Saddlers.. Grr

Well my wonderful saddler ( like Oz ) turned up today and spent two and a bit hours sorting the wonderful Kevin out.

I'm going against popular opinion here and saying that saddle fitting is a service industry and like most service industries they should not bulk at working on a Sunday or Bank holiday. If they stuck to office hours where would the majority of us be, unless we are all benefit claimers or the wives of rich partners. My saddler usually replies within two days and is usually there within a week but then I do feel blessed. As to having a saddler change a gullet, why not. If you don't feel confident about it and your not sure which size you need or you don't have that size , why not have a saddler out. Let's face it some horses are more difficult and even a simple change of gullet can throw up problems and the saddle may need to be balanced.

Why is everyone getting so irate over a simple post?
 
Sukistokes2 said:
Why is everyone getting so irate over a simple post?
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Meh I don't know. Just letting them get on with it to be honest if it upsets them so be it.

Guessing it did come across badly what I said but I meant it more in a humorous way than angry I was never angry. I am just neurotic when it comes to my horses care i was more going 'mad' in terms of that I had nothing arranged yet to fix the problem and it drives me slightly crazy if I don't have a solution arranged. That's sadly just me.

Can't change the gullet myself either as 1. I don't know how to and 2. I don't have the gullets. The saddler I bought the saddle from kept them so she could adjust it in future I mean let's face it she gets more money if she is the one who has to do it. Can't blame her on that. I wouldn't anyway as I think it needs re flocked as well so I could end up doing a lot of damage to the horse if I did it myself.

Anyway thanks to all who weren't so nasty and did understand my weird behaviour. Agreed with you too sukistokes I dunno how they would make a living around here if they didn't work weekends. I knew I wasn't likely to get a saddler quickly but why not ask? Don't get if you don't ask the sooner I ask the sooner the issue is sorted. But i have had issues with people not replying. When originally getting a saddle I contacted 3 saddlers asking for quotes and that. One of them I didn't hear back from until a month after I contacted them. Already had a saddle by then so she missed out. Same happened with a physio they didn't get back to me and I got someone else. But this is just common up here they do eventually get back to you but often too late to make a sale. I actually did get a reply from one saddler yesterday but sadly she doesn't fit my kind of saddle only fits 3 brands. It said on their website that they stocked only 3 brands so i thought that might be the case but again don't ask don't get.

Ah well it will get sorted. Just would be easier if it was soon as I am only off for a couple of days and obviously need to be there for when it is fitted so we can make sure it's fine.
 
Go buy a gullet and change it yourself. Or ride bareback if you can't work an Allen key!

Oh and stop moaning!

it's bank holiday for goodnes sake, saddle fitters have lives too! My old saddle fitter usually has an 8 week wait (I moved area :( ), I dealt with it because she was worth her weight in gold.
 
Plenty of saddlers do work weekends
It doesn't mean they have to take bookings at weekends or deal with what owners deem 'emergencies' at the drop of a hat. I imagine most are wondering why you can't change a gullet yourself like most people. Get thee to a tack shop and youtube seriously it isn't that difficult. Nothing wrong with wanting a saddler out to do it but you have to be aware then that it won't happen Now, or yesterday, or in less than a few days at least.

Sukistokes did you phone them yesterday or was it a previously arranged appointment? - you say replies within 2 days and is there within a week- the OP states she wants a reply within hours! That is the bonkers bit :p
My saddler certainly does work weekends but most of the time he is on a film set :p. It is possible that all 5 :eek3: of the saddlers the OP contacted yesterday were out fitting, but it doesn't mean they want to deal with people wanting to make appointments that they can deal with on another day. Plenty of my 'service providers' work office hours, I just take time off work. I think it is quite impressive to extrapolate it to the fact that they can't possibly be making a living, I am sure they are doing just fine. Any decent saddler is in very high demand and usually has people prepared to wait.
 
What sort of saddle do you get all the gullets with it anyway and if so why would the saddler want to keep the gullets for every saddle she sells. More likely she has the gullets for sale and she will sell you the correct one. The gullet comes with instructions to fit it, the point of them is that you can do it yourself.

So either, you wait patiently for a saddler and don't use the saddle (that will prevent it hurting your horse).

Or, get a gullet and do it yourself and then get the saddler to check it if you so desire, when she has an appointment available.
 
rachk89 said:
I am just neurotic when it comes to my horses care i was more going 'mad' in terms of that I had nothing arranged yet to fix the problem and it drives me slightly crazy if I don't have a solution arranged. That's sadly just me.
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This is the attitude that provokes the backlash. It's not just you who cares about your horse - for heaven's sake, of course we all care about our horses. We're just more realistic about people responding to a "cold" enquiry from a new client on a bank holiday weekend, and complaining when it isn't instant.

The easy way not to hurt your horse in this situation is not to ride, or to ride bareback. Or you could take responsibility for your own knowledge and learn enough to fit another gullet in the short term, until it can be checked. That is somewhat the point of those saddles.
 
In the last week I have been out fitting Thursday, in the office on Friday, out fitting Saturday, day off Sunday, and then out fitting Monday (bank hol)-Wednesday with two overnight stays. About 65 hours work. Customers were surprised I worked bank holiday Monday but it's the best day to get round several people. After even one day out fitting or a day off I can have 10 FB messages, 5-10 emails, a couple of voicemails and a huge admin to do list, if a customer's call was the only thing I had to do sure I could answer within a few hours, but it's not, there's always a ton to do.

Unless you want me answering calls and taking bookings while I'm saddle fitting (ie it could be your saddle fitting) or driving, my voicemail says it may take a day or two to get back to callers. I work all the hours God sends but it doesn't mean I can get back to people immediately. And one day I'll have a PA but finding the right person, and being able to afford it, is another matter :).
 
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OP your attitude is ridiculous , I have a fifteen year business relationship with my saddler and have spent tens of thousands of ponds with her and I would never ever expect her to respond to call at the weekend .
I expect to wait up to a month for a visit .
There's no welfare issue here ,your saddle does not fit you don't ride your horse problem solved .
 
To be honest I can't understand why you are texting 5 saddlers. I have one that I like and trust and have used for nearly 10 years, I wouldn't phone him on a Sunday as it would seem rude. I might send an email but wouldn't be overly surprised on a BH if he didn't get back to me for a couple of days.

You say in one response that your saddler kept the gullets as you would use her to change if necessary so why were you not contacting this one saddler rather than 5 random ones ?

Also generally your saddle comes with a gullet if you need others then you buy them as you need them. Our saddler showed us how to change them so that we weren't reliant on him as he frequently has a waiting time of 5-6 weeks. He certainly doesn't need to work weekends as he is chocka Mon-Fri.

The fact that you took so long to notice that your saddle was no longer fitting really is your problem not theirs. You want to hope they don't come on this forum and recognise you from this thread else you might be waiting a long time as the chances are you need them more than they need you !!
 
rachk89 said:
I've contacted 5 saddlers today in this area as we realised my saddle is way too tight on my horse and needs the gullet changed (I should have noticed this WAY sooner and feel like crap that I didnt, so please dont judge me on that part, I am already judging myself enough).

Not one of them as replied! Going mad as I want to get it sorted as soon as possible as I refuse to ride him again while its at that size and digging into his shoulders. Feel really guilty that I never noticed, I had been checking his spine regularly as it was sore when I got him, but that went away once I got this saddle. Had checked the front of it too, but my judgement was wrong.

Please reply, any one of you saddlers! Want my saddle sorted so it doesnt hurt my horse anymore! I am finding more and more in the horse world that getting hold of professionals like saddlers, vets, farriers, physio's etc takes a long time and they dont reply within even a few hours. Ok I know I'm asking on a Sunday and it was a nice Sunday, but this happens even during the week.

Ok rant over. :)
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Seriously to contact someone on a Sunday is not right you ring in working hours only and it's not a Sunday.
Fine email but you would not get a reply until the next working day anyway
 
Not read all the replies but a few thoughts - saddlers seem bonkers busy these days so not surprised you're not having much luck (leaving aside that it was a BH weekend so I wouldn't have contacted them until Tues). They seem to be booked up weeks in advance around here so you may have a bit of a wait on your hands. But also, that may not be a bad thing. If he's a bit sore/tight from the saddle, then having 1/2 weeks off may be good for him. Perhaps see if you can get a physio in the meantime, do some lunging and ground work as that might help loosen him up. Silver lining and all that :-)

But I do also sympathize - I've found that some folks just don't respond quickly (or at all in some cases) but I tend to just move on and find someone more reliable. The other thing is I am terrible for texting people as I feel like they can reply when ready, but sometimes an actual call might prove quicker.
 
Bernster said:
But I do also sympathize - I've found that some folks just don't respond quickly (or at all in some cases) but I tend to just move on and find someone more reliable. The other thing is I am terrible for texting people as I feel like they can reply when ready, but sometimes an actual call might prove quicker.
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This..... I might call or leave a voicemail on a Sunday or BH Monday because that would be when I was sat down looking into it. However, only because they can listen/read the message and reply when it suits them
 
Thanks for all of your opinions but I got it sorted and i have saddler coming this weekend. :)

Oh as for the question on why I didn't just contact the saddler I got the saddle from I was told she didn't cover my new area I recently moved to so I tried her and other people who were closer. Thankfully she will come which is awesome.

I also wouldn't do the gullet change myself as I have also pointed out it probably needs reflocked too so I couldn't do that. I do feel bad enough that I didn't notice it was too small so don't really want to add to that guilt by changing the gullet getting the wrong one and it still hurting him. I am still learning about actually owning a horse as he is my first one so I have never done anything with a saddle before so really don't think it would be wise for me to do that lol.

Either way it will get sorted this weekend and I am still glad I was 'rude' as some people put it to contact someone on a weekend. Hey you don't ask you don't get. I asked I got. :) Felt bad turning the other 4 down though but I got the saddler I wanted Yay!
 
ester said:
One would assume if you had contacted them on Tuesday you would still have had the same result though :p
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Ah but what if someone else got ahead of me and got the last spot? She did say she would only be able to slot me in somewhere if I am lucky and i was. If i hadn't of asked I may not have gotten for this weekend and had to wait longer. :P I mean you guys all have to wait ages anyway why make that time even longer just because you won't ask? May as well try no harm in trying. One of the other saddlers wouldn't have been able to slot me in til next week.
 
rachk89 said:
Thanks for all of your opinions but I got it sorted and i have saddler coming this weekend. :)

Oh as for the question on why I didn't just contact the saddler I got the saddle from I was told she didn't cover my new area I recently moved to so I tried her and other people who were closer. Thankfully she will come which is awesome.

I also wouldn't do the gullet change myself as I have also pointed out it probably needs reflocked too so I couldn't do that. I do feel bad enough that I didn't notice it was too small so don't really want to add to that guilt by changing the gullet getting the wrong one and it still hurting him. I am still learning about actually owning a horse as he is my first one so I have never done anything with a saddle before so really don't think it would be wise for me to do that lol.

Either way it will get sorted this weekend and I am still glad I was 'rude' as some people put it to contact someone on a weekend. Hey you don't ask you don't get. I asked I got. :) Felt bad turning the other 4 down though but I got the saddler I wanted Yay!
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Bonkers
 
I've had to call saddler out for mine - my wait is 10 days so was pretty pleased with that. I'm annoyed with myself, as she told me to get her out in 3 months post last check and surprisingly accurately my mare has started to protest under saddle in the last week (just under 3 months). I should have just pre-booked it. Like you, I won't change the gullet myself (too many issues with saddles in the past so want the expert out).

I do agree though that sometimes getting people out is a nightmare. When I moved it took me weeks to get any farrier to even return my calls - I must have tried 7 or 8. I did finally find one!
 
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