So, like so many other saddles these days, my only non-dressage saddle does not have dee rings for a sandwich case. There is a cobbler nearby that I trust to install them, but I need to give him instructions. Can anyone help please?
Thanks!
Equibrit–are you saying I should just hand him a picture and hope he figures it out?
I’d like to be able to tell him where exactly to attach them (don’t remember from the last saddle I had) and how far apart.
Measuring won’t be the problem. Sewing them where they need to be is, because they are sewn in to a seam between the panel and the skirt, right along the edge of the tree.
Perfect, that’s exactly what I needed to know! Thanks. 
What makes it so difficult is that there is usually some piping that runs under the cantle, above the panel, and under the end of the skirt. You will be asking a shoemaker to insert pieces in to a very difficult area. Look at the picture!
You really need to find a saddler who knows how to take the stitches that hold the panels to the saddle out and drop the right panel. Then the leather strips that holds the Dees is nailed to the tree. The saddler then has to resew the panel to the saddle. Most shoe repair cobblers do not know how to do this.
It takes a curved needle to resew the panel to the saddle. If you are on the East Coast there are a couple of saddlers that can do it. One is Duchess Saddlery. The other is in New York but I can’t remember the name right off.
Put English saddle repair into Google and see what you get.
I knew a lady who took her Stubben to a shoe man to put left side Dee’ on it and he punched holes in the edge of the jocky skirt and whipstitched the Dees in it. Real hokey looking and it blemished her saddle.
Get it done right.
JMHO
sadlmakr
This sounds very expensive! One member of our hunt rigged up something using velcro. It looks good and stays put.
Ask your local respected tack shop for a recommendation of a good tack repair person. OUr local shop has a person who will pick up and drop off at the shop once every week to 2 weeks. He does a good job and is reasonably priced.
It’s just a pain to be without your saddle for a few weeks.
A teensy suggestion…
As long as you are adding dee rings, I’d get them on BOTH sides. I did this when my current saddle was made and must say it has been a handy feature for hunting and just plain trail riding. For hunting out here in the desert, I have a leather water bottle holder on one side, and a leather case (a little bigger than a sandwich case, can accommodate gps, camera, whatnot) on the other.
I have a sandwich case somewhere, must confess I haven’t used it in ages…
Thank you all for the suggestions, very helpful! Guess I will think twice about having local cobbler do it. Didn’t realize it was quite so involved! :eek:
I have D rings already on my saddle and managed to rip one off. I now use the D rings that attach to the stirrup bars for my breastplate. Would that work for the sandwich case?
The one half is a cord loop that hooks over the stirrup bar, the middle is a band of leather and the other end is a D ring. I think I paid less than $10 at my local tack store for the pair.
ETA: Like these
http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-0910&ids=815979005
Wouldn’t work. Breastplate pulls front to back. Sandwich case hangs.
I affix my breastplate to the billets, myself.
