Hey everyone,
I need help with saddles (who doesn’t??!), and wondering if there might be an expert here who could offer some insight.
I have a wonderful young mare - just turned 6 - who I started under saddle two years ago (with my very excellent trainer). We have been struggling with finding a good saddle fit for her and I basically since the beginning. I don’t think she’s a particularly odd shape, but she is very, very sensitive to all things and apparently we’re a difficult combination (or else we just haven’t found the right help). She’s small, and the average “medium wide” is too wide for her, which makes finding used models a little challenging.
My trainer and I started my mare in my trainer’s saddle - an ancient Childeric DUS model.
I had an independent saddle fitter who I have worked with in the past evaluate Penny (my mare) basically as soon as we could reliably walk/trot/canter under saddle. She did not think that the Childeric was a good option, and indicated that it was too narrow/the wrong head plate shape for her.
She pointed me in the direction of a reasonably priced brand she thought would work, and helped me to design and purchase a new saddle. I waited about 3 months for the saddle to arrive; it did; it seemed to fit for the first try, but after about 4 months it was visibly rubbing a spot on her withers and obviously not working anymore.
During this time, my saddle fitter had a baby and was unavailable, so I worked with another saddle fitter (a master saddler, who makes his own brand of saddles). He was happy to come out and evaluate; agreed that the new saddle did not fit and didn’t think it could be adjusted to be better. He thought that the tree shape of my new saddle was wrong for Penny at that point, and was honest that I would probably need to buy a new saddle (he didn’t try to sell me his brand at all). He also looked at my trainer’s Childeric (which we had gone back to as the best alternative available), and thought that it was a reasonable fit (so either disagreed with fitter #1, or Penny changed shape significantly in a short period of time (possible)).
Because the brand of my new saddle offered a trade-in option and I’m not dripping in cash to buy multiple saddles, I then contacted the brand rep to come up with a solution. She came out and spent a long time with us, bringing many different models to try.
I had my trainer involved for this lengthy trial. We both tried multiple options on my saintly mare, and the three of us settled on a new model. The rep took my trade in and I ordered a new saddle with the new specs.
I waited 5 months for the new saddle (COVID; no one’s fault), and in this time continued using my trainer’s Childeric. Penny started to blossom during this time; doing really, really well.
New saddle #2 finally arrived. It seems to fit Penny well; she’s happy, but I can’t ride in the thing! I have no idea why this saddle is so different than the demo model we tried, but it tips me forward terribly. We tried shimming it/adjusting the flocking, etc, but shimming it makes Penny miserable, and we can’t seem to create a solution.
Frustrated, I begin trying to find a used saddle similar to my trainer’s Childeric. Of course Childeric no longer makes the DUS model.
I tried a DAC model (acceptable), a DGP (not good for me - set back stirrup bars do me no favours), and a DPL (fabulous). Unfortunately, none of those models fit Penny well (in the size available to try, anyway).
I finally found a DSC for sale online in the right tree measurement and did exactly what you’re not supposed to do - I just bought it outright, knowing that I could sell it again if I needed to.
So now we’ve had the DSC for about a month. I love it. My trainer loves it. Visually, I think it fits very similar to my trainer’s saddle. However, I think Penny does not love it. Just based on the way she is behaving both on the ground and under saddle, I suspect it’s too narrow around her withers. My wonderful horse who was working on third level now can’t go straight, and we’re all frustrated!
Unfortunately, the only place that I’m aware of that sells Childeric saddles in Canada (possibly in all of North America) does not offer a saddle fitting service. They’re happy to order a new saddle for me, and would come out to do a “fitting” if I were going to buy a brand new saddle, but they don’t do “fittings” otherwise, and carry only the DAC and DGP models regularly.
So at this point, I know that there are multiple Childeric models that work for me. One (discontinued) that works for Penny and I, and several that don’t.
I am hesitant to contact the original saddle fitter only because her assessment didn’t work for us the first time (perhaps that’s being silly), and she didn’t like the look of my trainer’s Childeric on Penny, though Penny clearly loves it.
I could contact the second saddle fitter again, but he doesn’t have anything to sell me and agrees that his own brand is probably not an ideal option for us (and I can’t afford one, anyway!).
I could contact the brand rep that I’ve ordered from twice now. She’s been really helpful, but I’m REALLY gun-shy to order another new saddle (even if she will take mine as a trade in), because I’ve done this twice and waited a long time only to find out it doesn’t work.
Does anyone have any brilliant suggestions? A large part of the problem is that I’m really rural, and it’s not easy for all of these people (or other brand reps) to get to me. Used saddles will have to be shipped to me.
Is there anyone that knows the Childeric models well enough to help me decipher what it is about the DUS that Penny likes, so that I can try to replicate it elsewhere?
Any suggestions (or sympathy) are much appreciated. Maybe I’ve just been really lucky so far, but I’ve never been so frustrated by a saddle!
Thanks in advance!
