Views on Saddle Company saddles please, good or bad!

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serenbach

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Hi, as the title suggests really, am thinking of getting one for my 5 yr old Sec D, as he's still gorwing and changing shape, and i know they can be adjusted by a qualified saddler.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated. :D
 
Mines a bad one :P Had an event version, lasted about a week, leather rubbed away down the flaps, moved across my horses back - partially due to saddler trying to fit a 17.5" saddle to him despite being short backed and me swimming in it! ...and stitching fell to pieces. So generally i was very disapointed in their standards.
 
Echo simplyhunting was really dissapointed with my experience, in the end got the fitter to take it back and got my money back, the saddle was built awfully, moved a lot and the panels were unlevel, causing back problems in a very short time.

Saying that simplyhunting is the first person who I have come across who has also had a bad experience with them, always thought it was just me :rolleyes: If you do a search you will find lots of people raving about them :)
 
I think it can depend on the fitter in your area as to whether you have a good or bad experience. Just like most saddles they're not going to suit all shapes of horses but we've had no problems with ours. We have a gp for sisters welsh mare and it fits her nicely and seems very comfortable for her. Sister finds it comfy to sit in too - despite her being 5'5" and the saddle only 15"!
 
You have nothing to lose in having a fitter out so you can have a look for yourself, if you and your horse take to it then they can be great value!

I would just say go with your gut instinct with the fitter you use (as Celia says a lot depends on how good they are) and have a very good look at the saddle top and underside to check it is symetrical, and that the quality is as you would want before you buy :)
 
I've got one after my other saddle was fitted badly!! So far he have came on leaps moving so much more. We've had it flock after first fitting then just checkd the other day and all looking good!! I'll got it second hans from the local saddler who adjustd where it need. Fingers crossd it carrys on all good!!!
 
Hi I had one didnt like it wasn't comfy - though to be fair it was an older saddle. I much prefer the Native Pony saddles really comfy and my boy 'moves' better in them. Just had both mine checked by 'Native Pony' saddle fitter and only cost £50.00. :) This included travel of over 100 miles.
 
I've had 5 :o I really like them, the fitter has been great & my horse has been able to grow and change shape without endless new saddles. Better explain why I have had 5 - the 1st was a working hunter, I sold this & bought an event saddle and a dressage saddle when I realised that having a conformationally-challenged grey and showing don't really go together very well but BE would be fun. I still have the event saddle (love it) but I sold the dressage saddle, it was the Heather Moffett version with set back stirrups, I never found it very comfy. I then bought a close contact jump saddle for doing bigger jumpy stuff, that was only 17 inch & wasn't quite big enough for me so I bought a 17.5 inch when one came up on eBay and sold the 17". So I have bought 5 Saddle Co saddles, sold 3 to good homes, still have 2 ;)

I have heard one or two complaints about build quality/poor durability but my own experience has been good, the saddles I have do get a lot of hammer & have been fine.
 
Wow, some really positive responses - just what i was hoping for!!

Spinal Tap, when you bought the second hand ones, how did you find they adapted to your horses shape (as I'm presuming they would have been molded to another horses' shape), did it take long to fit well, they say it takes 3 hours of use to mold to the horse??

Will have a search for Native Pony saddles too, all ideas greatly accepted!!:)
 
They have been fine, my saddler has checked them & adjusted the flocking before use then we've just got on with it. All the saddles I've sold seem to have been similarly easy to adapt (they have all been fitted to their new owner's horses by my saddler too). I have heard of 2nd hand saddles needing a reflock because it's not been in great nick but if you post the saddle to Saddle Co they can do this for you.
 
as others have said they don't fit all horses. i have the WH for my NF and it is a fab fit for him - my saddle does a template for my pony and then adjust the saddle so it meets the template - she keeps all the templates so I can see how his shape has changed as he has grown up - he was 5 when i first got him and is now 7.

she can also adjust the saddles and flocking herself using a machine in the back of her car so they don't need to be sent away and you don't wait around for ages.

most of her clients are native ponies with the barrel shape body - most of the problems i have heard about the saddles seems to be for horses.
 
I love them. I made the stupid mistake of buying something else this year, as a treat, and it wrecked by Horses back. Was meant to be custom made. I got a new Saddle co and Horse was back to his old self quickly. All three Horses I have owned have gone well in them.

There is a new model now, which instead of having a flap made of leather bonded to synthetic, it is all leather. The panel is still synthetic. A big improvement on the Verona. You can also get memory foam in the seat which has solved the fact they used to be less comfortable.

I think the quality is great. You do need to have the flocking topped up after a couple of weeks and regularly checked - as with any saddle. They aren't flocked with wool - they use a synthetic material which when you feel it is much more soft and won't lump together. They are very light as well. The serge panel is very forgiving.

You really need to choose your fitter very wisely. There are some very good ones but some not very good ones as well.

Agree that they won't fit every Horse.
 
They are amazing. I can't rate them highly enough.
I have got the Veronica for my girl and i do EVERYTHING in it- I have even shown to county level in it! SOO comfy, perfect if you have a horse that does tend to change shape during the year.
I am saving up at the mo for another one (I am going to get a straight cut/suede seat and knees one!) and I can't wait to get another!
i dont think I would use or get anything else for any of my horses now!!!
 
I had a Verona at one time and, as suzysparkle says, the flaps got worn very quickly. It seems a common problem for that model

On the plus side I think it fitted well and I found it exceptionally comfy to sit on (its the only saddle I didn't have a seat saveer on). I also like the serge panels.

Only negative, other than the annoying wearing of the flaps, is that I'm not sure it helps your position that much - I felt the stirrup bars weren't very well positioned

Overall its a pretty decent saddle though
 
They're ok saddles - had quite a few.

The panels are wide and the gullet width good but they come up quite long.

The tree is the same as a thorowgood saddle (SC owner used to work for thorowgood). It's a good fit for many horses at standard widths but tends to become too curved a very very wide fittings.

The metal head plate has been known to stretch over time.

Of the 5 saddles I've had 3 have had the panels attatched squint. Easily adjusted but it can twist the tree badly.

But they are only as good as the fitter and there are some who will insist that one saddle can fit all, which they can't.
 
I had one. Never again. Pony's back suffered badly. As saddles they aren't bad, but the fitters I have had dealings with leave a huge amount to be desired... and contacting the company direct was no help at all- they simply said they weren't responsible for the fitters as they aren't employed by the company.

Be very aware of a few things:

As already mentioned, the saddles are often crooked- be sure about what you are getting and inspect it closely when it arrives- if in doubt, shout!

Know what size panel your horse can take and be mindful of the fact that SC saddles do tend to come up long- so if your horse can 'just' take a 17.5", go for a 17"

Be wary of being 'encouraged' to buy a particular saddle- I was practically pushed into buying a 17.5" cob saddle... when I changed fitters the next one said it wasn't ideal but was 'workable'... finally found a half decent SC trained (but also Master Saddler) fitter who said the pony should NEVER have been in anything bigger than a 17" at a push, and there was no way he'd have fitted a cob saddle to it... I guess the first fitter had a glut of 17.5" cob saddles to get rid of.

If at all possible find a Master Saddler who is ALSO trained as a SC fitter- one without the other is asking for trouble with these particular saddles IMHO!

edited to add... now very happy with my GFS!!
 
I love mine to death!

I had mine fitted by Kay Humphries so the fit is perfect!

I would never have anything else now. In fact, I am now selling my leather saddles as I will never need them again!

Very Comfy and warm on your bottom in the winter...oh and practically maintenance free!

Jamins movement is much free-er. Fantastic saddles!
 
I think they used to have their place. However the Kent and Masters range is newer and MUCH MUCH better both in design and qualitiy. They are made by thorrowgood on their 'cob' tree with english leather, so perfect for sec D's adjustable too at around £700 new much better value and oh so comfy!!!
 
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