Ah, the joys of buying saddles!

I'm looking for an English/dressage saddle for my mare. Since it's not going to get a lot of use, I'm looking for an inexpensive synthetic. I'd also love to be able to adjust it. Oh, and she's very broad and flat for a little gal. After years of checking, the local English store has never had a saddle wide enough. When I brought in a wither tracing to get the owner's opinion on what to order, she declared my horse "a barrel", lectured me on the inaccuracies of wither tracings, then walked off. That's what I get for trying to shop there. Then I noticed broadback Thorowgoods on close-out on Dover, and the Icelandic Wintec on Stateline. Surely one will fit? (Paso Finos and Icelandics have similar builds and similar gaits).

Wintec: It comes with a medium gullet. Why? Who knows. Granted, I've never personally fitted an Icelandic pony, but they sure look broad to me. In fact, the saddle will only accept up to an extra-wide gullet, so I ordered one to try. I sat in it at home--a bit narrow for me, but not as bad as the Wintec dressage saddles. So, I brought it to the barn and put it on. It perched in front horribly. Thirty minutes, three people, and two broken finger nails later, we successfully swapped in the extra-wide "easy change" gullet. Better, but still too narrow. Again, if it's specially designed for a broad-backed breed, you'd think they would have made it on their wider tree system. So, that's out.

Thorowgood: Ordered it online. Get an email the next day that the closeout price is out of stock, but will be back in in September. In lieu of waiting, they can send me a full-priced one from one of their stores, then give me the closeout price if I decide to keep it. Sounds good to me. It arrives quickly. Again, seat a little too narrow for my tastes and, after some gaiting, I'm feeling rubbed in the wrong places. But, I think I can tough it out for the good fit and adjustability for Dolly--it really does sit quite nicely on her back, and it puts my leg in a great, secure place without feeling forced. Plus, great price. But.....

The flocking along the panels is damaged. It looks like it was stored folded up for a long period of time, killing the flocking in those spots. And, on closer inspection, the "adjustable girth position" feature that it's supposed to have, and even has a tag for hanging from the billets, isn't on the saddle. Like most English saddles on Dolly, the back twists while mounting, and I was really looking forwards to being able to position the second billet further back to help compensate. So, I email pics of the saddle and ask how to get it replaced. They email that it's out of stock until September. I just called back to say, anyway, I wouldn't mind having a little extra room in the seat, so send me an 18" (which was available online last night) instead. Only she doesn't see any other sizes in their system at all, at any time. So, she's going to go check store stocks and see if they can find me a 17 1/2 or 18" that is ready to be shipped.

Ah, the drama...