Pee'd off

I bought a new saddle in October. I had a fitter out and i bought a saddle of the same make and size off eBay. From the very start i didn't think it was right. I thought it was twisted, but when i took it to a saddlery they told me it was fine and it was in my head.

Ever since that i have been just annoying everyone with the amount of "something is not rights". i changed the bridle, i changed the bit, i got shoes, i got a master vet to check the horse, convinced myself i was just a terrible rider etc etc.

Just put a few pics on and someone immediately said "that saddles twisted"

FINALLY after 6 months someone agrees with me and finally i can get it sorted. I'm so pee off that the "best saddlery" in the country told me BULL!!!!

the pic shows how twisted it is

Oooh, that's bad!

So, is this the ebay saddle or the fitted one?

Expensive for you and an expensive mistake on there part! (Gotta say I haven't a clue what I am looking at!)

Caryll wrote:Oooh, that's bad!

So, is this the ebay saddle or the fitted one?

eBay one. The fitter fitted the same make, model and size and i bought a second hand one on eBay cause the new one was £400 and secondhand was £200. Hindsight!!

No chance of a refund after all this time, I suppose?

janey wrote:
Expensive for you and an expensive mistake on there part! (Gotta say I haven't a clue what I am looking at!)

In the pic look at the left hand side of it, there is much more of the big panel at the bottom than there is at the rights hand side. If you look along the bottom lines of the panels they look twisted. They are supposed to be 100% semetric

Ahhh that sucks! Cant you get a refund?

Caryll wrote:No chance of a refund after all this time, I suppose?

Nah, its not even on my lists anymore. Its CAN be fixed but if it happens once it can happen again

Hmmm. How much will it cost to fix?

Not sure, i have contacted two master saddlers so will find out tomorrow. Someone said only abuot £40 which wouldn't be too bad!

At first I thought I was looking at a spread tree, but the tree is towards you - correct? (Long time since I looked at a saddle I'm afraid).

In which case, yes, the fitting of the side flaps is lopsided.

I'm just glad to hear that you have got the matter sorted and can get your money back.

No, i havent got it sorted, its on ebay and it was in september (just found my feedback) so WELL over the time to open a case haha

Oh sorry Hayley, I must have misread/misunderstood.

Well, if £40 will fix it, that's not toobad in the circumstances. Realigning the stuffing and the points of contact of the flaps onto the tree to be symmetrical, I guess.

Update.

Ive lost faith in anyone knowing what they are talking about lol

Took the saddle to the closest "Master saddler" who said that its not the tree, its the panels and that they might have been put on wrong. Gave me another saddle "the same" to test and it wasn't even the same model so didnt fit. He also told me the saddle i have is 18" but it is not it is 17.5"

Called the company who makes the saddle and they said that it is EXTREMELY unlikley that the panels are not right, and it is more likely that the air bubbles inside it have burst.

Dunno.

Air bubbles inside have burst ?! Saddle flaps used to be stuffed with horse hair or kapok, although times have probably changed I didn't think they used bubble wrap these days! Horse hair or kapok used to shift and become lumpy with age, but your saddle looks fairly new.

It still looks to be from your photo (and the tree is directly in line with the trousers) that where the flaps curve up to meet the pommel, the right-hand flap is too far away (or the left-hand flap is too close - depending).

Could you get the saddler to look at the saddle on the horse, it must sit wonkily, even press on the withers on the near side? Or take some photos of same?

Good luck Hayley, I don't know what else to suggest, apart from restuffing the flaps, but if they've been set on wonky, they'd still be wonky imho.

Well apparently you can get it reflocked with wool. This is a Cair system its like sponge with air lol its rubbish and everyone hates it.

this is how it is sitting on jago

Been playing about and if i lift the front right a teeeeny bit, it automatically striaghtens itself out, so i really am hopeful

Not right is it.

Honestly, these pictures show clear as day that the weight of the saddle is uneven - it doesn't fit properly ANYWHERE - using that saddle will cause problems with Jago's spine and balance and must be terribly uncomfortable for both you and him.

I suppose it's too late to take this up with the Ebay seller? Personally I would just want to send the damn thing back and get a full refund.

If that's not possible, could you show these photos to your saddler, or the manufacturer, and get them to remodel the flaps so that they meet the pommel symmetrically?

No wonder you're gutted.

Just read your last - do you think a bit more padding on the off-side, towards the pommel, might help? But looking at your photo, the bottom of the off-side flap is standing out from Jago's shoulder and I can't see how more padding would help that.

yeah i know what you mean. hes such a bloody hard horse to saddle. theres no shape to him

had another feel and the front panel on the right is flattter, which might be why its sticking out more? the left is "filled out" more

Well it could be Hayley, but it still looks to me from the photos (and I ran my cursor at the same speed from the point where the flap joins the tree to the midpoint of the tree, counting evenly as I went, several times) and it still looks as though the attachment point of the near-side flap is higher than the off-side flap.

Have you got an unbiased horsey friend who could look at the saddle, both on and off the horse, and give an opinion?

You say there's "no shape" to Jago. Is he quite narrow through the shoulders?

The following probably won't help at all, but when I got my first pony (a New Forest) he came with a saddle which had no underflaps at all and honestly it was so comfortable for us both! My legs were much closer to my pony's sides without the padding and I felt so "in contact" with him. When I got my Anglo-Arab, of course I had to buy a horse-sized saddle which had padded underflaps (in fact it was a jumping saddle with knee-rolls) and never felt so "in contact" with him, nor indeed with my demon ex-racer, who was as narrow as a knife.

the close contact are quite good but they are so ugly lol


I can see what you mean about the one being higher, im just trying not to look at it

Hayley, I do sympathise, it's horrible to get ripped off and it eats at you. But give it a rest for tonight, don't let it disturb your beauty sleep, but just say to yourself "I can't do any more tonight, I'll tackle it tomorrow".

And tomorrow, my honest advice would be to enlist the opinion of a knowledgeable horsey friend to give their honest opinion of the saddle, both on and off the horse, and take it from there.

I'm always here (well, in the evenings anyway) if you want to bounce off of me, but I can only form an opinion from your photos (which are excellent) which is not the same as seeing the saddle and the horse up close and personal. I'm by no means an expert but will help as much as I can. At the very least, you have let off steam which always helps.

Do keep in touch ..... ><

Don't worry i have master saddlers on the case, i will be taking it to them tomorrow or saturday and if its scrap its scrap. I told my dad about it and he usually would be like "oh itll be okay does it really matter if its wonky" but this time he went "ah right, well we will have to sort that out" cause i have been literally moaning for 6 months! Feel like i have been trying and trying to get everything right so i can begin my ridden work and its one wall after another lol

Good, you've got people on your side. The saddle shouldn't be scrap, it should be fixable - but is there no way you have come-back against the ebay seller?

If you've been riding with a wonky saddle for 6 months then no wonder you started doubting yourself, and Jago. Is he OK - no galls or rubs? Have you tried riding him bareback?

Sleep tight Hayley - tomorrow is another day ><

I ride bareback now and then, its not much fun i just flop off hahaa. He is fine, i really havent been riding much cause its always so bad so i just don't bother until i get a new fresh wave of enthusiasm! He had his back done only a month or so ago (cause i thought thats why he wasn't going) but he was fine n dandy. good strong back he has lol

It's not much fun riding bareback on a horse that has pronounced withers - ouch! But very good for encouraging natural balance in the rider and improving empathy and contact with the horse. I must admit that I often rode bare-back, especially when it was cold!

Anyway, do let me know how you get on with the saddle problem; don't let it put you off riding - I've always thought it was the best fun I ever had without lying down