made to measure saddles - what if they change shape?!

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Vicki1986

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sorry i know this may sound silly, i am looking to replace my wintec soon with a leather saddle and have been thinking of a made to measure as my mare is a bit of an odd shape (16.5 length, XXW wide, no wither and big shoulders so not much room)

am i right to say its unlikely her weight/shape with change too dramatically unless i bought her out of work totally for example?? she is in a pretty constant work programme and i cant really see that increasing or descreasing too much. and if it did would the saddle still be able to be flocked/altered like a normal one??
 
how old is she?
she may change shape due to increased muscle mass, especially if she's young now, for example
 
we are currently having a saddle made by my saddler for our pony. He has advised that he will be able to make any relevant changes to the saddle if/when she changes shape. Our pony is a 14.1hh 7yo Welsh D. He has advised me that he will keep revisiting us to check the fit once shes starts work in her new saddle and he will keep an eye on the flocking and make sure it is correct for her needs. He has said he will reflock it as necessary once it has settled.

Personally I think you need to discuss your needs with the person who is making your saddle. Over the past few years we have had made to measure saddles that do not fit and have had to go within months of us getting it - I think the shortest time we had a made to measure saddle was 2 weeks before it was returned.

As long as the saddler you use it good as his/her job then I dont envisage you having problems.
 
We brought a made-to-measure saddle for Pasha when he was 6.... he's now 20 and it still fits him perfectly after regular adjustments and re-flocks etc
 
Yeah I agree, annual checks and PROPER re flocking (not just the odd knitting needle poke), should ensure a perfectly fitting saddle forever on a mature horse
smile.gif
 
I did have a made to measure but mine was fitted with flair so was very easy to have adjusted.

With Chancer I went for a treeless saddle as he is only 3 and going to change shape so much in the next few years. He is also likely to be difficult to fit being a gypsy cob and no doubt will be very wide later in life. Another plus point with my treeless is that Cairo loves it and goes better than I have ever known him to.
 
I had my made to measure done by a master saddler.
Its still fitting perfectly 4 years on dispite massive fluctuations in weight on the ponies part.
I have my saddler up every 6 months to check it and reflock it if needed. i last had him up at the beginning of may and nothing needed doing to it.
 
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