sadle fitters

[missy_g]

this may sound like an incredibly dumb question but im curious as ive never seen a saddler at work.

If you have just bought a horse without a saddle, can saddlers come over and tell you what size saddle to get? And how much would that cost?

Also if you buy a horse with an ill fitting saddle can the saddler mould the saddle into shape or do you have to buy another saddle?

thank you

Ally

 

[Wally]

Any saddle fitter worth his salt will be able to come and assess your horse and measure him for a saddle, you too will be taken into consideration, if it won't fit you too then you are wasting your time and money.

The saddler will take a template of the horse's back and take into consideration his back length, whether he has big high sprung ribs or a back which falls away sharply, withers and such like. He can then get you a made to measure one, which in most cases shouldn't be vastly more expensive than one off the shelf. Or he/she can bring you a selection from stock all potentially a good fit based on the template they have taken. Then you have a ride in each and re asses the fit with the saddler while being ridden.

If you have an ill fitting saddle it all depends why it is ill fitting, in a few cases a good re flock may be all that is needed, in other cases it is just a case of bad saddle design and it wouldn't fit any horse (some I have seen may fit a camel) 9 times out of ten if the saddle doesn't fit then it can't be made to fit.

 

[missy_g]

thank you