Saddler fitted a saddle that didn't fit !! what do I do now ??

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moandben

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Just after a bit of advice really,

I had a new saddle fitted to my horse in Jan, I asked a few questions at the time as looked quite tight around the shoulders. Was told by saddler that it was fine. ( have witness)
Didn’t really do much with him for end of jan through to middle of march due to weather and work.

In May I had the saddler back out again as saddle had started to point to one side ! I was told it was ok and that it just needed a wider plate put in it, so this was changed..

In June I had basically stopped riding as was not happy with the saddle at all, still pointing etc… was told by saddler that horse was wonky, and I needed a pro lite pad which was sold to me there and then. I still was not happy that saddle was right and got two other people sit on saddle in front of saddler to say whether they thought it was right or not..

Both said not right.

Saddler left happy that it was.

I called a Chiro out to check my horse as was worried about what was happening.

She found a sore shoulder and both very tight (shoulders)
She asked to see his saddle on so I did and she said that is what is causing the shoulder issues as the saddle is too tight on him and he can’t move properly.

I spoke to the saddler on the phone who said she was still happy with the fit of the saddle but would speak to the chiro.

They spoke. And she offered me a partial refund (admitting they were in the wrong???) In total the saddle extras and fittings/checks chiro has cost me £625.

The saddler has refunded me £550.

I am left £75 out of a pocket, with a wonky horse, A wonky horse that is going to be hard to fit a new saddle to and a wonky horse that could really benefit from physio sessions to help his muscle wastage.

Sooooo, (sorry for the long post) Where do you think I stand ? Should I be asking for more back from the saddlers to help him recover or should I just put it down to a **** saddler ??

What would you do ?
 
That exact same thing happened last year to me. (very well known saddler I'm not allowed to mention) fitted and sold me a brand new albion, and at the time I bought it she sold me a Mattes Half pad to be used with the saddle. 3 Months on I wasn't happy with how the horse was going and I had it checked and she said saddle was still fine. Another 3 months on my horse starts saying NO, and I get the back man and another saddler out, who both condemn the original saddle, and when I contact MW they refused to admit any wrong doing and offered me £450 for a saddle they sold me for £1100.

My mistake was leaving it 6 months before I complained. If I had complained within 6 months I could legally have demanded a refund from them.

If I was you, I would take what they've offered you.
You'll have an almost impossible task trying to sell it privately (as I have found out) and to be honest I would have been delighted if I was only £75 out of pocket.
 
£75 is not an unreasonable amount for the saddle fitter to retain for their services, travel costs etc. I'd be happy with the £550 refund, especially as part of the problem is the horse is wonky.
 
Misinterpreted said:
That exact same thing happened last year to me. (very well known saddler I'm not allowed to mention) fitted and sold me a brand new albion, and at the time I bought it she sold me a Mattes Half pad to be used with the saddle. 3 Months on I wasn't happy with how the horse was going and I had it checked and she said saddle was still fine. Another 3 months on my horse starts saying NO, and I get the back man and another saddler out, who both condemn the original saddle, and when I contact MW they refused to admit any wrong doing and offered me £450 for a saddle they sold me for £1100.

My mistake was leaving it 6 months before I complained. If I had complained within 6 months I could legally have demanded a refund from them.

If I was you, I would take what they've offered you.
You'll have an almost impossible task trying to sell it privately (as I have found out) and to be honest I would have been delighted if I was only £75 out of pocket.
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They have had the saddle that still looks new and everything back. I have had the £550 back. But I think its going to cost a lot more to get my horse back to how he was before I let the saddler loose on him !!

I just think if it has happened to me how many other people are having there horses abused by these so called saddle fitters....
I spoke to the saddler at least 5 times in the 6 months I had the saddle
 
It sounds as if the saddle may have fitted when you first had it fitted, but then if the horse wasn't ridden for some time clearly there was going to be a difference.

You've had a re-fund and it sounds as if the saddler has acted in good faith.
 
Flame_ said:
£75 is not an unreasonable amount for the saddle fitter to retain for their services, travel costs etc. I'd be happy with the £550 refund, especially as part of the problem is the horse is wonky.
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Thats the problem, Horse was not wonky before !! how much is 6 months worth of physio going to cost me ?? which is what the Chiro said he needs?
 
amymay said:
It sounds as if the saddle may have fitted when you first had it fitted, but then if the horse wasn't ridden for some time clearly there was going to be a difference.

You've had a re-fund and it sounds as if the saddler has acted in good faith.
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The saddler was good in that respect, just not fitting the saddle. Didnt do a lot with him till end of March ish, And had saddler out on 12th May.

Also, Horse is a big cob, He was fitted with a dressage saddle. The Chiro ( and since another saddler ) has said that his shoulders are too big as the striaght of the dressage saddle stops his shoulders moving past a certin point. He was in a albion GP before which really went over his shoulders so they could still have full action.

Sorry should of explained a bit better.
 
Also, Horse is a big cob, He was fitted with a dressage saddle. The Chiro ( and since another saddler ) has said that his shoulders are too big as the striaght of the dressage saddle stops his shoulders moving past a certin point. He was in a albion GP before which really went over his shoulders so they could still have full action.
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Interesting, I'd always thought that the straighter the cut, the more easily the shoulder moved - hence why dressage saddles were developed in the first place.......
 
amymay said:
Interesting, I'd always thought that the straighter the cut, the more easily the shoulder moved - hence why dressage saddles were developed in the first place.......
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Same here, I'm no saddle fitter so can onlly go on what I am told, From what i can gather if she had put a wider plate in the saddle it would of too low on the front. So it stayed the same which was tight !!
 
amymay said:
Interesting, I'd always thought that the straighter the cut, the more easily the shoulder moved - hence why dressage saddles were developed in the first place.......
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thats what i thought? when you put a saddle on it should always sit behind the shoulder so to give the shoulder free movement, i would just take the money and go. get a second chiropractic opinion. i think that saddler had you by the b**llocks a treat! but good on you for going with your instinct. what part of the worl are you in?
 
Normally I'd say something like, get all you can from them.

But in this instance you need to accept what you have gotten and move forward. You need to focus your energies on finding the horse a new saddle that fits (I have a suggestion if you are interested!)

I would never used that saddle fitting company again if I were you!
 
miss_buffay said:
thats what i thought? when you put a saddle on it should always sit behind the shoulder so to give the shoulder free movement, i would just take the money and go. get a second chiropractic opinion. i think that saddler had you by the b**llocks a treat! but good on you for going with your instinct. what part of the worl are you in?
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Thank you
Any one know of someone else to have a look at him ? Im in gloucestershire.
 
Thursday said:
Normally I'd say something like, get all you can from them.

But in this instance you need to accept what you have gotten and move forward. You need to focus your energies on finding the horse a new saddle that fits (I have a suggestion if you are interested!)

I would never used that saddle fitting company again if I were you!
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I think i know that i am lucky to get what I have but feel so angry and upset by the whole thing, feel so guilty for my boy.

I will never use them again.

Thursday, whats your suggestion ??
 
moandben said:
how much is 6 months worth of physio going to cost me ?? which is what the Chiro said he needs?
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What makes you think Chiro is any less of a bullsh!tter than the saddle fitter, lol. Give horse physio, a week or two off then some more physio. If horse isn't right you've a bigger problem than saddles, IMHO.
 
Mine has a big shoulder and while he is an ISH, my saddler told me he was definately cob shaped. Both of his saddles have had to be fitted to stay clear behind his shoulder so dressage is quite straight cut and his jumping saddle looks almost like a GP on him (and a proper SJ on anything else).
 
moandben said:
I think i know that i am lucky to get what I have but feel so angry and upset by the whole thing, feel so guilty for my boy.

I will never use them again.

Thursday, whats your suggestion ??
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I would recomment a Thorogood saddle as its ultra adjustable. I just bought one for my horse - its her 5th saddle in 1 year :S and its unbelievable. I swear to you - if the horse grew an extra leg out of his/her back - you could fit the saddle to him/her!

Seriously though, the reason I would recommend is because it is adjustable to any fit. If teh horse isnt right at the moment, you dont want to have to buy something else 3 months down the line when (s)he changes shape. I believe that you are better off buying something adjustable until such a time when everything is 99.9% again.

For me, the biggest problem was buying synthetic but I made a deal with OH that he would buy me an Antares or a Devoucoux saddle if I make it around the 1* at Tattersalls!!

PM if you would like more info or more positive vibes!

Just remember that it seems like hard work and oh so stressful atm trying to sort everthing - but you have you hang in there!! :)
 
iv just seen penny does do gloucestershire, she is very good and tells you how it is. i have her to treat mine regularly and will have her out to treat mine when he is recovering from his lameness issues. shes not stupid money either!
 
I had the same but the saddler I used (3 letters) fitted a saddle that clearly didn't fit, gave me a front riser which resulted in the saddle tipping back and damaging her back so much in one 3 hr ride that she had two lots of intense physio and dropped weight to look like a hat rack as she was in so much pain. I would love to complain but since my experience have been told not to bother as you get threatened and abuse thrown at you!

I since have found a lovely saddler in Surrey and he has fitted a fantastic saddle to me and my horse and she has never had a problem since. He took a look at the wintec the other guy had fitted; it was missing a v important bolt in the head plate which meant it swung from side to side, and it was a cair which means it will never fit a flat backed native and that is why it had the seasaw effect when he placed the front riser under it.
 
Thursday said:
I would recomment a Thorogood saddle as its ultra adjustable. I just bought one for my horse - its her 5th saddle in 1 year :S and its unbelievable. I swear to you - if the horse grew an extra leg out of his/her back - you could fit the saddle to him/her!

Seriously though, the reason I would recommend is because it is adjustable to any fit. If teh horse isnt right at the moment, you dont want to have to buy something else 3 months down the line when (s)he changes shape. I believe that you are better off buying something adjustable until such a time when everything is 99.9% again.

For me, the biggest problem was buying synthetic but I made a deal with OH that he would buy me an Antares or a Devoucoux saddle if I make it around the 1* at Tattersalls!!

PM if you would like more info or more positive vibes!

Just remember that it seems like hard work and oh so stressful atm trying to sort everthing - but you have you hang in there!! :)
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Thank you, Im sorry to say it was a Thorowgood Cob Dressage that he had. I'm wondering if it is because I used to drive him ? don't know if that would make and difference to shoulders ! He was always level before I squished his shoulders !
I have a Bates GP with Cair thats adjustable to try from a friends friend but new saddler not coming out till sat morning to have look.

I just really don't know what to next/ first to sort all this out.
 
miss_buffay said:
iv just seen penny does do gloucestershire, she is very good and tells you how it is. i have her to treat mine regularly and will have her out to treat mine when he is recovering from his lameness issues. shes not stupid money either!
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Thank you very much, will look her up now. I really hope she can help... My biggest problem is just not knowing what to do.

Thank you
 
Yes- take the money.

However The saddler is a professional in there own right and as such have been neglegent in fitting the saddle. I would potentially seek legal advice as your going to have on going problems.

If you had been involved in a car crash for example and were injured (genuinely) then the insurance company will not only fix your car but also pay for your on going tratment (physio etc). Like wise when I'm at work if I give neglegent advice then people are well within there rights to question that in court. I fear that this is the only way to drive up standards of practice. Genuine mistakes can happen, however I would have hoped that it would have been picked up after you called the saddler out for a second time.

Only my opinion
 
Another vote for take the money and run :)

Out of interest, would you mind PMing me which saddle fitter you used?
 
neweventer said:
Yes- take the money.

However The saddler is a professional in there own right and as such have been neglegent in fitting the saddle. I would potentially seek legal advice as your going to have on going problems.
Only my opinion
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Who do you think I should contact for advice ? never been in a situation like this before ?
 
Didn’t really do much with him for end of jan through to middle of march due to weather and work.
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During which time your horse will almost certainly have changed.

I think the refund you received is ample, and you should accept the situation. Sorry
 
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