WWYD? Saddle Woes.

Kadastorm

Kadastorm

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I had/have a rotund NF gelding. When i got him last year he was obese, he has since lost alot of weight and is a normal weight now. Since i got him, i have gone through 5 saddles, luckily, these were all ones i could borrow on my yard. Now, we are on the 5th one, I recently had it widened but it bounces alot at the back and so is still ill fitting.

There was a GFS on the yard which i was going to get widened for my pony, however, that has since been fitted to another pony and no others on the yard are a good fit. So yesterday, i measured my saddle, went to the local saddler and found an Ideal VSD saddle. It measured the same D-D (9inches) and between the gullet (5inches) and has a 17inch seat, looks like it would sit nicely at the back. Took the risk and bought it and the lovely people at the shop said if it doesnt fit i could take it back - which is good as i have paid a small fortune for it!

Got it on the pony, still not wide enough at the front although it sits nicely on his back and, if it could be widened i think finally it might be the right saddle. Text my saddler asking if she could come and see if there is anything she can do, no response yet.

Now should i call the shop and tell them im waiting for my saddler to come and have a look? should i just take it back? I worry that if i dont make contact with them that they would refuse to take it back, but if i take it back now then im back to square one.

Also, any ideas on a good leather saddle for a 13.2hh, chunky pony with no withers!?
 
How do you mean widened? There are certain makes of saddle that can be "widened", ie those with interchangable gullets, and I believe the trees in Kieffer saddles can be (and possibly another make), but after that, a normal saddle cannot be widened.

You should ring the shop where you bought it and see what they say.
 
Native pony saddle company, its the type of pony they specialise in. Fitted husbands conny type - flat back, no withers, wide at front with no probs. Horse is going well, saddle doesn't move. Previous saddler left us with a thorowgood cob & anti slip numnah as the best she could do & the saddle still moved.
 
amymay said:
Why not take the guess work out of it and simply get a saddler out???
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I have had my saddler out, widened my current saddle, it bounces at the back.

Bought this one, have contacted saddle twice now as i have just send another text. in the mean time i thought i would ask the HHO guys who may also have rotund natives. is that ok? :p


Wench: (sorry, still cant multi quote!) My saddler has a widening thing - dont really know what its called but they come out, measure over his withers and then alter the saddle accordingly.

W1bbler: Thankyou for that, will look them up!
 
Saddle fitting is a nightmare, I have a gypsy cob who came with a 35 year old english saddle, fits him okay but old so I decided to get him a new saddle, I know what a good fit looks like thankfully but because he is a gypsy cob, drawn in by all the new fangled "cob" saddles bought the T8 Cob, it was a terrible fit and had to go back.

I called out a master saddler, he measured my boy up properly, he does not need a cob saddle and is only a med fit, scarier still his saddle weight baring area is TINY compared to the seat size I normally go for and his although only a medium fit a GP saddle made fitting even harder as the flaps as they are cut on a GP meant that the seat size had to be even smaller to accommodate this. So ended up ordering a nice made to measure WH. Its a lot of money to spend but it can be reflocked at any time and regularly checked and TBH Ive always wanted a brand new quality saddle , i see the false economy of buying saddle after saddle and perhaps losing money in the long run. Im glad I decided to have a saddler out.
 
Coldfeet! said:
Saddle fitting is a nightmare, I have a gypsy cob who came with a 35 year old english saddle, fits him okay but old so I decided to get him a new saddle, I know what a good fit looks like thankfully but because he is a gypsy cob, drawn in by all the new fangled "cob" saddles bought the T8 Cob, it was a terrible fit and had to go back.

I called out a master saddler, he measured my boy up properly, he does not need a cob saddle and is only a med fit, scarier still his saddle weight baring area is TINY compared to the seat size I normally go for and his although only a medium fit a GP saddle made fitting even harder as the flaps as they are cut on a GP meant that the seat size had to be even smaller to accommodate this. So ended up ordering a nice made to measure WH. Its a lot of money to spend but it can be reflocked at any time and regularly checked and TBH Ive always wanted a brand new quality saddle , i see the false economy of buying saddle after saddle and perhaps losing money in the long run. Im glad I decided to have a saddler out.
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I was thinking that if this one doesnt fit im just going to return it and get a made to measure as my saddle company do them - they managed to make a brilliant saddle for a horse with the worst conformation possible.
 
Kadastorm said:
I was thinking that if this one doesnt fit im just going to return it and get a made to measure as my saddle company do them - they managed to make a brilliant saddle for a horse with the worst conformation possible.
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and once you have it fitted either the one you have now or a mtm, you will always have it and it can be adjusted. I really feel for you, I could see mine was a weird fit, just didnt realise how weird! LOL
 
Coldfeet! said:
and once you have it fitted either the one you have now or a mtm, you will always have it and it can be adjusted. I really feel for you, I could see mine was a weird fit, just didnt realise how weird! LOL
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Haha. Its a pain though isnt it! Im thinking made to measure will be much less hassle. Just going to return the saddle i think as im guessing my saddler is away...
 
It's not a pain to have a rotund native, they are the best! Others don't know what they are missing. What you spend getting saddles to fit etc, you save on their feed bill - I think my 3 look well on cobwebs & sawdust & I watch the rest if the yard pileing food into theirs.
 
Haha w1bbler, that is true! Well, took saddle back as it turns out my saddler is away at the minute and didnt want to take the pee by making the shop wait for me to return it. before i went, i got a wire hanger and my friend shaped it around pony.

got to the shop and almost gave up when i spotted one. the shop let me bring it back to try on - finally, its actually a nice fit and he felt great in it :) going to get saddler to come and double check when she is back :)
 
Kadastorm said:
Haha. Its a pain though isnt it! Im thinking made to measure will be much less hassle. Just going to return the saddle i think as im guessing my saddler is away...
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M2M sadly isn't always less hassle at all, you're tied in financially from the go-get and dependent on the goodwill of the maker if it doesn't work out. I always advise buying from stock wherever possible. And yes, I do specialise in fitting natives and cobs, thanks for the rec W1bbler :D

If you really think it will fit why not call the tack shop and explain, and ask them how long you can keep it for? They might want an extra deposit or actual payment but it might be worth it.

Oops, sorry, missed your last post somehow, glad you've found something :)
 
sbloom said:
M2M sadly isn't always less hassle at all, you're tied in financially from the go-get and dependent on the goodwill of the maker if it doesn't work out. I always advise buying from stock wherever possible. And yes, I do specialise in fitting natives and cobs, thanks for the rec W1bbler :D

If you really think it will fit why not call the tack shop and explain, and ask them how long you can keep it for? They might want an extra deposit or actual payment but it might be worth it.

Oops, sorry, missed your last post somehow, glad you've found something :)
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Just seen your post as i was about to update :)

Saddler came out yesterday, my new saddle needed a teeny tiny bit of flocking and now its brilliant. Think she was very impressed at my pick :D Said herself that its the best saddle she's seen on him.

Im not one to just pick a saddle and slap one on, i work at a yard with alot of native ponies coming and going and have also had awkward/narrow/high withered TB's. I like to think i know what im looking at and, this time, its worked out well. :D very happy! Now to get his vaccinations and ive decided to register his as a part bred with the NFPS, after that we may join the local RC and get out and about doing a few activities :D Looking forward to summer now :)
 
Hippona said:
Thorowgood t4 cob....suits my round/flat highland.
Adjustable too....
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Can i ask which gullet plate you have in your t4 for your highland?

I did have the xxw one in for my cob, but now he has lost weight I'm not sure whether to change down to the xw even though he still has some muscle to build up. He's not particularly round and flat either :confused:
 
I'd get a saddler out, the saddle you have bought doesn't fit & I doubt if it can be widened. A saddler should be able to bring out an assortment of saddles & find one that will fit, even if it means altering the flocking etc. Very often, as owner, we get ideas into our heads that we want a particular make of saddle. On many occasions our chosen make is not ideal for the horse & will never fit the horse well but other makes of saddles will suit our horse better. When this happens just go with what the saddle fitter says. They have the expertise to know if a particular saddle will suit your horses shape or not. If they don't know this then they shouldn't be in that trade. ;)
 
Old Nag - i ended up with a Black County saddle. its second hand (but a really nice one) 9 1/2 inches D-D and 5 inches between the gullet. just had a touch of flocking and its great :)
 
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