Saddle Selection Assistance
Do you need help working out which saddles may suit your horse or just advice on whether one saddle you like may suit?
With so many saddles to choose from on our website its not easy to know what to look for.
Sure we offer a trial and you can return anything that's not suitable but its our aim to help you find the right saddle without the need for costly returns and wasted time.
We off two levels of assistance.
Level one - free service
Level two - starts at $129
Level one
This is to get you started. Selecting the correct gullet is the first step in selecting a suitable saddle, if the front of the saddle is not a good match to your horse in both angle and width there is no point considering any other aspect of the saddles suitability.
With our free level one service we will recommend what gullet width and angle your horse needs, this will help you select saddles form our website using the filters.
If you find a saddle you think sounds like a match we can compare it to your template and give our opinion on whether its a good match.
For more about this free level one service see our gullet measurement page.
We only look at the gullet template in the level one service, if you want assistance checking other aspects of the saddle, or want help selecting suitable saddles refer to the level two service.
Level Two
Our level two service covers more than just the fit of the saddle at the front, we will look at the whole horse and work out which saddles best meet both the horse and riders requirements.
A qualified fitter will look at all the information you send us about you and your horse and the photos and templates that you provide us. Saddles are then shortlisted and each short listed saddle is individually looked at so that the most suitable saddles can be recommended.
This is a lengthy process, our standard fee pf $129 covers 1 hour 30 minutes, this is usually enough time to select one style eg. dressage or jump, if you require more than one style, then additional time will most likely be needed. Extra time will be invoiced at $20 per 15 minutes.
Any recommendations we make are based based on the information provided to us along with our saddle fitting experience.
We can not guarantee the fit of any saddle.
Think About What You Want
Think hard about what you want, so you don't change your mind after we have selected for you. Don't change from gp to dressage or increase your price limit after we have selected!
This will mean we have to start all over again!
Have a good look through the current stock, check that there are some options for you, there is no point going through this process if we have nothing to suit your budget or you are looking for a style we don't have.
Is The Timing Right?
Wait until you are ready to commit to purchasing/trialing a saddle before submitting your form as saddles we recommend now could be gone in a couple of weeks.
Our recommendations will be specific to current stock not which model or brands may suit, each saddle is different even the same size, brand and model can vary considerably. This is why so often people say my fitter says I need a ... saddle, they purchase and it doesn't fit!
Don't think that if we recommend a saddle and it sells before you get chance to order it that you'll find another the same, the chances are you'll never find another that will be exactly the same fit.
What Next?
So you have got this far and you are still reading the chances are you are ready to take the next step and send us your pictures an templates. If you have these from your fitter thats great, if not don't worry we have a step by step printable guide & video showing how to do them yourself.
Watch the video and print the pdf guide or save it on your phone for a quick reference when you are with your horse.
Gullet Template
Wither Profile
&
back length
R18 Template
&
Photos
Templates and Pictures
Collect your supplies, all you need is:
phone or camera for the pictures,
a flexible drawing curve or piece of wire,
some chalk or tape,
A4 paper and a pen,
a tape measure,
a helper
&
the horse of course.
Its straight forward and will only take you 10 minutes.
TIP !: Do your template form both sides and do it several times until you are happy you are getting a consistantly accurate measurement.
Please don't send one you are not 100% happy with.
TIP 2: When taking the side view photo make sure the horses front and back feet are on the same horizontal line, this will give the most accurate image of the back profile.
The Technical Stuff
What to do with the templates:
Scan your templates.
If you have an A3 template you'll need to scan it as 2 A4 pages. DO NOT shrink an A3 to A4.
Save as PDF format with no margins.
Print a copy yourself, is it an exact match to your original? If not try again.
Only send it to us when you are happy its an accurate copy.
Don't send the template as a photo - we can't use it in this format.
If using a phone scanning app the only one we have found to be accurate is Adobe Scan so please do not use any other apps. if using the app be sure to have the phone directly above the page, not at an angle.
What to do with your photos:
Save pictures as jpeg files. No thumb nails or screen shots
When you are happy you have them saved accurately in the correct formats:
Upload the pictures & templates via the saddle selection form
If you don't want to do the templates and pictures or don't know how to scan, sorry we can't help. A form cannot be submitted without a scanned template.
We will do our best to reply to your form submission within 2 business days of receiving your form/payment.