KEN'S COLUMN Sunstroke in saddle terms !
A couple of weeks’ ago I was contacted by a distraught client. I had recently fitted a rather expensive dressage saddle for her new horse – and she was, she said ‘…delighted with the saddle…very comfortable…horse going well…’ All this was, of course, music to my ears – but she continued ‘there is something very wrong with the leather.’
This surprised me – a lot – because I knew the saddle-maker involved is a real craftsman who uses absolutely top-of-the-range materials that he sources personally. This aside, I asked the client if she could conveniently bring the saddle in for me to examine.
Immediately I saw the damage, I was confident I knew the cause. The pristine black of the leather was covered in a series of lighter coloured spots and small patches. ‘Do you’, I asked, ‘cover your saddle with something when it isn’t in use?’ The client explained that she used a piece of an old cellular blanket to protect the saddle from dust. A lot of readers will probably guess that my next question was ‘I assume the saddle rack is located close to a window?’ ‘How on earth’, the client asked, ‘did you know that?
Astute and aware readers will know exactly what had happened. Strong sunlight beating down on the saddle rack penetrated the mesh-type spaces in the cellular blanket and bleached the leather. The result was a saddle that looked as though it was suffering a nasty case of Rubella! I was able to get the problem sorted by the original saddle-maker – but - hardly surprising, his services didn’t come free!
Intense sunlight can bleach the colour of leather very quickly. This is why it isn’t too unusual to find the centre of the seat is a darker colour than the rest of the saddle. It almost undoubtedly relates to the fact that horse and rider have been fortunate to enjoy several hacks in hot, sunny weather!
The sun doesn’t only bleach the colour - it also dries out the leather itself. A lot of riders clean and ‘feed’ their saddle during the winter months but fail to give it requisite attention in the summer. When the weather is dry and bridlepaths are free from mud, the topside of the saddle will normally require very little cleaning (although the underside may be covered in sweat). Nevertheless, the leather will quite possibly require more feeding in the summer than in the winter!
Something that has always been a problem – but a relatively minor one – relates to scratches and marks on the surface of saddles. Although for most saddle-makers the well-tried traditional leathers remain first choice, in the last few years a number of very attractive, cosmetically-appealing leathers have been introduced into saddle-making. Some of these leathers are wonderfully soft - and they afford real rider-comfort – but by their very nature, they haven’t anything like the degree of toughness and durability inherent in the more traditional materials. Some tend to wear quite quickly – and repairs can be costly.
Whilst on the subject of leather, I must refer to synthetic leather look-alikes. A few years back, I didn’t have many good words to say for synthetic saddles. The resale value hardly existed. They allowed almost no adjustment to be made in accordance with the changing shape of the horse. Some of them were cheap and nasty – and even the best was fairly obviously ‘not the real thing’.
How times have changed! There are now some truly excellent synthetic saddles on the market incorporating designs that both look good and also allow a reasonable degree of alteration. Most importantly of all, they fit well. (A saddle can be exquisitely crafted in top-of-the-range materials but still fail to be a good tool from the perspectives of fitting.)
I am basically a traditionalist – and I still prefer leather over synthetic – however, I would rather supply a well-fitting synthetic saddle than a leather saddle that simply isn’t suitable for the horse concerned. Looked at another way: when ‘budget’ is tight, it can be better to buy a good quality synthetic than a poor quality leather saddle. On the other hand, I would always rather sell a well-designed, well fitting second-hand leather saddle than a synthetic saddle. And before readers comment, I personally do not deal in poor quality saddles – real leather or synthetic!
We are fortunate in this country to have so many craftsmen saddle-makers who are committed to excellence. The Society of Master Saddlers upholds the highest possible standards in this country - and the training available in the UK is the very, very best in the world.
KEN LYNDON DYKES is an ex-international level three day event rider. A qualified Society of Master Saddlers’ saddle fitter, his specialities include competition horses and ‘difficult’ fittings. KEN CAN BE OBTAINED AT HEAD OFFICE (01622 844440) OR ON HIS MOBILE: 07973 501873
