "crock"...

You can try complaining to the SMS but I don't think many people have much success that way, same as with many trade associations, and of course the fitter must be a Qualified Saddle Fitter under the SMS umbrella for you to have any recourse with them. Trading Standards are useful but having seen the outcome of a few court cases against the owner of a saddle company I used to work for (and very glad to leave!!) it can be quite hard to prove incorrect and damaging saddle fit, but it sounds like you have a good case.

One warning sign was the saddle slipping to the side - either the saddle no longer fits or the horse has an issue that needs your McTim. Always hard to know which.

And also, I think it is rare that you can absolutely say that a saddle can't ever have fitted a particular horse. Again, learn as much as you can about saddle fit so you can keep an eye on the new saddle fitter!
 
That's horrendous. Call the master saddlers. They a formal complaints procedure; you have to write a letter and then they get a second prodcedure. By complaining through the trades body know you can help prevent someone else ending up in the same position.
 
Update:-

It took them over 2 weeks to get back to me regarding my letter of complaint even though I gave them 7 working days to respond and the response was...well.... very very unprofessional, very nasty, very verbal and very threatening oh and according to my solicitor it is Libel!

So am currently employing a Solicitor to deal with it all for me and she has also advised me to report them to the Master Saddlers although have emailed them twice and keep getting an email bounce back to say my email is classed as spam so it wont allow the server to forward it to the relevant person.

Anyone know how else I can get in touch with Master Saddlers?

On the plus side my saddle has now been sorted and it was bridging, had too much flocking in the back panels which was tipping it forward and the tree was one and a half times too small for her! Since its been done its like riding a complete different horse, shes much more relaxed, and is much more free in her shoulders and movements and is back to being really forward going.
 
From the SMS website contact us page:

Address


The Society of Master Saddlers
Green Lane Farm,
Stonham, Stowmarket
Suffolk. IP14 5DS

Contact


Hazel Morley (FIAM), Chief Executive

Telephone:


01449 711642

Fax:


01449 711642

I wish you luck. And if it's helpful, bridging is usually caused by the saddle being too narrow, glad you got it sorted.
 
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