Saddle fitting stress!

[Dizzle]

Who has a custom made saddle? My mum has offered me some money to get my tb a custom made saddle but I’m convinced that I can get a second hand one to fit him and to be honest the thought of the depreciation on a custom made saddle scares me!

Now I’m a bit prone to anxiety so reading one or two posts on forums where people weren’t keen on my new saddler has scared me, despite him also have many many more good reviews, in fact I’m yet to find a saddler that doesn’t have a bad review, can you just not please all the people all the time?

Am I worrying too much about this?

Have been on new saddlers website and looked at their 2nd hand saddles and there’s quite a few that I think would be good on him, I’ve also asked OH’s parents for a book on saddle fit as I need to know more about it to stop problems before they start (I’ve had 18 months of a saddle being wrong and previous saddler being an incompetent moron).

Ok, worrying rant over! Chai tea Latté and caramel wafers for listening xx

 

[Luci07]

If you get one made to measure it will fit you both perfectly and it is truly fantastic to have a saddle which takes your own shape into account as well as your personal preferences (type of leather, knee and thigh rolls, length of flap etc etc). If you get one that can have the tree changed then you should be good for another horse as well. I have done it twice and will do it again. Ellie Martin did mine for me and was exceptionally tolerant about what I wanted..quite a few other liveries followed my example as they really liked my saddles!

 

[be positive]

If you were going to get a saddle made for your horse you would need to start by having a saddler that you trust, looked on you recent posts and find that you have had problems
I find that I can now work with my physio to get the basic fit correct, then use an excellent saddler to make any adjustments required, the tree needs to be the right width, length and shape, some flocking can then be done as and when needed.
I have now seen so many horses with supposedly correctly fitted saddles doing harm to the point that the horses are unrideable that it is hard to trust anyone that I do not know.
There are some really good people around maybe be prepared to travel your horse to one further away, rather than getting them to you.
I am in Somerset and we have some good saddlers in the area.

 

[Mithras]

Unless you or the horse are hard to fit, I would get a good second hand saddle. Getting a new saddle which is what its supposed to be in custom fit terms is incredibly difficult, wastes loads of time and can be difficult to get your money back if it doesn't fit as it should. At least with a second hand saddle, you know what you're getting.

 

[ElleSkywalker]

If u want a good book in saddle fitting, practical saddle fitting by Ken Lyndon-Dykes is very good

I had a m2m saddle for my horse 13 years ago and it has only just stopped fitting her, (she has had a foal which has changed her shape) however there is a school if thought regarding m2m saddles being that by the time the saddle is made & delivered the horse may have changed anyway so fitting an 'of the rack' saddle with adjustments to horse on the day is a better option.

Having said that, I do love my m2m saddle and feel that 13 years of it fitting perfectly were a good investment!

 

[Dizzle]

Sadly we're transportless at the moment too so no danger of travelling anywhere (and he's done done enough travelling for him to stand still enough to fit a saddle to him!)

Neither of us are particularly hard to fit to be honest, he's a 17inch (but could take 17.5) tb with a small wither and a m/w fit, a tiny bit of muscle waistage behind the withers, I'm 5ft8 and quite leggy.

Yes, lots of saddle stress not helped by the fact I’m a natural worrier! New saddler is SMS registered (fitter and saddler)and have heard a couple of bad but mostly good things about him. I figure that has to stand for something, surely there’s not a business in the country that doesn’t have a couple of bad reviews amounts the hundreds?!

A few years ago, I was given a bit of advice, a lady was telling me how her friend had had a bad experience with a hoof trimmer, the same trimmer I was using, everyone else had RAVED about this woman she was well known and well established, this one lady told me her friend had had issues. Her biggest bit of advice to me was “Know your stuff”. (So I looked into it, changed trimmer and horse went sound!)

I think I just need to clue myself up a bit more on saddle fit...

 

[Dizzle]

Thanks for the book idea, I've also asked the inlaws for this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horses-Pain...9808/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323778160&sr=8-2

And am spending hours drawing and doodling trying to work out how it all connects!

 

[WetandMuddy]

I have an Ellie Martin saddle, too! Fantastic.

Earlier this year, because horse had grown, I had to have a new half-tree - the saddle was back within 4-5 days and it wasn't very expensive. Because she had made the saddle, it was so easy to change!

 

[domane]

What about Lavinia Mitchell?

 

[Dizzle]

What about Lavinia Mitchell?

Someone else has recommended me a Balance saddle too, but I just don’t think I want to go down the custom made route just yet, the other thing that concerns me about custom fit is the length of time I have to go without a saddle.

Hopefully I’ve got a saddle to borrow whilst a friend’s youngster is out of action, still waiting to hear back from saddle fitter with a date! I just want to take the little sausage out for a good leg stretch!