Saddle - big brand vs saddler M2M?

Paint Me Proud

Paint Me Proud

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So, you may have been following my dressage saddle journey over the last month or so.

Anyway, the stunning ablion slk i purchased turned out not to fit and I managed to resell it within 24 hours of advertising it.

Now i'm in a quandry.

My saddle fitter has offered me a bespoke made to measure saddle that I can customise however I want (obviously within my budget) but I am really unsure whether to go this route or not.

I worry about buying an unbranded saddle that I havent seen before purchase and what happens if they make it and I either dont like it or find it isnt working for the horse. Being unbranded if i had to sell it i would make a huge loss.

Conversely, there are the big brand saddles (eg ideal, albion etc) that I can pick up within budget second hand, but I would have to buy, then have checked by saddler, and possibly resell, as i did with the last one, and it's a big headache.
However I know that I can sell them for what I paid for them and not lose money.

I also like my saddle fitter so dont want to have to try loads of different fitters in hopes one may have a saddle that fits.

I just dont know what to do! As you can probably tell I'm so confused, I always said I wouldnt buy new as the depreciation is so great that it only makes sense to buy second hand and you never know when you may need to change it.

Dont really know what I'm asking here, just moral support needed really.
 
I would check out your rights. I have just ordered my second made to measure saddle (the first one has fitted like it was made for every cob I've owned!) and the company has a week or maybe 2 weeks can't remember where you can reject it. I'm not sure if that's the law or their own policy. I have a feeling it's the law.

I certainly haven't regretted using this company who are a specialist native company, however previously used a now gone bust very large old company, and was ripped off with a saddle that fitter neither me or the horse at any point.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I would check out your rights. I have just ordered my second made to measure saddle (the first one has fitted like it was made for every cob I've owned!) and the company has a week or maybe 2 weeks can't remember where you can reject it. I'm not sure if that's the law or their own policy. I have a feeling it's the law.

I certainly haven't regretted using this company who are a specialist native company, however previously used a now gone bust very large old company, and was ripped off with a saddle that fitter neither me or the horse at any point.
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If i went with my saddle fitter the saddel would be branded under her name, which no one has ever heard of, however she said her saddler who makes them used to work for albion.

I think i'm just not very confident in an unbranded saddle - am I just being sucked in to the big brand marketing etc?
 
Paint Me Proud said:
If i went with my saddle fitter the saddel would be branded under her name, which no one has ever heard of, however she said her saddler who makes them used to work for albion.

I think i'm just not very confident in an unbranded saddle - am I just being sucked in to the big brand marketing etc?
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Whatever saddle you buy you can kiss good bye to half the value as soon as you sit on it the first time.

If this saddle fits your horse, you won't be needing to sell it.

So that's why I would ensure you know what your rights are, and if it will be able to be adjusted for the horse in the future, is it flock etc. Ask for photos of other saddles she has had made. Once you've sorted out that bit, you can decide if you want to proceed.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I would check out your rights. I have just ordered my second made to measure saddle (the first one has fitted like it was made for every cob I've owned!) and the company has a week or maybe 2 weeks can't remember where you can reject it. I'm not sure if that's the law or their own policy. I have a feeling it's the law.

I certainly haven't regretted using this company who are a specialist native company, however previously used a now gone bust very large old company, and was ripped off with a saddle that fitter neither me or the horse at any point.
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What company have you ordered from? I'm struggling to find a saddle for my apparently really odd shaped cob. Sorry to butt in on the OP x
 
Sandylou said:
What company have you ordered from? I'm struggling to find a saddle for my apparently really odd shaped cob. Sorry to butt in on the OP x
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AH saddles. My current saddle was made for my horse who died 2 weeks after it arrived however it fitted my new cob and my next new cob too. It also fits my Welsh C.

I couldn't be happier with the saddle and the expertise of the saddle fitter.

Must get a decent pic of it, this will give you an idea tho.

ECCF8381-285B-4085-A366-ED9AF0F35C4B_zpsxx33si0v.jpg
 
Worcestershire fitter? Have seen one fitters own brands make little 2nd hand and if made to measure could be hard to fin a buyer. One friend however did use a local one and it was a fab saddle and was a good value buy!
 
Highlands said:
Worcestershire fitter? Have seen one fitters own brands make little 2nd hand and if made to measure could be hard to fin a buyer. One friend however did use a local one and it was a fab saddle and was a good value buy!
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West midlands fitter.

I really like the ideal suzannah but am nervous about buying one if it doesnt fit.
 
Trouble is with m2m if you come to sell it, people aren't going to want it.

Think there are some "big" brands that alter standard saddles for same price as standard ones
 
wench said:
Trouble is with m2m if you come to sell it, people aren't going to want it.

Think there are some "big" brands that alter standard saddles for same price as standard ones
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It's not the need to have it altered that is the problem, it is buying a second hand one without being able to try it on for fit. There are plenty on ebay and preloved that fit my needs but I dont want a repeat of what happened with the albion (buying it and doesnt fit).

My perfect solution would be a saddle fitter coming with a second hand ideal suzannah that fits my horse or they can alter slightly to fit - but that isnt a scenario that is easy to come by!
 
Absolutely 100% big brand.
M2M is only as good as the saddler - horses change shape anyway which then makes M2M redundant AND the biggest 2 reasons - you have far less rights of return on a bespoke made saddle, plus a non branded version of a saddle is almost impossible to sell on for a reasonable second hand value.
Been there and got burnt.
 
I do have one more 'unknown' brand saddle from my fitter. However I know what it is underneath (essentially a rebranded ideal) if I needed to sell it on so people would know what the fit was like etc as it isn't M2M. Conversely my Mum's mare's saddle is much more M2M of the same make but she is a particularly tricky fit and anything off shelf would be unsatisfactory for both mare and mum and if I had one particularly tricky I would M2M happily. I'm not sure your boy has struck me as such though. This mare has narrow shoulders, big rib cage, forwards groove and bum high :p
 
There's made to measure and made to measure tho that's the thing! I've had two saddles made to fit specific horses and the first didn't fit the horse it was made for yet I sold it on easily (at a massive loss, but that's nothing to do with it being made to measure). The second was made for a specific horse and fitted like a glove - then she died! It then fitted several other horses. In fact it's fitted everything I've put it on so I don't need or want to sell it.

Op you need to weigh up the prices and also as suggested saddles direct could be a good option for you too.
 
Yes, I think the only issue with M2M is if you cannot describe what sort of horse it would fit (as in someone knows they want a X make in a 17.5 MW. I would also think that AH would be a pretty known/resaleable brand if you wanted to compared to more unknown local saddler.
 
ester said:
Yes, I think the only issue with M2M is if you cannot describe what sort of horse it would fit (as in someone knows they want a X make in a 17.5 MW. I would also think that AH would be a pretty known/resaleable brand if you wanted to compared to more unknown local saddler.
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I was really just trying to make the point that if the saddle fits well, it shouldn't need sold on. If the tree shape is right it should be able to be altered if the horse muscles up, for instance.

The first one I bought was from a large company and I was totally ripped off. That was £1500, I lost 1k. I would rather have paid £800 to an unknown local saddler and lost £400! (Of course mainly I would just like the saddle to blooming fit lol)
 
I've been looking on saddlesdirect for quite a while but the saddle i would like hasnt come up yet in the right size and width.

Another problem is one saddle fitter has told me I need a wide width whereas a saddle fitter i talked to at YHL, and showed my horses template to, advised me she would consider his fit a medium narrow to medium!

Now i dont know what width i'm actually looking for.........my head hurts!
 
Can you ask your saddler which brands /sizes you should look out for so you're less likely to have the whole not fitting / selling on issue?

I recently bought a dressage saddle from a friend who wanted rid of hers. I was due to go to my saddler for a check of his GP anyway so I rang him to ask if it was likely to fit. He said the shape of the tree would be right and the width should be ok as long as it hadn't been altered so I agreed a price with her, subject to fitting, and took it with me. It fitted him with minimal adjustment (a bit of flocking in the back). The saddler said, however, that not many makes of saddle would fit him so I was lucky this one did. Had I been looking rather than have one fall into my lap, I would have probably looked at a few different brands, and had a few different buying/selling on experiences.
 
Where abouts are you?

Most decent saddlers can safely alter the tree on wooden treed saddles, avoid foreign ones they have mostly plastic trees that can only be altered in house.

I just bought a second hand albion that was too wide for my new TB but my fab saddler narrowed it slightly

I've done what your saddler suggests and had several m2m and kept one returned one, rejected one. Would only ever have one made 2 measure by 'Ideal' in future as I know I like their saddles
 
I would go for a m2m if I were looking for a saddle for a specific horse. I have experience of an extremely good, experienced saddler who makes his own range of saddles, who made a jumping saddle for a horse I was competing. He came out, measured the horse, measured the rider and then made a start on the saddle. Horse's owner went to his workshop to sit on it during the process, and he brought the virtually finished saddle out to check final fit. He then adjusted the stuffing (once it had settled with riding on it) and it is brilliant.

I couldn't fault the competence of the saddler, fit of the saddle, or the way the horse's jump and way of going improved with the new saddle.

Friend of mine had a saddle m2m from Albion - biggest disaster you could imagine. Didn't fit horse (too long), didn't fit rider (too big), stitching was crooked, stuffing was unlevel, quality of leather was substandard. Ended up going to court.

I'm lucky in that both my other half and me can fit saddles, so we don't have the expense of a middle man in a saddle fitter.
 
soulfull said:
Where abouts are you?

Most decent saddlers can safely alter the tree on wooden treed saddles, avoid foreign ones they have mostly plastic trees that can only be altered in house.

I just bought a second hand albion that was too wide for my new TB but my fab saddler narrowed it slightly

I've done what your saddler suggests and had several m2m and kept one returned one, rejected one. Would only ever have one made 2 measure by 'Ideal' in future as I know I like their saddles
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My horse is stabled in Aldridge (Walsall) so we are just down the road from all the big brand factories!

I have contacted Ideal to see if they can recommend a fitter who carries their stock
 
I had a M2M saddle for my horse - beautiful quality, craftsmanship and perfectly fitted to my horse and me. Everyone who rode in it commented that it was very comfortable. It was adjusted over the years. I considered it to be money well spent.
Sadly horse was PTS in March. I've had no interest in the saddle (tbf only put a post up on Facebook) so not really tried to sell.

However, I do think it would be easier to sell on a big brand name. It's more difficult to write an advert for M2M. I am really relying on someone having heard of the saddler.I would consider how long you plan on keeping/riding the horse for (all being well). My horse was with me for life so no brainer for me, to get the best fit for horse and for me = M2M.

I've just bought a saddle for my share horse and gone with Kent and Masters - he's not mine, not sure how long I will share for (hopefully for years to come, but he's not mine so who knows). This saddle was cheaper and is a well known brand so hopefully will have some resale value.
 
FfionWinnie said:
There's made to measure and made to measure tho that's the thing! I've had two saddles made to fit specific horses and the first didn't fit the horse it was made for yet I sold it on easily (at a massive loss, but that's nothing to do with it being made to measure). The second was made for a specific horse and fitted like a glove - then she died! It then fitted several other horses. In fact it's fitted everything I've put it on so I don't need or want to sell it.

Op you need to weigh up the prices and also as suggested saddles direct could be a good option for you too.
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Your first saddle was the first of a new standard model, so yes we made it up in a certain width etc but was a development of previous models, on a tree we use a lot etc, and it is now very much a standard model, nothing unusual on it at all :). And thank you for the continued recommendations!

Frumpoon said:
Who did you talk to at YHL?
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You missed us :(
 
sbloom said:
Your first saddle was the first of a new standard model, so yes we made it up in a certain width etc but was a development of previous models, on a tree we use a lot etc, and it is now very much a standard model, nothing unusual on it at all :). And thank you for the continued recommendations!



You missed us :(
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My point was that made to measure doesn't mean it will only fit one horse in the world.
 
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