Hi again everyone! Question: if there is some wrinkling on the bottom of a flap what could that mean?
Probably that you got a French saddle with calf leather that’s got a short lifespan? Nothing structural like wrinkles on seat meaning broken tree.
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So basically it’s going to wear out fairly soon? So probably not worth buying the saddle lol
Where exactly do you mean? At the bottom of the entire flap or on the knee rolls? My last calf/grain cwd had slight wrinkles on the knee rolls from not long after I got it until I sold it and they never got any worse. They kind of just appeared and then plateaued, where they didn’t get any more prominent.
Not sure if this is what you’re talking about, but I’ve seen a few saddles (all devoucouxs) that had what seemed like 2 layers of leather on the flaps, but the top layer would wrinkle and the stitching would come undone. Similarly with my old knee rolls, I never saw these devoucouxs get any worse over the course of a couple years. I’d also imagine this would be easy to have fixed.
It’s on the actual flap from middle to bottom and the current owner said it almost feels like it’s separated from the rest of the flap so yeah I really don’t know what to make of that! If it’s an easy inexpensive fix if it gets worse that’s one thing but I don’t want to pay 1500 dollars for a saddle just to have to put another couple hundred into fixing the flap
On regular old school saddles the flap is a solid single piece of very thick leather. The knee rolls will be calf over padding and those may wrinkle but the flap can’t.
It sounds like indeed you are describing a saddle with a calf leather overlay flap that is at least two layers of leather. Common on current French saddles and possible on lower end saddles copying them, I suppose. I certainly have seen high end fairly new French saddles on resale with the calf overlay worn through. On an old school saddle that would only be a bit of fading at most.
You could contact a local saddle fitter for an estimate. I would think it would involve replacing the top surface of the flap which wouldn’t be tricky but would involve a lot of stitching.
What brand of saddle and how old? If it’s a super great deal and perfect for you maybe worth trying. If it’s still bring priced
”‹”‹as Expensive French Saddle I would pass personally.
But I have no experience in how long those things take to deteriorate after they start falling apart.
Im not exactly sure how much it would cost to get it fixed, I’d assume it would be inexpensive at a leather repair shop (or similar store) as it seems to be just stitching. If you were to reach out to the saddle company to see if they would fix it their way, it would cost a lot more. Easily a couple hundred.
Honestly, 1500 seems like a lot for a saddle that has a wrinkle from the middle of the flap to the bottom. If you weren’t to get it fixed, your leg would probably rub against it while riding and make it more wrinkly, and at some point it wouldn’t be fixable. Not sure what saddle you’re looking for, but there are plenty of devouxouxs, Antares, and older butets/cwds around the 1500 mark.
I think It’s more than stitching as the leather should be bonded or glued and that’s clearly failed.
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So, first I’d say $1500 for a full calf/buffalo saddle ISN’T bad (even with a wrinkle on the flap) if the year is right. If it’s older than five years, no - it’s probably not worth it unless you just love the thing.
That being said, the repair on a flap is expensive. More than a couple hundred dollars expensive. Your talking nearly a thousand dollars expensive, likely, if you do it through the brands repair shop (not saying you can’t get it done outside of that). What’s happened, is that the soft leather has begun seperating from the hard leather it was bonded to (usually there is a soft foam between the two as well and a lot of times a heavily leggy rider will wear through that). Most of the time it starts with stitching, the stitching goes ignored or the care of the saddle gets ignored and it turns into a full blow flap seperation problem and before you know it a tear. I’ve seen the wrinkles last for YEARS. I’ve seen a pro burn a hole into one in six months.
In short, no, you probably shouldn’t buy the saddle unless its some sort of screaming deal OR if you don’t care if you wind up with a hole in the flap.
Yes, the French saddles are more expensive to being with, are more popular, and hold their value better, despite the fact that they are also more fragile and show wear patterns you would just never ever see on a sturdier saddle. They really do seem to be a bit more disposable, ironically. And the foam panels can’t be as easily tweaked for different horses.
