This is my first post but I’ve read the forums for quite some time. I recently had a saddle fitter come look at my new horse. I knew my current saddle was too tight and the channel too narrow, but my guy is a bit of a difficult fit and after 11 saddles and no luck, I decided to call in a professional to get suggestions of what might fit and what direction to go. In a nutshell the fitter said all french, Italian, German and argentine made saddles are “crap” and the only a handful of wool flocked British made saddles are any good. I can see the reasoning for her insistence on wool flocking, but what I don’t understand is why non-British wool flocked saddles (like Amerigo or wool Stubbens) are still in the crap category? Although an independent fitter she does sell some of the British brands and those were the brands she recommended would fit him (they’re also hard to find used so I’d pretty much have to buy a new one through her if I went that route). I wasn’t a big fan of them and especially not enough to spend the money on the only new one in my budget. So now I don’t know if I should buy one from her even though I dont like them or if I should disregard her opinion that everything else is crap and go a different route. Are all saddles but the wool British saddles really crap? I just have trouble believing that people competing internationally on six-figure horses would use saddles that “don’t fit horses and damage their backs” just to be trendy. But then again, she’s the professional and I’m not. I’d love to hear some other people’s opinions on the subject. Unfortunately I have a pretty small budget so I’m limited in my options, and the requirement of a wool flocked British brand limits it even more, especially trying to find a used one in the right seat and tree size. I’d rather get one that fits my horse but isnt so great for me than have him in an ill-fitting saddle, however I don’t want to limit my options if this isn’t really the case, and to be honest I really hate the idea of buying a saddle horsey likes but I don’t love too!
Bad fitter. Just because someone hangs a shingle doesn’t mean they actually know what they are doing.
Try someone else, this person sounds biased. A fitter should be able to help you find a used saddle that fits both you and the horse.
Bad fitter! If she is making you uncomfortable, that is enough to find another one.
I’m a fan of British wool-flocked saddles, but mostly because that is what fits my horse (for the most part.) They seem to deal with a lot of short-backed, round horses, who may or may not have much in the way of withers. Think cobs, and you should understand! What I have now would not fit most TBs… though I am sure there are British saddlers who use trees more suitable for a TB.
In general, though, they are well-made saddles, so I can see have a bit of a bias toward them! A bit.
Don’t buy a saddle that you or the horse don’t like. You will regret it. It needs to fit both of you.
Fourth the thought that you need a new saddle fitter.
Kent and Masters is great for my shark finned OTTB. An Ideal dressage saddle is good as well for him. I love British wool flocked saddles. 
Sounds biased to me! There are a LOT of good saddles out there. I also prefer wool, but I’ve never had a fitter tell met only buy from a select group of British saddle makers. FWIW, I do have a British saddle (Jeffries) but I also have a really nice German saddle and a lovely custom swiss saddle.
I watched a fitter work with a friend’s horse. She specializes in the wool flocked British saddles and within seconds had convinced the friend that a Kent and Masters would be the only saddle that would work for her horse.
The reality is that a Kent and Masters is extremely easy to adjust and a fitter can make minor adjustments to fit in minutes. So from a fitter’s perspective, it is an ideal saddle for a back that is changing shape.
That said, I could not STAND the feeling of the Kent and Masters. It is not my style at all and not something I would want to be sitting in. I have seen the same thing from a lot of folks in the area - they get the saddles and eventually realize that the deep seat is hard for them to jump in and then move on to another brand.
For reference, I have two English wool flocked jumping saddles (Jeffries Elite and County Stabilizer) and two saddles with foam panels (CWD SE02 3C and Crosby Centennial). Of all of those saddles, I like riding in all of them and each saddle has a few of my horses that it fits and a few that it isn’t as great on.
I think many “independent” fitters tend to like, work with, and recommend British wool flocked saddles and their makers because there are things they can typically do to make them work better for a horse. As independents, they are not locked into one brand, but the several that I have encountered all work primarily with multiple British brands (and their US arms).
Many of the high end non-British brands employ people who are combined sales reps and “fitters”. Guess what? The primary interest of the majority of these “fitters” is in selling their brand of saddles. County would also fall into this category.
In my admittedly limited experience with saddles and fitting, I think a truly independent fitter is a very rare thing. I think there are some good ones that will give you an honest assessment of whether a particular saddle (of any brand) appears to be a good fit on your particular horse, and these same fitters can sometimes recommend brands and models that you should keep an eye out for based on your horse’s shape. However, if you want a better fitting saddle NOW, their preference will be to sell you something from their used inventory or something new from one of the (probably British) brands they rep.
Anytime anybody endorses something they get a commission for selling, especially if they trash every other brand they don’t sell and earn commissions for selling?
You have to consider they are just a wee wee bit more motivated by getting a commission then helping you get the best saddle and fit for you and your horse.
Consider using a fitter representing several brands or an independent that charges for their time instead of collecting a commission off what they sell.
Theres no certificate, training in all brands or any requirement for anything regarding saddle fitting. Anybody can call themselves one when all they are is a commissioned sales person who only gets paid if they sell you a product that pays them for selling it.
Seek a better, independent fitter.
This makes me feel so much better hearing everyone’s responses! I was worried that perhaps she was right and that the brands she sold were pretty much the only ones that were going to work for my horse. They were tolerable and fine for something temporary, but I really didn’t love they way they rode and the wider twists they had made my hips uncomfortable. When I mentioned I didn’t like the wider twist I was told “oh you’ll get used to it.” I’d really rather not shell out the money for a new saddle so that I can “get used” to it being uncomfortable. Plus the leather quality seemed really cheap on the one that was in budget, and the other was at least $1700 over budget so not sure why she even had me try that one.
So now the question is, is there anywhere I can send the tracings to get a truly unbiased opinion on what might fit him without having to pay another $150 fitting or consultation fee? My saddle budget was about $2000, but looks like I’m going to have to drop the asking price on my current saddle a good bit and that’s going to lower my new saddle budget. Any fitting fees or cost to ship trial saddles back and forth eat into that budget even more. My non-horsey husband already thinks $1000 for a saddle is ridiculous let alone $2000 so there’s no way I’m getting the okay to look at $3000+ saddles. And right now I really don’t know what direction to look in besides the British brands that this fitter recommended (Kent and masters/hastilow/fairfax, etc although she was not a fan of Black Country and said only some county’s were okay). We’re pretty limited when it comes to used options in the local tack stores and I can’t afford to be shipping a bunch of saddles back and forth from online. Anyone know anywhere that might be willing to look at tracings free or cheap? I asked this fitter about a couple non-British and foam saddles that I found used and her only response was that foam saddles ruin horses backs.
[QUOTE=findeight;9023045]
Anytime anybody endorses something they get a commission for selling, especially if they trash every other brand they don’t sell and earn commissions for selling?
You have to consider they are just a wee wee bit more motivated by getting a commission then helping you get the best saddle and fit for you and your horse.
Consider using a fitter representing several brands or an independent that charges for their time instead of collecting a commission off what they sell.
Theres no certificate, training in all brands or any requirement for anything regarding saddle fitting. Anybody can call themselves one when all they are is a commissioned sales person who only gets paid if they sell you a product that pays them for selling it.
Seek a better, independent fitter.[/QUOTE]
This was an independent fitter. Even the independents here sell some brands they just don’t rep a single brand like cwd, Antares, etc reps. She just only recommended the brands she sold for the most part and the few others she recommended were also only British saddles. It was more her statement that everything else was crap that threw me a bit.
If you post photos of your horse’s back there are probably people here who will chime in with suggestions.
And given that the used market is soft right now, you should be able to get a saddle for well within your budget, even with shipping.
I bought a Kieffer Dublin recently for well within your budget (barely used) and a Jeffries JMX monoflap for about $1200. Also in very nice shape. Both are wool flocked.
My favorite used saddle store is Middleburgh Tack Exchange – they have great prices and very knowledgeable staff. Their shipping costs are also very reasonable.
I had an independent saddle fitter come out and she was great. She did recommend not getting some of the “trendier” brands that are common in my area. But when she gave recommendations for my horse, it included quite a number of different brands based on his shape.
I ultimately got my saddle from Trumbull Mountain based on my fitter’s recommendation and from sitting in a lot of other people’s saddles to see what I liked. The reps at Trumbull were very good about looking at the tracings I sent and conformation photos of my horse. I was lucky that the first saddle I tried worked out perfectly but they only charge $45 for shipping each way so it’s not too bad if you’re feeling really strongly about a given saddle.
I also got good feedback from High End Saddles (.com I think?). The rep there looked at my tracings and said that a particular saddle (make suggested by my fitter) would not work with my horse. I appreciated the honesty because it lost them a sale.
I vote with finding another fitter. I might not even trust the tracings this one made. What area are you located in? Maybe someone here knows a fitter local to you.
Do you know what tree size she said would work for the Kent and Masters?
Ah, I see you had the same Seinfeld Saddle fit experience that I did. The episode where NO saddle will ever fit except the brand the saddle fitter is selling. And if you DON’T buy her saddle your horse will be crippled for life! In fact, you need to dismount NOW because your current saddle is KILLING your horse right this minute. She actually said that to me with a straight face and then forced me to dismount. Yes I actually paid to have someone tell me that. And in my area there are no true independent saddle fitters that work with wool flocked saddles. So to answer your question, no you don’t have to buy a British flocked saddle. I did buy one -but not the brand the fitter was selling. I ended up working with an outfit remotely and then found a local fitter who was willing to re-flock and customize the fit. If you do some research on the expensive brands you will find countless stories of high end custom flocked saddles that at the end of day still needed some help with a thin line pad or similar shim adjustment. Because horses change shape all the time. And my Kent and Masters I bought had the same tree as the more expensive saddles in their line- but some parts had lower quality leather. I went from a “foam” saddle to wool flocked. Foam is expensive to re-do and can get really hard but some people love it. What I will say about the wool is that they are heavier -especially after you have them adjusted when the wool compresses a bit. And you have to maintain them with flocking adjustments every year or so. The benefit to that is you can keep your saddles fit current. But beware if you don’t have anyone near to work on the re-flockiing, it can be expensive to have someone drive a long way just to flock your saddle. With my high wither but sprung ribbed thoroughbred no saddle would have fit perfect without adding a thin line or shim on one side. So at the end of the day I bought a reasonable priced Kent and Masters saddle that had some custom options at no extra charge , added a thinline pad and so far it looks brand new one year later.
OP, I had exactly your experience. My youngster “outgrew” my beloved Antares and I was struggling with high pressure brand reps (think CWD) whose fitting was so cursory I had no confidence what I ordered would fit me or the horse. I went with an independent fitter. She was quite biased to wool flocked English brands she repped. To her credit, when I told her I viscerally disliked the feel of two English brands (same reasons as you) and the third didn’t fit my guy well she came up with several other alternatives. I ended up with a Tad Coffin both me and my horse love. Being an old lady who grew with a Prix De Nations that seemingly fit every horse I owned for 25 years, I would have never thought a well fitting saddle could make such a difference for my horse. Good luck in your search. I was fortunate, guided by the fitter it “only” took 2 months and one trial to find it.
OP, try Smith Worthington. They are fantastic. I have several. The resale value is not high but I love my saddles so much I haven’t even tried to sell them until they are 20+ years old. If you send them tracings they have ALWAYS sent me back a saddle my horse loves.
[QUOTE=Rth88;9023066]
So now the question is, is there anywhere I can send the tracings to get a truly unbiased opinion on what might fit him without having to pay another $150 fitting or consultation fee? My saddle budget was about $2000, but looks like I’m going to have to drop the asking price on my current saddle a good bit and that’s going to lower my new saddle budget. Any fitting fees or cost to ship trial saddles back and forth eat into that budget even more. My non-horsey husband already thinks $1000 for a saddle is ridiculous let alone $2000 so there’s no way I’m getting the okay to look at $3000+ saddles. And right now I really don’t know what direction to look in besides the British brands that this fitter recommended (Kent and masters/hastilow/fairfax, etc although she was not a fan of Black Country and said only some county’s were okay). We’re pretty limited when it comes to used options in the local tack stores and I can’t afford to be shipping a bunch of saddles back and forth from online. Anyone know anywhere that might be willing to look at tracings free or cheap? I asked this fitter about a couple non-British and foam saddles that I found used and her only response was that foam saddles ruin horses backs.[/QUOTE]
Well, you are asking a lot of a person. You’ll spend less than $2K and you also want a pro fitter to look at your wither tracings for free and get the saddle right on the first try?
I don’t know anyone who can guarantee that.
That said, I think the best route for you would be to work with someone who will do “long distance fitting” and who buys and sells used saddles. That will bring the saddle’s price closer to your range and get you the expert help you want.
OP, what qualifications does your saddle fitter have?
I ask because if it’s the British Master Saddler program, they are known for their skill and expertise, but they are also a guild or trade association protecting British saddles and saddlemaking. I believe they require that their members only sell and promote British saddles.
