Sold a saddle that doesn’t fit

sassandbells

sassandbells

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Looking for a bit of advise on what to do next.

My mare had many issues including mild kissing spines that were injected in February. As part of this I was advised to get my saddle checked and was recommended a local saddle fitter by multiple people. I called him out around mid Feb to get an idea of what kind of saddles she would fit and ended up buying one off him after doing a walk/trot under saddle with me riding.

The saddler brought the new specially made (with a slightly more suitable tree apparently) on the 24th of February and again we did the walk/trot under saddle to check she was happy. She did buck in the trot but the saddle fitter put this down to all the vet/behaviour issues we’d had previously and suggested it would get better in time as she muscled up and became confidence more under saddle.

we started ridden work in the rehab plan around the end of March, only in walk and all seemed ok, no untoward behaviour, no obvious signs of discomfort. Around mid April I had my first trots under saddle and she was instantly hollowing and rushing. i contacted the saddle fitter on the 19th April to ask them to come back out and check the fit, their earliest appointment was the 10th May.

10th May comes round and he checks the saddle, adds some flocking and says it fits well. I did a walk / trot in appointment and she did a small buck and my nerves were too shot to do anything more. Saddle fitter suggests I need to get someone more confident to come out and ride her through it.

This week, I’ve had two professionals come out and ride Bella in the school, in walk and trot and they have both agreed the saddle doesn’t fit, and is not at all suitable for her. You can’t run a hand under the gullet bars even when no one is sat on the saddle, it’s lifting at the back when she stretches forward, and the whole saddle slips onto her shoulders in trot. They also said they would not be riding this horse in this saddle again, as all of the behavioural issues only come out when the saddle slides forward and sits on her shoulders.

I know the saddle fitter has a 14 day full refund policy, or a 60 day return policy although I’m not entirely sure what this entails. We’re technically just out of the 60 days return policy but I’m not sure where I stand as the saddle does not fit. It’s not just that I’ve changed my mind, it’s that it’s not suitable - and my limited knowledge / lack of confidence didn’t enable me to reach this point without the professionals coming to ride.

it wasn’t the cheapest of saddles at £1500 either, I just feel really upset and let down as this is the 3rd saddle fitter I’ve had out, purchased a saddle from and found out it doesn’t fit. If anyone has any advice I’d really appreciate it.
 
Firstly id ask the saddle fitter what they are willing to do and if you paid via a credit card, id also be contacting them. The only issue you might have, is that the saddle fitter says that the horse has changed shape, however they should have taken templates at the time if the fitting, so you could, perhaps request these to see if the horse has altered?
 
H
Flyermc said:
Firstly id ask the saddle fitter what they are willing to do and if you paid via a credit card, id also be contacting them. The only issue you might have, is that the saddle fitter says that the horse has changed shape, however they should have taken templates at the time if the fitting, so you could, perhaps request these to see if the horse has altered?
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Her top line has improved a lot since the initial saddle fitting, but I said about the issues we’d had under saddle when he was out last week and he didn’t comment on it impacting the saddle.
He suggested adding a half pad underneath in case she wanted something softer than the saddle on her back but this just made the fit worse. He said, and I quote “I can see no reason the saddle would be causing those issues” but watching the professionals ride her it was clear as night and day.
 
Firstly I think the saddle fitter offering 60 days return policy is very fair, I do use saddle fitters the longest I have ever had for a full refund is 14 days. Sometimes something has appeared to fit but when you have ridden on it out, its slipped, but it only takes a couple of rides to be aware where it's not sitting correctly.
This time of year a horse can alter shape in a couple of weeks, and you have just said, 'Her top line has improved a lot since the initial saddle fitting'.
If the saddle is like a old dolly peg on a line, it will probably never fit, so I would ask for an exchange , pay extra for a refit. I think if over sixty days ago you both agreed that it fit and you are now only telling them of the problems I wouldn't expect a refund.
 
honetpot said:
Firstly I think the saddle fitter offering 60 days return policy is very fair, I do use saddle fitters the longest I have ever had for a full refund is 14 days. Sometimes something has appeared to fit but when you have ridden on it out, its slipped, but it only takes a couple of rides to be aware where it's not sitting correctly.
This time of year a horse can alter shape in a couple of weeks, and you have just said, 'Her top line has improved a lot since the initial saddle fitting'.
If the saddle is like a old dolly peg on a line, it will probably never fit, so I would ask for an exchange , pay extra for a refit. I think if over sixty days ago you both agreed that it fit and you are now only telling them of the problems I wouldn't expect a refund.
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I think my biggest issue is that I actually made them aware on the 10th April that I was concerned about the saddle fit after I’d started riding, (went back and checked my messages) but due to his availability he couldn’t come out until a month later, which pushes us past the 60 days.

I never agreed the saddle fit, I took his word for it as I’m not educated enough to comment on it. It was a brand new saddle, made for her, with minor adjustments to the tree and panels. Not off the peg, but not quite bespoke either. I said I’d get in touch once she was working under saddle to assess the fit when she was muscled and able to be ridden, but he still agreed it fitted last week. If she had changed shape that much, surely he should’ve said this no longer fits or it needs adjusting, rather than saying to get a professional out to push her through it?
 
I do understand your frustration as I had exactly the same issue with a new saddle fitted to a pony. I never believed it fit. I expressed this several times to the fitter. I took her word for it as I trusted that she knew more than me. In the end my pony had a bruised back and a physio and my RI both said the badly fitting saddle had caused the issues. I complained but was not able to get a refund - though I did get the re-fitting fees refunded as I had called her back twice more to check it and she had charged for those checks. I warned a few people off her and chalked it up to experience. I did manage to part ex the saddle with another fitter and was not hugely out of pocket in the end.
 
sassandbells said:
I think my biggest issue is that I actually made them aware on the 10th April that I was concerned about the saddle fit after I’d started riding, (went back and checked my messages) but due to his availability he couldn’t come out until a month later, which pushes us past the 60 days.

I never agreed the saddle fit, I took his word for it as I’m not educated enough to comment on it. It was a brand new saddle, made for her, with minor adjustments to the tree and panels. Not off the peg, but not quite bespoke either. I said I’d get in touch once she was working under saddle to assess the fit when she was muscled and able to be ridden, but he still agreed it fitted last week. If she had changed shape that much, surely he should’ve said this no longer fits or it needs adjusting, rather than saying to get a professional out to push her through it?
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I think of saddles a bit like buying children's shoes, you go in to a shop, they measure their feet, bring out the shoes, x size and x wide, and as soon as you get them out of the box you know they are not going to fit. You watch the child walk, you feel the pinch points and nope, they do not fit my child, we need another pair, and you ignore anything they say, because you are going to have to buy a new pair if they hurt your child. No one really teaches you how to fit shoes on a toddler, you observe and feel, you are spending the money so really have to be happy with the fit.
With saddles as soon as you are not happy and it's a trial, take it back, do not think twice about it. I have seen a couple of youtube videos on saddle fit, but even if the saddle, 'should' fit you have to go with what the horse thinks about it.
When I started buying saddles, you had a choice of tree, seat size and did you want GP or jumping, so saddlers did not have to carry a huge amount of stock, but now the fashion is to have a lot of saddle styles, I get why they may want to steer you to the stock they have, or a brand they can move quickly.
You can try small claims but, trying to some agreement would be quicker.
When I used to be at livery and we got something new I would ask other liveries if I could borrow their saddle just to try and see how they sat on the horse, I didn't have to ride in them, it was just seeing and standing back where each type sat on the horse, and what the tree width and length was, depending on the brand.
 
brighteyes said:
I don't suppose you took videos of the professionals riding and the saddle shifting/mare reacting? That might add to your personal findings and provide evidence of your claims.
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Yes I did, along with photos of the saddle not fitting while stationary. One of the riders has also offered to come back and ride in front of the saddle fitter. Have contacted the saddle fitter, but assume I won’t hear back till Monday.
 
April 10th is the date that is important, the other two factors are that how did he have a saddle "specially made" in a week? And what paperwork did he give you or direct you to?

If you want free legal help, if you don't have membership of anything with it, contact Trading Standards, the CAB run it in most places.
 
sassandbells said:
Yes I did, along with photos of the saddle not fitting while stationary. One of the riders has also offered to come back and ride in front of the saddle fitter. Have contacted the saddle fitter, but assume I won’t hear back till Monday.
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Well, that's about as much as you can do for now, I think. Other than send the video to another saddle-fitter for their opinion.
 
sbloom said:
April 10th is the date that is important, the other two factors are that how did he have a saddle "specially made" in a week? And what paperwork did he give you or direct you to?

If you want free legal help, if you don't have membership of anything with it, contact Trading Standards, the CAB run it in most places.
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Valid point, supposedly a saddler he works with regularly but not something I had really considered… he came out 8th Feb, And saddle arrived 24th of Feb

ETA: Recieved no paperwork other than a receipt for the saddle
 
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sassandbells said:
Valid point, supposedly a saddler he works with regularly but not something I had really considered… he came out 8th Feb, And saddle arrived 24th of Feb

ETA: Recieved no paperwork other than a receipt for the saddle
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You would need to discuss with Trading Standards but there are requirements under European consumer contract law which means you should have sight of a copy of terms and conditions relating to the sale, at the point you pay a deposit. If this hasn't been done your rights of return and redress are massively extended.

16 days to make a saddle is entirely possible if he really has someone to hand who makes saddles from beginning to end, usually fitters rely on a workshop in and around Walsall and they have 6 week to 6 month waits depending on the company. In the last 2 years some saddles, including some very standard saddles like K&M, have taken over 6 months to come into stock.
 
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