More Albion Saddle issues!

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poiuytrewq

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I posted this week about the saddle i purchased not fitting new horse and what my best options were.
The short of it was... I have my friends horse on perm loan. It was arranged ages ago but only had him a few weeks. Back in the summer when money wasn't an issue i purchased a saddle for him- the same saddle as he was being ridden in. An Albion K2 jump 17.5" Medium width. I knew it would likely need tweaking but was confident it was the right buy.
I purchased it from a saddlery in Devon who posted it too me. It had a short trial period which of course i didn't use, not having the horse yet.
Anyway, now i have him and tried it on and its too narrow. I've called into the local saddlery today with the saddle and the guy wasn't there so I've left it with the lady in the shop for him to look at and see what the hope of widening it is etc.
However when she took down my details and the saddle details she noticed the saddle is faintly stamped MM not M which she commented was strange as most medium saddles just said M
Now I'm certain that MM is actually "made to measure"?
I have a receipt stating medium Albion K2 but its dated 3/06/16
I'm currently thinking if its no use to me that its also going to be harder to sell on not being a standard size?
Would you contact the original saddler? I'm assuming probably too late and i should have checked better when it first arrived. I think because it was from a saddlery as opposed to a private sale i was a bit lax about checking.
 
Have you measured the saddle to see if it measures as a medium width? If it measures as a narrow you might have good reason to go back to the original saddler (the one in Devon) as it wasn't described correctly. In this case the trial period, which of offered to see if it fits your horse, is less relevant as it's a matter of the saddle being described accurately. They might argue you have left it too long, but it gives you a stronger case.

Is it Sheepham Saddles by any chance? If so the lady who runs it is very, very nice and there's a decent chance she will be honourable about it - you could at very least ask if she will take it back in exchange against something else.

Can't harm to give them a call - and in the first instance I would call, and talk it through with them on the phone, and see if they can help.
 
The older K2 jumps were always offered in 2 tree types, and yes I have a feeling one was MM and one just M - from memory the MM was a TB tree, though I could have that wrong.
 
How unfortunate!! I hope someone will be able to help you better than myself... but I think maybe contacting the saddlery, yes it's a bit late but its worth a shot. Hopefully it's just a case of widening. Could you do a swap with your saddler or a swap and saddler pays the difference if you can't get a replica?

Sorry, all I can think of. It could just be a factory fault and actually be a medium, have you measured d-d?
 
I'm 99% certain MM is made to measure but might be wrong.
I've left it at my saddlery for now in the hope he feels he can alter it a bit. If so I'll be thrilled as its a lovely saddle.
I've not measured it no as not sure I trust the d to d theory a huge amount as all saddles are flocked differently etc so can't see an external measurement is that great?
The saddler who has it will know what width it actually is.
Ok, so if it's absolutely no good I may just run it by the selling saddlery and see what they have to say but however lovely (and yes she did seem nice!) it's a long time now unfortunately
 
I've got an old Albion GP which is stamped MM but in those days that meant Medium-Medium which was slightly narrower than the standard Medium. This was before the K2 range came out though.
 
Maybe phone Albion first to be certain about what their MM means? I can find saddles for sale at various saddles described as 'MM' so it does look like it's a valid Albion size - would help to be sure if it's slightly narrow or slightly wide!

Incidentally you should be able to tell if it's a standard medium by measuring the angle as in this link, if you can be accurate about it:

http://lorienstable.com/services/fitting/tree_sizes/
 
Your all right! MM is a standard size it just doesn't fit. :(
He can stretch it slightly but it also needs reflocking badly and once that's done we wil be back to the same fit.
The annoying bit is that it's far nicer than any of the second hand Albions he had in stock but all were far more expensive.
Meaning I'd have to give this saddle and find about another £300 on top for a lesser saddle :(
So I think I'll try and sell privately and my new search begins.
 
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