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Flank Billet Pocket

Maybe a silly question… but what is the technical purpose of the flank billet pocket that come stock on some saddles? What do you put in it? Hoof pick? Pliers? Knife? And is there a reason why you never see after market flank billets being sold with that pocket?
Honest curiosity of the technical history/purpose of it. I realize that I can put whatever I want in it. :slightly_smiling_face:

Those used to come with saddles made to order and had a hoof pick in them.
The idea is that if a horse had a stone wedge in it’s hoof, you had a hoof pick to clean it out.
It worked, came in handy a few times for that.

We had several Windy Ryon saddles that came with those.

There are also larger fence plier pockets for that spot.
Some hung on the flank billet cinch, the flank plier case, some attach to the housing:

https://oliversaddle.com/gear/medicine-bags-plier-cases-pliers/

Some hold just the specialized fencing plier’s head, others the whole, for riding/going along fences.

Looks like @Bluey has this covered, but for what it’s worth it’s also quite a handy spot for a corkscrew on those picnic rides :joy: :clinking_glasses:

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I carry my fence pliers on the nearside flank billet.
I have a specially made leather carrier for it.
I wouldn’t want to be without the fence pliers, I just need them too frequently… even if it’s to hand them to my husband so HE can fix the broken wire!

Yes, hoof pick is the idea. It comes in handy too. For my saddles that have that, I just keep the hoof pick in it that it came with.

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