New Saddle Doesn't Fit, WWYD? Happy update!

[MtyMax]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I needed a little confidence boost. The fitter thinks that the tree width is just fine. “Too narrow will cause pressure points, and any wider will cause the saddle to sit lower”. County HD’s is waiting for the rep to tell them that it doesn’t fit. I will be raising hell if the saddle only fits if using a special $200+ girth. And, the saddle has to sit so far back to fit, that its just over the mare’s last rib…that can’t be right.

The County Rep will be back out on Friday to take another look and try out the logic girth. I need to stick to my guns and not wimp out and let her try to fix again:mad: I hate conflict! But then again, my credit card hates the cost of this saddle :lol:

Thanks!

[SnicklefritzG]

I had the same problem with County. My advice?
Demand your money back and return the $&@# saddle.

If you need help on how to handle this , send me a PM.

[MtyMax]

SnickleFritz - PM sent.

Thanks!

[trafalgar]

I just ordered a new saddle and the saddle fitter was very careful to make sure the saddle was not too far back. In order to do this I am actually getting a 17.5 tree with upswept panels and they the are putting a bigger seat on it…closer to 18. Nifty. I think it sounds like your saddle will sit too far back to be right for your horse. I hate conflict too but you need to be firm about this. Show your rep this thread.

[TotB]

Sadly, this sounds all too familiar. Unfortunately I got no satisfaction from them, but I hope they do the right thing for you.

[MtyMax]

Semi happy update! County rep came last night to try their girth with the saddle. They are still saying it fit…and maybe it does, but I am not comfortable with the wither clearance. They took it back for a full refund.

I’m pretty bummed though because this was my dream saddle and balanced me so well. It felt like coming HOME after riding in saddles that didn’t fit me for years.

Kudos to County for doing the right thing. Where to now?

[MorganJumper848]

[QUOTE=MtyMax;6618535]
Semi happy update! County rep came last night to try their girth with the saddle. They are still saying it fit…and maybe it does, but I am not comfortable with the wither clearance. They took it back for a full refund.

I’m pretty bummed though because this was my dream saddle and balanced me so well. It felt like coming HOME after riding in saddles that didn’t fit me for years.

Kudos to County for doing the right thing. Where to now?[/QUOTE]

Im glad they refunded you. I’m sure that is a huge relief! If you don’t mind me asking, did they charge you a restocking fee? Personally, if you are looking for wither clearance and custom panels, I would call CWD and have a rep come out and fit you for their saddles. Depending on the rep, they will give you a 100% satisfaction policy. My horse had the same issue with wither clearance with county. CWD was able to make custom panels to give me the perfect fit and wither clearance. There saddles run around the same price and they will give you free calfskin stirrup leathers and a girth(around $400 in value). From what I’ve heard, amerigo also makes custom panels. Correct me if I am wrong.

[VCT]

I have had excellent experiences with Black Country. I own three saddles made by them. Any issues that I have had they have completely resolved, not put a “band-aid” on.

[IFG]

IMHO, I would find a used or stock saddle that fits rather than start another custom fit and risk another bad outcome.

[vxf111]

What a relief?

I would take good wither tracings, send them to Trumbull, and see what they suggest and go from there.

[jn4jenny]

Hate to say it, but I’ve heard this sob story about a number of County saddles. Their jump saddles aren’t fantastic in the wither clearance department (ETA: except for the new County Sensation), and it seems many of their fitters have been trained to “fit wide.”

Granted, I’ve also heard wonderful success stories about County fitters. Ohio’s got a very good one who doesn’t seem to have this “fit wide” disease.

Okay, with that out of the way…you asked “Where to now?” It’s hard to advise without knowing some things:

1. What’s your budget?
2. Are you prepared to order custom again, or are you determined to find something off the rack?
3. Do you want the service of a fitter who comes to your barn, or will you do mail order?
4. Are you trying to get as close to the County Stabilizer ride experience as possible, or are you open to trying other things in terms of rider fit?
5. What does the horse look like? That might help us narrow down some brands that are good possibilities.

I don’t object to the standard “Send some tracings to Trumbull” advice, and there is certainly no harm in that. In fact, I’d get the tracings in the mail sooner rather than later since it’ll take a few days for the mail to reach Trumbull. If Trumbull’s got a saddle that they think will work, then fantastic, go for it. But my advice to folks is to always put out multiple feelers in the saddle search and see which fishing line gets the best bite. Advice is free, and wouldn’t it kill you to find out–for example–that Trumbull recommended Saddle X but you’d have to special-order it, yet Vendor Y had precisely Saddle X in stock just a few states away but you never thought to call Vendor Y? For example, let’s say you decide to explore Black Country. There’s at least one BC vendor in North Carolina, and two in South Carolina, etc.

FWIW, Amerigo doesn’t make custom panels. They will customize a tree width, and you can order a short/normal/long flap, but that’s about it for customization. To Amerigo’s credit, they also don’t lie to people and say that their brand will fit everything. The horses that fit in Amerigo fit REALLY well in Amerigo. Other horses just plain aren’t good fits in Amerigo.

CWD does do custom panels, including one that looks remarkably like the Amerigo panel (the CWD PA 5).

[MtyMax]

I’ll try to answer some of the above questions:

Okay, with that out of the way…you asked “Where to now?” It’s hard to advise without knowing some things:

1. What’s your budget?
   Less than the County I’d actually like to drop down to around $2500 if possible…and I don’t mind a used saddle. In fact I would prefer it if it means a nice trial period.
2. Are you prepared to order custom again, or are you determined to find something off the rack?
   Most likely will not go with custom anything, and I definitely won’t be buying anything that doesn’t come with a good trial period first
3. Do you want the service of a fitter who comes to your barn, or will you do mail order?
   I have a great independant fitter that can help me from either end
4. Are you trying to get as close to the County Stabilizer ride experience as possible, or are you open to trying other things in terms of rider fit?
   I really like the County Stabilizer and the old school Stubbens with the forward flaps
5. What does the horse look like? That might help us narrow down some brands that are good possibilities.
   Horse is a 16hd appendix (picky mare!) that currently wears a 32 in her Prestige D2000 saddle She is somewhere around a medium/medium wide with a relatively flat back. Withers are average…no shark fin but still looks a bit TB’ish

I just received a Jeffries JMX from Dana Spark to trial for a week or so. The tree is a medium and we may possibly have to try a medium wide…we’ll see what the maresie says. The medium isn’t a bad fit, but not perfect either.

I originally went through Trumbull Mountain, but they said that this mare needs an XW hoop tree. I may or may not have done the tracings incorrectly?? There is no way that this mare needs the XW. I tried one of the Black Country saddles in an XW hoop and really hated the wide twist that went with it. I may have to redo the tracings and try again.

And MorganJumper - not sure yet about the restocking fee. It wasn’t mentioned on Friday, but I also didn’t ask.

I’ll post a review of the Jeffries at the end of this week.

Thanks all!

[alto]

If you liked the Stabiizer, call up Natasha & see if they can send you a “demo” with suitable panels & a tree-size down from what your rep ordered in for you - you will pay shipping, can have a reasonable trial period, they currently have a 20% sale advertised for demo list saddles …

I believe County’s Sensation provides more wither clearance BUT is $$ more than the Stabilizer.

Hopefully you can find a saddle fitter with loads of suitable saddles to come to your barn with a van - I had in a couple of these but only 3 saddles (total!!!) that actually might fit :eek:

• the horse did NOT agree with either saddle fitter’s opinion, or the CWD rep’s opinon or the Antares rep’s opinion (huge ThanK You to the Prestige rep who laughed & said No Way, No How, I don’t need to waste your time) - the County rep has obviously completely brainwashed his little equine mind :uhoh: :sigh:
  (my only regret is why didn’t I give in gracefully a year ago :rolleyes: )

You can definitely look at the used saddle sites (love FineUsedSaddles, High End Used Saddles, MD Tack Exchange) BUT if your horse is a difficult fit, the chances of finding a used saddle that suits both you AND your horse, fall off dramatically …

Do some decent conformation photos & start a new saddle fit dilemma thread (resort to sending jn4jenny pm’s if she doesn’t trip over your thread in the normal fashion :winkgrin: )

[trafalgar]

I would call PattyMmerli in SC. She travels up the east coast every 6 weeks or so…I just realized I don’t know where you are…Trumbull Mt does it be phone and are very good.

[SonnysMom]

OP- I tried to do wither tracings once and never sent them anywhere. I wasn’t really that confident that I had them correct.

When I actually decided to get serious about finding a saddle and had some money to do so I just paid my independent saddler to come out and do a few wither tracings for me. This way I could send them to a few places. WELL worth the money.

[riverpup]

This is an old thread, but thank you for it. I am dealing with a the situation of ordering a saddle through a saddle fitter/saddle rep, with their tracings. Was told to ride in it for a month.

I hate it.

Smashes the withers, bridges, slides back to the loins and I got a 18" per recommendation vice my normal 17.5". Puts me in “chair seat”…Doesn’t fit me, does not fit horse.

Wish me luck! Meeting with the fitter today. Maybe flocking adjustments will solve all these issues… .

[Nypeach17]

Anyone have any updates? I know it’s been a long time but I’m struggling with fit on a new custom county and I’m being given the dog and pony show about having my Deposit kept even though the saddle has not fit since day 1 ;(

[pattnic]

@Nypeach17

Anyone have any updates? I know it’s been a long time but I’m struggling with fit on a new custom county and I’m being given the dog and pony show about having my Deposit kept even though the saddle has not fit since day 1 ;(

@Nypeach17 - Was your saddle a standard order, or was it a custom order (e.g, long flap)? Their purchase and return policy indicates that custom orders that are returned forfeit the $1500 deposit.

Does County say the saddle fits, or it can be made to fit? Has the horse changed? They do tracings at the initial fitting for this reason. If any of those things are true, then you’re out the deposit.

[Twigster]

I went through a saddle buying saga last year when my guy outgrew my County Stabilizer XTR and ended up VERY happy with a Black Country Dante Monoflap. My advice is to find a great fitter, and then work with them to find a saddle, versus shopping all over.

There are several good fitters on the forum, hopefully one of them can chime in with a local recommendation for you!

[Rainier]

I have gone through saddle hell with not one, but two (?!) custom saddles and have landed an awesome used Black Country vinici jump that I love!! I luckily now have a local rep that works with them too! I hope you can find something that works for you. I was up into the $3500range with the custom saddles and am getting the used saddle for less than $2000!