Help - Need leather pony saddle for a 12'2

rookierider

rookierider

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Sep 24, 2007
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Help! Only ever bought a saddle fitted by a local saddlers before

Daughter's 12'2 dales/shetland pony came with a synthetic saddle that doesn't seem to fit him brilliantly

Friend recommended the Barnsley pony club saddle but these are £600 new, there are second hand ones on horsemart and other ads out there. I'm just so reluctant to spend £600 on a saddle for a pony she will outgrow in a couple of years

How do you all successfully buy second hand saddles? Do you have a saddler advise on 15 or 16" and whether medium or wide? (this pony I suspect is wide but have no measurement on the saddle he came with)
Just worried on how to know which width, what size seat too, and then how on earth can I be sure it will fit? Seems a real mine field as could end up buying a secondhand one that doesn't fit either.

Grateful for any advice as no clue on this :)
 
If I was you I would get a professional out to fit a saddle - all saddlers I have come across sell second hand saddles so you don't necessarily need to fork out a fortune for one. A badly fitting saddle could cause a lot more damage to your pony (and your daughter if it caused the pony to act up because of pain) than £600's worth of vet fees, chiro fees, loss in value if/when you come to sell on.

Not all synthetic saddles fit the same either (or leather ones come to that - 1 company's wide is another's medium, the trees are different shapes, etc), so a different brand may suit your pony better. Thorowgood used to do a Pony Club model that was brilliant for little wide ponies, but I don't think it is in production any more - you could have a look out for one of those turning up.

You also need the saddle to fit the whole combination of the pony and your daughter as well as possible - if the saddle doesn't suit her she will find it harder to keep her balance which won't help her enjoyment of riding or building confidence.

There is also the problem of buying second hand privately, finding out it doesn't fit and then having more saddles to sell on and still nothing to ride in. Seeing as it doesn't sound like you are confident of achieving a good fit yourself, I would get a professional in!
 
Quickstep said it all really. :) Very well put.

A good saddle fitter should carry a range of new and used leather and synthetic saddles. He/she will come out to your pony bringing a selection of saddles in a suitable size. Hopefully, after trying several, one will be found to fit. :)

I worked for a Society of Master Saddlers Saddle Fitter in the UK. The questions we would ask someone who wanted a saddle fitting were things like:

BUDGET! ;)
Height, breed, age of the pony.
Activities the pony will be doing.
Height and 'build' of rider.
Preference of leather / synthetic saddle
Preference of new/second hand saddle
Preference of colour
Preference of brand - Cliff Barnsby PC is a nice little saddle, but there are loads of nice little saddles for a 12.2hh out there. :) LOVE the Thorowgood Pony Club - Had NO IDEA it had been discontinued...now off to hassle Thorowgood and find out why!! ;)

So, if you were to contact a decent saddle fitter in your area with that information, they should be able to come out with some suitable saddles and find one that fits. :)

It's not worth taking the risk of fitting yourself unless you really know what you are doing.

Good luck. :)
 
Thorowgood PC saddle are still for sale!

Bought a brand new one only 3 weeks ago - to replace his old fishless one - but didn't fit :rolleyes: Even with fish


So had to return it

Its not cost us much to have his old one adjusted - he has changed shape a lot in the last 6 months - so its needs the tree narrowing half a width and it is overdue to restuff anyway - plus the wither is going to be built up a bit on one side as he's err - bigger on one side that other which none of us picked up till we stripped kilo's off his weight! Hence wanting one with fish - but as the old one is being sorted anyway, he'll sort that out for us - and check it again in 3 months in case pony has changed shape again. Then we'll have it checked again around Christmas - hopefully pony's shape will have settled more by then!

We were going to get a leather but the saddler said nowt wrong with this one - I can adjust this so don't waste your money for the moment :eek:

Saddle does what child needs it to do - and it can be adjusted for pony - so saved us a fortune!!!

Due to have it refitted tomorrow so fingers crossed they are both happy!
 
hia snowyboy do you mind me asking who you use and how much it is roughly to have reflocking as im still umming and arghing over wether to go for a adjustable gullet or get one fitted to her.
sorry op for high jacking :eek:
 
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