Saddlers in South West

T

thespider

Member
Joined
22 February 2010
Messages
14
Visit site
Hi all. Am new to forum so bear with me if I do anything wrong!! I have had a nightmare time getting dressage saddle fitted to a 6 year old 7/8ths TB mare - story really would be too long to tell!. Would be really interested to hear any comments (good or bad) regarding Master Saddlers/Saddle Fitters in the Wilts/Somerset/Dorset/Bristol area. Any experiences good or bad?? Also any experiences of WOW saddles and their fitters. Trouble is you hear so many differing opinions!! Thanks.
 
I understand you might not manage it yet but if you do a search on here you will find that pretty much without exception the only person who noone has any negatives about atm is Nathaniel Underwood. He has just fitted me my first new saddle, first time I have met him. He was here for 2 hours, discussing things and making sure we got it right. It is superbly comfortable, puts me in the right position (I have discovered I can no longer slouch on hacks
wink.gif
).

afaik murphys arent qual to fit? they dont come up on the SMS list anyway.
 
Laurence Pearman at stroud saddlery is fab. Have never heard a bad word about him on here or elsewhere and he is good at fitting awkward shapes of horse. would only use him though not one of his other fitters.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Nathaniel Underwood is the only one I would use. I love my Origins Grandee, and I knew it was right for my horse when he offered me a MASSIVE trot again, and didn't swish his tail when I took the saddle off his back!

[/ QUOTE ]

I jumped Frank in it for the first time on saturday and ermm wow..... not sure if that is down to the saddle or not but given where previous one was not fitting its entirely likely!

He is also making one for my mum who has a very difficult to fit mare with no shoulder so he is making a different tree shape for her.

I wish I had one 4 years ago.

I have some reservations about Julia and had several discussions with people before deciding who to have if I was going to buy new.
 
lol, STR. I was more complicated..... right so I do everything but I can only afford one saddle to dr, jump, etc etc ....... off you go! followed by jumping blocks what are these strange items you have attached to my saddle....... get me some proper knee rolls man!
grin.gif
....... though have got used to the jump blocks too now
smile.gif
 
Another vote for Nathaniel Underwood, I have tried others but in my opinion he is the best. He is very busy & can sometimes take a little while to fit you in but is definately worth the wait.
 
not murphys! as ester said, they arnt great, i think they are only qualified to fit the fish saddles and wintec, they cant do leather work. iv got julia coming out friday but im cancelling as my horse is havinga long holiday so seems pointless. can i have the number nathaniel please, and how do you prenounce his name, wouldnt wanna sound like a wazzack!!
 
http://www.nathanielunderwood.co.uk/

nath an iel does that help?

missb I wholly recommend him, took a couple of weeks to come to me but he had a cancellation to fill so might be a bit longer, but worth giving him plenty of notice for when you want him to come. PM me if you want more info on what I got!
 
I'm afraid I've recently heard bad things about nathanial - my back lady has been out to see 4 horses that have sore backs from saddles that don't fit from him. However, some say he is good and I'm sure saddlers can't get it right every time even though they should!

The others I wouldn't touch with a bargepole are Alix from Dorchester Saddlery and Peter Lewis from Pointings. Both of which did a horrendous job on my horses. Peter fitted 4 saddles to my current horse all of which were an awful fit - he is a big shouldered ISH and Peter kept fitting jumping saddles which are totally the wrong type for this horse. Everytime I questioned him he would come back with an answer. Needless to say after the fourth saddle I rang Pointings and gave them a piece of my mind. The lady I spoke to sounded very resigned as if it wasn't the first time she'd had such a phone call and I've since learnt from a few people that he'd done an awful job with their saddles.

Alix also did a dreadful job and stupidly I gave her the benefit of the doubt with two horses. Both times she made huge cock ups and I will never recommend her to anyone again.

I had my backlady out to the horses everytime for a second opinion and she was horrified. It makes me so cross that I have had to get second opinions to check the saddles. I don't know enough about saddles or how they fit to know 100% if they are right for the horse.

Janet from Nutwell Court in Exmouth, Devon, is ace and although you have to buy new from her she is brilliant. I would recommend her in an instant.
 
http://www.ridinghighllc.com/

These pads a genius and there are guides to the shimming depending on your horses shape and muscle tone...(shimming take a few times to sort out and obviously needs to be reviewed as and when your horse changes shape)

Get a wide fitting saddle or XW depending on horse. and ta daa a saddle that fits perfectly with no pressure points!

Its just an option
smile.gif
I got fed up with the unreliabilty of saddle fitters and the fact im meant to trust them with my horses back...so i now use one of these pads and its brilliant...but i have done a lot of research and had advice!

Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top