What do you do about saddles when you buy a new horse?

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sloulou

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Probably a silly question BUT... in the past my horses have either come with tack - or I've got a saddle fitter out and bought a new saddle that way...

When I get the new horsie he will be quite unfit and still growing... the physio suggested I don't buy a saddle until he is fully fit and then get one properly fitted... so that it fits him best when he is at his peak fitness.

So - what do you lot do in this situation? I wondered about buying a synthetic or similar cheapish saddle to get going with... then have a fitting in a few months time...

Or do you borrow? Or buy one that you can easily change the fitting of?
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well when i got my boy last year i had the same dilemma, he was only just 4 and so i was worried about shape change etc. When the saddler came out she said she thought he wouldn;t change much as he was already quite mature so i went ahead and brought an albion. i had a few wobbles about it this year as he seemed to grow out of it, however on reflection he was just too fat! once slimmed down again he fitted back into it no probs. However when i was thinking 'oh no will have to buy another saddle' started wondering if i should have brought a bates leather with adjustable gullet, they look pretty good and i now have a 2nd hand wintec that was v useful when he was dieting and the gullet change was great and v easy.
 
I had a Wintec for my lad when I first got him, but it never really fitted all that well - I don't think they're the "one size fits all" solution in all cases.

WOW saddles seem to be the latest thing and might fit your requirements? I think you can adjust them in lots of places so you can alter it as your horse's shape changes. I don't know a lot about them, but my yard is having a fitter over so will go for a nose.
 
My horse was very underweight when I got him so I used my old horses saddle on him initially with loads of thick numnahs under! (I know this is not ideal but was only option until i got something sorted). Fortunately a friend had a saddle that did fit him and let me borrow it for several months until he had filled out enough for it to be worth me buying his own saddle for him.
 
Well having very recently made the mistake of buying a brand new saddle for a horse I didn't keep longer than 2 months after he had got his saddle, there is no way I would do that again.
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I now have a 4 year old that was only recently backed and there is NO chance I would get a new saddle again!! I had bought an Albion and at the time the saddler said "for £250 they can change the tree" if the horse changes shape or I change horse but, when it actually came to it, they were less than helpful and wouldn't consider that (they hadn't even seen the 4 year old).
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So I bought a Bates Close Contact jumping saddle off Ebay with changeable gullet and I will cope with that for the next year or so. Said horse is happy in it!!
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Well I generally buy youngsters and I always back my horses bareback so it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if I didn't have a saddle to fit them.....however I do; I have many many saddles and as most of them are western, they are far easier to fit than English ones.
 
How about getting a second hand adjustable Wintec saddle from Ebay? You could probably sell it on again when you got a permanent saddle after, for what you paid for it!
 
Well you don't want to get off to a bad start with an uncomfortable saddle.

You could try treeless - like a Torsion or Barefoot, or get in touch with a local saddler and explain the situation and see if they have anything suitable.

I bought a Throwgood for mine as a first saddle, but after 12 months it didn't fit at all. I think I managed to sell it for about £100.

A good make of saddle like a Jeffries Falcon or a GPS fits quite a lot of horses.

I have just bought a Barry Swan saddle of ebay for £300 and had it altered to fit, so that worked ok as well.
 
I went for a Saddle Co saddle, infinitely adjustable and the second hand market is very good. As it is its done a year and is still fine.
 
*IF* a Wintec fits then use that. I'd always get a saddler out though to check, as they really don't fit everything!
I would personally get my saddler to bring out some cheap second hand saddles and a selection of under-saddle pads just in case. Get him to find something that fits and use that. Get it re-checked regularly and once he's stopped changing shape, get a "proper" nice one fitted!
I always get my saddler out to check the fit of my new saddles, it's only £40 for my peace of mind and my saddler is just fab. My experienced YO then checks it for me every so often when I ask her, and if she thinks it needs re-checking by the saddler she'll tell me and I'll get him out. My horse changed shape a lot when I first got her, I used Wintecs on her as luckily they fitted.
 
Did you deal with Albion direct?
I've sent my saddle to them to have a wider tree fitted and they were more than helpful! I'm considering doing the same again as H has changed shape again - I've never known a horse alter as much in my life!
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Kate x
 
I love my wintec saddle, have had to adjust it a few times with mae getting fitter after having the foal.

Loved it sooo much that i went and bought another one!! Neither cost me over £150 on ebay and that included postage. Both are like new aswell, my one came from a girl who bought it new, used it once, fell off the horse and gave up riding, got a girth, stirrups and stirrup leathers with it.
 
When i got my youngster he had very little muscle and i knew he was going to change shape a lot. Unfortunately this means regular check ups with the saddler and new saddles. I knew this would happen when i bought him though so it's fine. Before backing him i got the saddler out and manged to get my sisters wintec to fit well enough to use it for lunging and then when he was ready to back i bought a second hand one from the saddler. He's had that 6 months now but he's due for a check up and i think i will have to trade it in for another second hand one. My saddler is pretty good though and will give you a good percentage of what you paid back and he also only charges £10 for a check up (which we do every 3/4 months at the mo).

I would never use a saddle that wasn't properly fitted, especially with a young, unfit or undermuscled horse as they can do so much damage.
 
That's exactly what I'm having to do. I was hoping my existing saddles would fit new horse but they don't. Saddler has advised me to buy a synthetic type of saddle like Wintec, Thorowgood etc as horse is quite young & will change shape, so go for a leather one later on. I don't think you lose an awful lot of money on the gullet change types when selling on. I'm still not sorted yet & I've had my new horse 2 months, I have 2 saddles on loan but we're going to saddlers next weekend, hopefully I will get sorted then.
 
I got a cheap wintec with chageable gullet off ebay when I got Baron as he was lacking muscle and top line. When I had finished with it I just put it back on ebay and got almost as much as I paid for it.
 
No I didn't deal with Albion direct (why didn't I think of that???
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), but was using one of their fitters though! Once this company had sold me a saddle they were less than helpful, admittedly it was perfect for that particular horse but I sold it privately in the end and they wouldn't even let me p/ex it with another! Absolutely useless!! Never again!
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