Has anyone had experience with the Takt Saddlery brand? I had never heard of this brand before and stumbled on their site yesterday… I reached out to them and got a really speedy response, and spent an hour on the phone with the rep this morning… I have to say I’m incredibly impressed. The brand was more or less created by those who were fed up with the way saddle “fitting” and sales are done by most brands, and they stand behind their products. But - being a small, boutique brand, I’d love to hear from others who have had real life experiences with them.
Well, their saddles appear identical to those on the Frank Baines website, so, compare pricing and what you’re getting for that price.
The only person I know with a Takt sold it because it never fit the horse. That seems to be endemic among saddle sales reps, though, whatever brand you buy.
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I actually have 1, I think I’ve had it for almost a year now?
I rode in a couple different models and then there was 1 sweet spot. I contemplated back and forth on it and then decided I was going to order one (first time ever buying a new - not used - saddle). One perk is the saddle to use while they make yours. Well my fitter was calling to see if they had the saddle I wanted in a larger seat size or the correct size for my guy (the one she had in stock was slightly small for me and slightly wide for my guy), and found out they had an incorrectly built saddle in the exact specs I would be ordering, only in brown.
So I bought the brown saddle for cheaper. I’ve really enjoyed it, and haven’t had any issues with it - other than my fitter getting out of the business within a couple months due to pregnancy.
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I believe Frank Baines actually makes their saddles for them? Or at least they work together somehow.
They do, my point was that you could potentially get an identical saddle for less money with the Baines name, as they don’t appear to have changed any of the stock models in any appreciable way.
That is actually not completely true. I am one of Takt’s first fitters. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Yes Frank Baines makes the saddles. However they are not the same saddles, but the looks are similar. It is fairly normal for saddlery to contract out to make other brands. Frank Baines just also put their names on the saddles.
Yes! I had a saddle made for my mare, maybe 2 yrs ago? It was the only saddle my mare like that we tried on her. Super comfortable saddle, great company to work with. I bought the TSD-37.
I was able to have a trial of the saddle to see if I was going to like it as well as my mare seemed to. Then once I had placed my order they provided a saddle for me to use until mine arrived. The fitter brought the saddle to me and made sure it didn’t need flocking adjusted and then took the demo saddle with her. No hassle of shipping it back to the company.
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I’ve had a custom made TSD-37 since mid 2019. I had looked at several saddles over the years and never found a saddle that fit both me and my horse. The TSD-37 was the first to fit the bill.
Overall I’ve been happy with my saddle as it looks nice and fits my very hard to fit mare. It’s also nice to get a free loaner to use while your saddle is being made.
My biggest issue has been the leather quality. The leather started cracking on my seat where the leg hangs down this past Autumn. I’ve never had this issue with a saddle. Even my 30+ year old Hulsebos still has a perfect seat except for needing to be re-dyed. I’ve been waiting to hear from them since January on what they’re going to do about it. Your post reminded me so I reached back out to them again. A seat replacement is a very expensive repair.
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I am thrilled to hear you are pleased with the fit and function of your TSD-37. I apologize that your issue did not make it to my desk until this last Monday. I immediately responded and contacted you to further evaluate what had happened. Within hours we began a dialogue with our repair shop and began locating a Loaner Saddle ™ or replacement saddle to send to your local representative to have fitted to your horse. We look forward to working with you to get your saddle repaired or replaced!
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I am saddened and disappointed to read your comments about Takt Saddlery as they do not reflect our brand or our company culture. We would like to extend an invitation for you to actually experience our products and ride in them so that you can more objectively review our offerings. I must clarify that our product offerings are not the same as Frank Baines Saddlery. We are very proud of our association with Frank Baines Saddlery and it was only after a painstaking process that they were selected to craft our exclusive line of saddles. Takt Saddlery has trademarked the Loaner Saddle Program™ which is unique to the industry. We offer the industries most generous trade-in program and offer “no questions asked” policy for re-crafting a bespoke order. If you purchase a bespoke saddle and are dissatisfied (or for any reason at all) we are pleased to immediately re-craft it. We are unaware of the case you mention, as any such situation would have been addressed by our re-craft guarantee. We hope you offer us the opportunity to personally introduce you to our product line!
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We are excited to have Frank Baines craft for us, however your comment is false. The brands are very different with different offerings. Please check out our TSD-10, a gorgeous single-flap, deep seated saddle that is one of our most popular models and can only be procured through Takt. Our TSD-37 has been very popular as well, this specific tree, with its keyhole pommel design and super deep seat is unique to the Takt brand.
Also, review our latest jump saddle offering, the TSJ-07. This jump saddle is ridden in by a previous World Cup contender and 2021 Desert Circuit Champion and Reserve Champion. The TSJ-07 was perfected by a world class Dutch rider and will be ridden in by a European rider in the upcoming Olympics as well. This saddle (and our other models) are available only through Takt Saddlery. We hope you try them out!
I’d like to see a published chart of trade in values if you’re going to claim the most generous trade in policy in the industry.
As I imagine it would not be something so opaque as a “case by case basis” depending on who the customer in question is.
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I just tried a couple of models and one of them I really liked! They felt well built and the leather was nice.
The rep I used was great and told me about the company, the trade ins, use of a saddle while mine would be in process,etc.
I didn’t order one yet, as I would like my chunky monkey to lose a few li pounds first.
I have a Frank Baines Elegance and it has held up well, and I believe it still has good resale potential trial.
I would absolutely stay away from this company. It’s not real reliable, they live they withhold information they keep you thinking that everything will be OK and then they slam you with additional bills. So here’s my story and that was my first time purchasing a saddle from saddlery. Everything was perfect until the saddle arrived. From the very beginning the saddle felt horrible and comfortable, not balanced and too small. It was leaning to one side and no it’s not due to confirmation of the horse. I’m fortunate enough to have three trainers in my facility. All of them rode in the saddle, and all of them had the same problem. It’s impossible to canter in it, and it was always leaning to one side. The Saddle Fitter was send a few times, she even took the saddle to her house to rebuild it. It didn’t help. Flocking didn’t help. Meanwhile, I was using a loaner saddle that they offered free of charged. I was also using same loaner saddle when they were building my custom saddle. How nice but wait. There’s a catch 
I was so unhappy with the saddle that I asked, what is my option here?
They said they going to rebuild or build a new saddle for me or I can purchase the loaner saddle if I think the loaner saddle is comfortable, Yay but actually not nay. And I agreed they have send new, Saddle Fitter. New Saddle Fitter said that she doesn’t understand why they were trying to sell me a loaner if it’s absolutely not the right size or fit for my horse. And since I’m clueless, I was very surprised that is not the right fit and didn’t understand Why would they push sell off that saddle if it’s not good?
After rushed saddle trying and speaking with the new Saddle Fitter, we decided on a few changes and I decided to go with a new saddle that was supposed to build free of charge. They return my original purchaseed custom saddle so I can use it while they are building the other saddle. The Saddle Fitter and left She said she’ll send all the information to the owner of the company and she’ll be in contact with me. 18 days past didn’t hear anything from her or the company decided to reach out and ask what’s happening. They contacted me back and their first bill that they sent was zero dollars and again there was no contact for at least a week or two. When I reached out again, the angry owner have sent me an email that the actual cost of a new saddle will be $1300 extra because of inflation and god know what and because I was using their saddles for almost a year, but let’s not forget that that loaner saddle was option given to me, I didn’t ask for it and it was supposed to be free. They also said that they discontinue giving loaner saddles and they wanted to charge me $300 a week for having loaner saddle! Ridiculous and that was never mentioned to me. Now I find out that I have to pay for it. Looks like her employees are saying totally different things to me and totally different things to their boss. At the end, I would rather pay 1300 towards new saddles and deal with this incompetent company.The worst thing is that so many information was not given to me! After a month I found out that I had only five days to make up my mind. Once there is a problem, they are not as nice . If I want to keep the new saddle that they made for me originally (that was re-flocked and still not good, not balanced) or go with a new saddle. Just be very careful once they have your money you’re done plus they do not have a lot of options for horses that are super wide. My mayor is 3X wide and there is only one saddle that she can have. My saddle seat is too small it puts my pelvis in the wrong position no matter what!
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Ouch! What a terrible ordeal, BlackDiamond.
.t
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Till this day the saddle is shifting to one side and no matter what we try to do it appears that the tree is twisted! The company doesn’t stand behind their product. As this is my first horse and first time I was purchasing saddle I was absolutely not informed about their policies. The owner of the company was nice until it was time to redo the saddle. The extra overcharge came out of nowhere! Like a slap in the face! If you are such a great company take the saddle that you made for my horse and fix it! It’s been a more than a year and the saddle has the same problem since day one. It’s so bad that no one can stay balance in it.
Takt had a free loaner saddle offer in the time when they were building my saddle. Right after I started complaining because I was not happy with faulty constructed saddle, They change their policy and wanted to charge me for loaning the saddle (my faulty saddle) which is very unprofessional. I’m wondering if they still offer their saddles free of charge to use until your new is built. Or was that one of the lies to get more money from me?
In the end YOU DO NOT STAND BEHIND YOUR PRODUCT.
You made no effort to actually fix it. You left me with twisted tree saddle that I payed $4500 and nothing was done about it.
I absolutely do not recommend this company. Nothing but lies. They do not disclose information … like time frames etc until is too late.
I have nothing to the saddle fitters. Very nice ladies.
Stay away!
Perhaps someone in Takt can reach out to me and buy that saddle back? That would resolve my issues lol 
That would prove you are legitimate honest company
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Wait, are you the same poster as the original, using a different account?
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Sue them.
According to at least one other side of the story, the buyer confirmed with the saddle fitter that she wished to keep the ordered saddle. The price difference was for the new saddle she requested which is being made a year later with different options.
I don’t know who is right here since there are 2 people posting as the buyer and 1 as what appears to be the rep.
That said given that they have offered to give full credit for the original saddle towards the new purchase, a court doesn’t have much to find fault with them for.
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