Ginn
Well-Known Member
I hold my hands up and admit to being pretty nieve and ignorant when I last had the saddler up, but having since read a lot more now believe said saddler didn't do a proper job.
At the time Tilly's saddle (wintec) wasn't fitting quite right and was between sizes and I found it very uncomfortable so we got a secondhand GP Barnsby. When saddler fitted her she told me that she was a MN but due to only being a baby it was much better to go for a M to allow growing room. She also took her templates "for future reference".
I was OK with this bit and accept that with a youngster everything is a bit of a compromise due to growing. I also accept that between fittings she is going to change and so what fits now might not in 6 months but its more what was doing during the fitting I feel annoyed about.
However, at the last fitting she merely put the Barnsby on her back, looked at it, said yes, it is a wee bit wide and would be fine with a prolite underneath, sold me a prolite (ordinary half pad) and charged me £95 for the fitting and the pad.
I have never been totally happy with the fit - yes it was better than the wintec but it has always lifted a bit (well about an inch) at the back if you push it up and in the last month has been slipping massively to the right and to top it off in the last fortnight she has had some lumps come up at the base of her wither just right of center of her spine, despite me being able to get a few fingers clearance down the gullet once mounted
Had my back man look at her today as I wasn't quite happy with her as she has been quite tense when asked to work on her right rein and he commented that she is coming along fine with no major concerns in terms of her - everything is muscling as it should be but as I suspected she finds it easier working on her left rein and as such needs to do a little more lateral work etc to just build up her muscles on the right - EXCEPT for a lot of tension at both the base of her wither and just behind where her saddle sits, which he is almost 100% is due to the saddle not being right.
Spoke to saddlers 10 days ago to request the saddler that is very much recommended (saddler L). They phoned me back this afternoon so have just come off the phone to the other saddler (saddler C) there and was basically told that L had passed my info onto C even though I had specifically requested him as "he isn't taking any new clients on". But my gut is telling me to avoid C like the plague and I feel she did a pretty rubbish job last time (I didn't so much as sit in the saddle, let alone girth her up and ride in it). C also told me on the phone that the problem was also likely to be my riding as I probably wasn't sitting square and was therefore pulling the saddle to the right but considering instructor has been watching me ride for 2 sessions a week for the last 8 weeks and I have specifically asked her to watch my straightness I am thinking this probably isn't the case, especially given the lumps, rising at the back and slipping to the right!
So back to the question (incase I'm expecting too much from my saddler) - what do you expect from a fitting? Would you expect to ride in the saddle and have the saddler watch its movement? Trot the horse up in it? Something else?
And can anyone recommend someone REALLY GOOD as now I have a small problem that needs addressing (a litlle tension and soreness basically which I feel terrible about!) in the Glos area?
At the time Tilly's saddle (wintec) wasn't fitting quite right and was between sizes and I found it very uncomfortable so we got a secondhand GP Barnsby. When saddler fitted her she told me that she was a MN but due to only being a baby it was much better to go for a M to allow growing room. She also took her templates "for future reference".
I was OK with this bit and accept that with a youngster everything is a bit of a compromise due to growing. I also accept that between fittings she is going to change and so what fits now might not in 6 months but its more what was doing during the fitting I feel annoyed about.
However, at the last fitting she merely put the Barnsby on her back, looked at it, said yes, it is a wee bit wide and would be fine with a prolite underneath, sold me a prolite (ordinary half pad) and charged me £95 for the fitting and the pad.
I have never been totally happy with the fit - yes it was better than the wintec but it has always lifted a bit (well about an inch) at the back if you push it up and in the last month has been slipping massively to the right and to top it off in the last fortnight she has had some lumps come up at the base of her wither just right of center of her spine, despite me being able to get a few fingers clearance down the gullet once mounted
Had my back man look at her today as I wasn't quite happy with her as she has been quite tense when asked to work on her right rein and he commented that she is coming along fine with no major concerns in terms of her - everything is muscling as it should be but as I suspected she finds it easier working on her left rein and as such needs to do a little more lateral work etc to just build up her muscles on the right - EXCEPT for a lot of tension at both the base of her wither and just behind where her saddle sits, which he is almost 100% is due to the saddle not being right.
Spoke to saddlers 10 days ago to request the saddler that is very much recommended (saddler L). They phoned me back this afternoon so have just come off the phone to the other saddler (saddler C) there and was basically told that L had passed my info onto C even though I had specifically requested him as "he isn't taking any new clients on". But my gut is telling me to avoid C like the plague and I feel she did a pretty rubbish job last time (I didn't so much as sit in the saddle, let alone girth her up and ride in it). C also told me on the phone that the problem was also likely to be my riding as I probably wasn't sitting square and was therefore pulling the saddle to the right but considering instructor has been watching me ride for 2 sessions a week for the last 8 weeks and I have specifically asked her to watch my straightness I am thinking this probably isn't the case, especially given the lumps, rising at the back and slipping to the right!
So back to the question (incase I'm expecting too much from my saddler) - what do you expect from a fitting? Would you expect to ride in the saddle and have the saddler watch its movement? Trot the horse up in it? Something else?
And can anyone recommend someone REALLY GOOD as now I have a small problem that needs addressing (a litlle tension and soreness basically which I feel terrible about!) in the Glos area?
