How on earth do you buy a saddle on eBay?

[Jane&Ziggy]

I was thinking of seeing if I could pick up a second hand show saddle for Ziggy. He currently goes in a 17" Kent&Masters Cob saddle, XW fitting. I would like to get a 16.5" if I can - he is short backed, and I think I could squeeze into it, I have lost about 1.5 stone since I bought the K&M.

But how do I stand a chance of knowing if any saddle will fit? What does the D ring to D ring measurement mean? This is a real minefield!

 

[eml]

We buy all our saddles on Ebay, go for makes we know work for ours and resell anything that doesn't fit. Most good makes are stamped with a tree size as well.

We have had some super bargains and the odd badly described saddle that is either just not going to fit or is much better than we expect. Just be aware however you do need to be able to finance a couple of spare saddles for about 6 weeks just in case!

A good saddler who will be honest about the fit of your Ebay purchase is also essential!!

 

[notpoodle]

you find out what sort of thing may fit your horse, buy it and have it fitted. of course it's riskier than have eg your saddler bring a few to try BUT there's bargains to be had.

I bought appley's NPC saddle on ebay, with sbloom guiding me through the purchase. i then had it fitted. saved me several hundred quid

 

[sjp1]

What you really need to do is get hold of Poohsmate.

I bought a Black Country show saddle for Tobes off ebay for £280. The seller was FANTASTIC, and is now a friend on facebook!!!

I asked her to email pics of her horses back when she used the saddle, I took pics of Tobes back, emailed all the pics to Poohsmate, she took lots of measurements .......... and when saddle and Poohsmate arrived, apart from a bit of flocking, it fitted like a glove.

However, without him, I would not have had the knowledge to know what would have fitted at all.

 

[Kis Vihar]

Sometimes you pays your money and takes your chance! Sometimes there are great bargains to be had, other times there are real train-wrecks of saddles advertised as 'excellent condition'.....!

As the others here have said, if you know what size and fitting you want, you can take a chance and get it fitted by a saddle fitter.

You should be prepared to make a few mistakes and re-sell them.

I only ever look at ones with broken trees, then only in saddles I am interested in.

 

[KarinUS]

your success rate may also depend on how common of a shape your horse has.
DJ is kind of the run of the mill TB. Tons of horses around just like him. I was able to buy a nice used County saddle and have it reflocked for him.
With Minnie even buying (almost) new from a saddle fitter was tough work and she ended up with a special tree. Would be tough to find another...

As far as reselling faulty saddles, I'd probably be too chicken to pass the buck. So I'd be stuck with a dud. The whole thing could be a bit of a gamble.