For my last two saddles, I had dee rings added to both sides. It’s been useful for hunting but more for all day rides in the English saddle.
I always have the flask in the sandwich case and the food in my pocket. I’d rather fall on a sandwich than my flask.
Altho after I would rather have the flask lol.
I also had 4 dees added to the back of my saddle. $80 total, well worth it for the number of times I will carry and use the dees.
6-8 hour days? That is normal in UK - where you wait and wait and wait for hounds to find, then charge off, and wait and wait and wait. The sandwich comes in handy, and the flask.
That is where a good melton hunt coat is invaluable - it can absorb rain, and absorb it all day until it is quite weighty, but you stay warm under all that wet wool.
After the hunt you put a wool cooler on your steed and he stays warm too.
Here, we have a drag hunt, over in a couple of hours and off to get a good breakfast and Irish coffee.
[QUOTE=xeroxchick;7680748]
Just to ask, has anyone had an inside pocket added to their coat? I REALLY want that for my cell phone. Alas, I have a french saddle with no way to attach my lovely sandwich case. I do have small, vintage leather cartridge cases I attach to my breastplate, but want the cell phone on my body. Tacky to wear my leg (really an arm) band for phone in the formal hunt field?[/QUOTE]
I have a hare pocket, but I think it’s too big to carry a cellphone in it. A good tailor could easily add a small discreet pocket to the inside of your hunt coat. I also had D’s attached to both sides of my saddles. The D’s were pretty inexpensive.
There is a cell phone carrier I’ve seen, that you wear on your wrist under your clothes. It’s made out of nylon; kind of like thick hose or something. I have no idea if it’s comfortable or not - but there’s no chance of losing it unless you drop it.
I wouldn’t wear any outside bands on arms or legs in the hunt field. Maybe it would be fine in open territory, but in dense/scrubby areas it might get caught on branches and rip off.
My sandwich case contains emergency stuff like baling twine, a roll of vet wrap, and a multipurpose tool. I don’t think I’ve ever kept food in it.
Hmmm, I do know of a rider who broke her back landing on her phone so some thought about location is required
Actually I just looked at some pix and I do use both sets of dee rings for hunting these days- left side for the water bottle
http://s222.photobucket.com/user/BevHeff/media/Battle%20Mountain/31.jpg.html?sort=3&o=25
And right side for the bigger than a sandwich case case:
http://s222.photobucket.com/user/BevHeff/media/Battle%20Mountain/17.jpg.html?sort=3&o=9
Interesting to see some people’s hunt country, Beverly. Big gallops.
[QUOTE=littlecreek;7681053]
I always have the flask in the sandwich case and the food in my picket. I’d rather fsll on a sandwich than my flask.
Altho after I would rather have the flask lol.[/QUOTE]
Done that… hubby had a good laugh about it. You could see the outline of the cap and everything in the bruise.
What do they actually have to do to add D rings? I really don’t need to mess up my saddles.
I do not believe adding the dee rings will mess up your saddle. I have two sandwich cases for sale in my shop. A customer took them to the local saddle shop to ask about adding the dee rings. The customer bought one and has been very happy about the snacks and flask. Never a mention of damage to the saddle.
Indeed, it’s a very simple operation, just pop a few stitches, insert the tabs that hold the dee rings, and re-stitch. I could do it myself- I know how to use waxed dental floss for little repairs, for example- but I prefer a more skilled stitcher for things like that. My general sewing skills being awful.
I have had dees put on 3 different saddles, a cheap no name first saddle, a Barnsby and a County. In all 3 instances you couldn’t tell the saddle didn’t come with the dees to begin with. I went ahead and did 4 dees so that I could use a saddle bag on long trail rides.
^^ What Beverley and jawa said. In no way will you “mess up” your saddle by getting D-rings put on. I have had them put on an Antares, Butet, three Delgranges, and two Tad Coffins. Trust me, at the price of those saddles, the last thing I would do is make them less valuable.
