When to replace billets & what to do in the meantime

[mika0116]

So I have an older PJ saddle - obviously as they don’t make the PJ Originals anymore. Saddle is I think from 2012 or earlier but was unused until 2015.

billets are not cracked or anything, but the 3 most used holes on the 1st and 3rd billets are looking a bit… stretched.

I clean my saddle 2x -3x a week mostly wiping down with dawn dish soap or saddle soap. I condition maybe monthly and don’t condition billets (I might have a few times when saddle was brand new back in 2015).

So since I cannot send it to its maker - I am in contact with a local-ish saddle repair - they’re estimating 2 weeks of downtime. This is my only saddle so I’d have to ride in my trainers’ spares or something.

I have a dressage clinic next week that I’ll use this saddle for and I may just use the middle billet for peace of mind until I get it in for repair.

Am I being dramatic that I should replace these or do they really look worn enough to warrant replacement?

[clanter]

might have “eyelets” installed in the holes you use?

An eyelet is a hardware item that is used to prevent holes from tearing in canvas, leather, etc.

[Bonnie2]

I would get the billets replaced. This job does not take 2 weeks. They must be layering in roundtoit time. Explain it’s your only saddle, can you make an appointment for a day when they have time. Meanwhile I would use a different size girth.

[WildGooseChase]

I’d replace these and consider a better fitting girth. The fact that the holes are so stretched says there is an issue somewhere. It shouldn’t be so tight to cause this kind of wear, even over time. I’ve purchased saddles 15+ years old and have never seen billets wear like that. I’m sorry this has happened to your saddle!

2 weeks is far too long, making me think they are backed up, but refuse to stop taking work in. So I would call them and see if you can set an appointment for a day they can do it, and take it to them then. It shouldn’t take more than a few days to do this kind of repair. If they require the saddle to be there to “hold it’s place” in line, I’d move along to another saddlery. Depending on your general location, I am sure there are people in this forum who could point you in the direction of someone different.

[mika0116]

I’ve asked around today - 3 different trainers and all said only place they would feel comfortable recommending is said place that gave me 2 weeks of repair time.

It seems most folks coordinate repairs with the original maker - obviously impossible with a PJ, sigh.

The saddler did admit they were backed up - and indicated that they don’t / won’t have a great system to schedule appointments to hold one’s place in line. Frustrating.

I’ll call again and indicate that it is my only saddle and see if they’ll make an exception. If not, lease horse goes to compete for a week or so without me this month and I’ll drop it off then… and use the 2nd good billet for all rides until then!

I do agree that this shouldn’t really happen even on old saddles and it is likely due to not the best girth fits. This saddle was used across 5 different leases AND was used to ride many, many sales horses where you just used whatever girth was remotely the right size and shape for the horse.

On the next set of billets, I’ll be re-evaluating my girth collection and buying new if needed and I don’t ride sales horses anymore so I think that problem solves itself!

[LCDR]

If you are really fearful of a billet breaking at the stretched holes, use a longer girth and go one hole higher, above the weak area temporarily until you can find a convenient down time to have the straps replaced.

It is ideally a one day job, but I totally understand the “drop it off today and I’ll work it in within a couple of weeks” mentality. Ideally, you’d have enough saddles waiting on billet replacement in your shop to set up and spend one entire day just doing billet replacements on multiple saddles rather than jumping back and forth among types of repairs.

[Highflyer1]

I think they’re definitely due for a replacement, but I don’t think it’s necessarily hugely unusual on an older saddle that sees a lot of use for them to look like that. My Stubben jump saddle that I often rode 3-4 horses in daily wore like that after 5-6 years. They could probably stand to be replaced with slightly thicker leather, and Dawn is very drying so I definitely wouldn’t use it on tack in general. But I would think as long as the stitching looks good you could probably tweak the girth so that you are using the hole above it unless the horse is super fussy.

[mika0116]

Good point - I typically dilute the dawn and use it when the tack is truly grimey - somestimes I feel like saddle soap doesn’t seem to effectively get the nasty off (probs due to high oil content?) I have yet to find a leather care routine that WORKS consistently between the now 3 very different climates I have lived in with this saddle.

Make sense that this is an 11 year old saddle with 8 years of relatively heavy use - not daily but 4x+ per week and often multiple horses (2-6) 2 out of those 4 days - definitely expect some wear but the stretched holes were sketching me out recently!

you all are nailing it on the girth fit issues - spent a lot of time just grabbing what “worked” for sales horses: “oh she’s around a 50, oh he’s kinda a 48-ish… blah blah”

lease horse is huge, but a simple $100 girth that is on the larger size (size up to a 54) feels like the best bet for short term!

[GreyDes]

@mika0116 - I’ve had great results with Higher Standards leather cleaner for both regular cleaning and really getting off the grime.

It’s made by a COTH member - I think @Bensmom

Store

I’m addition to working well, it also smells great! My favourite is Woody’s Confidence Blend and you can’t go wrong with any of them.