Saddle Fitting

Qualified SMS Saddle Fitters

With over 50 years combined experience Bea, Emma and Michelle make up our  in house team of SMS Qualified Saddle Fitters.  We offer a friendly, helpful and professional saddle fitting service.

We believe regular saddle fitting is an integral part of your horse’s care regime. Our focus is for your horse to be comfortable allowing for freedom of movement and for you as riders to feel balanced and secure.

Our Performance Saddle Fitting Service travels to you, within a 40mile radius of our CW5 location (Cheshire and surrounding counties). Appointments are available Monday to Friday  with the occasional Saturday appointment reserved for New Saddle Fits.

We are providers of New saddles from leading brands. Second hand saddles are limited to saddles which have been purchased from us originally and part exchanged. We are able to check saddles for existing customers or whereby the saddle was purchased from ourselves but the horse ownership has changed. We are only able to check saddles Not purchased from ourselves if we are on yard visits or in the immediate vicinity and provided we are approved fitters/stockists if the the saddle brand .

If you are interested in making a booking, please  refer to our terms and conditions and then complete the enquiry form below.

Please note for routine saddle checks the wait can be upto  8 weeks so it always pays to book routine check ups well in advance.

Terms & Conditions of Service

  1. We travel to you
  2. Fitting fees are per horse
  3. Fitting fee per horse is reduced for an owner with 3+ horses
  4. We are unable to check saddles not purchased from ourselves, unless we are on a group appointment
  5. Mileage charges apply for all appointments that are 20+ miles away- please refer to our fees in the dropdown on the right
  6. Mileage is shared between individuals on yard visits
  7. Fitting fees are payable 7 days in advance of your appointments – transferable but not refundable
  8. Fitting fees are not waivered if a saddle is purchased
  9. Orders require a minimum 50% deposit
  10. To check an additional/2nd saddle on a horse is adds an extra £10 to your fitting fee
  11. Alterations and adjustments are in addition to fitting fees and mileage charges
  12. Return visit fees will apply plus mileage charges; whereby a saddle has had to be taken away for further work and then a 2nd visit is required to re assess
  13. We DO NOT facilitate the fitting of NEW saddles provided by other saddle retailers, such as those bought online
  14. We are unable to service Flair saddles and other saddle brands where we do not have a dealer agreements, these include as Voltaire, Devacoux, Flair, Antares, CWD, Saddle Company
  15. We are not able to giving second opinions on saddles fitted by other saddle fitters in ongoing disputes
  16. As per the Society of Master Saddler Code of Conduct; if another saddle fitter has checked your saddle within the last 6 months, we require this detail and with your permission we would prefer to contact them prior to any visit being arranged so we do not enter into a competitive conflict of interest scenario
  17. Please have your horse ready, clean and for our arrival time, including all the necessary tack and equipment
  18. We will require a rider/handler to be present for the duration of the appointment. Riders, 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
  19. We will need to see the horse ridden to fully assess dynamic saddle fit. There are some circumstances where this isn’t possible and a second review of the saddle fit should be undertaken within a specified period of time (further charges will apply)
  20. Please make us aware of any transmissable equine illness on the yard or any safety concerns you have

Book A Fitting

Useful Information

We will consider a part exchange against a New Leather Saddles provided the following criteria are met:

  1. The saddle you are looking to part exchange is leather
  2. The part exchange saddle was originally purchased from us within the last 4/5 years, verified by your receipt or our records
  3. The saddle is in good condition, with no major damage e.g cantle starting to split
  4. The saddle has not been adjusted by another 3rd party saddler or fitter, if so full details must be given
  5. Dependent on current stock holdings

Part Exchange Calculator – Values you may expect to receive:

Under 12 months price you paid less 50%

1-2 years old – price you paid less 60%

2-3 years old – price you paid less 65%

3-5 years old – price you paid less 75%

If you are looking to buy a new saddle then these are available to buy through our SMS Qualified & Performance Saddle Fitting Service.

A new saddle fitting will take 1 – 2 hours and your saddle fitter will guide you through the process. A saddle fitting is split into 3 parts

  1. Horse Assessment
  2. Static Saddle Fit
  3. Dynamic Saddle Fit (Ridden)

Once we have completed steps 1 & 2 your saddle fitter will want to see the saddle(s) ridden in walk, trot and canter and over a jump if required, they will then discuss the benefits of each saddle and advise you if any further modifications will be required to improve its fitting.

If you decide to go ahead and buy or order a new saddle your fitter will make any relevant recommendations such as saddle pads and girthing to use as well as discussing your aftercare plan, advising when your new saddle should next be checked.

We are happy to work with other equestrian professionals so it’s no problem if you would like to have your instructor/trainer or physiotherapist present, it all helps you make the best choice.

Investing in a new saddle is a considerable purchase and choosing the right saddle is as important to us as it is to you, with that in mind we carry 200 saddles in stock, as well as a core range of demonstrator saddles so all our customers can benefit from a try before you buy experience.

Many saddles are available to purchase on the day but in some instances, we will need to order the right saddle for you so waiting times may vary from 1 – 16 weeks, 50% deposits are required at the time of order.

We carry a very small selection of good quality second hand & ex demo saddles in stock. These are available to purchase off the shelf on a ‘7 day’ return or via our Saddle Fitting Service. Unfortunately we are not able to offer saddle fittings solely for our second hand as the choice is limited. ALL SECOND HAND WILL HAVE BEEN PURCHASED FROM US ORIGINALLY SO WE KNOW THE SADDLE’S HISTORY

We are able to assess your current saddle(s) suitability and fit if you are an existing Crewe Saddlery customer or if we have seen the saddle previously on the horse and you are the new owner.

If the saddle was not purchased from us originally, we can only check the saddle providing it is a brand we stock and you are adding onto a group booking or if we are in the immediate area. Please note in busier periods (May – September) it is sometimes necessary to limit our saddle check services to existing customers only.

If you have concerns about your saddles suitability and wish to look at other saddles we recommend you book in a Check possible Re-fit so we allow more time.

A saddle check will take 45-60 minutes and your saddle fitter will guide you through the process. A saddle fitting is split into 3 parts

  1. Horse Assessment
  2. Static Saddle Fit
  3. Dynamic Saddle Fit (Ridden)

Once we have completed steps 1 & 2 your saddle fitter will want to see the saddle(s) ridden in walk, trot and canter and over a jump if required, they will then discuss the suitability and advise you if any further modifications will be required to improve its fitting. Thereafter you fitter will advise your aftercare plan.

We are happy to work with other equestrian professionals so it’s no problem if you would like to have your instructor/trainer or physiotherapist present, it all helps you make the best choice.

If your saddle has been assessed within the last 6 months by another SMS Qualified Fitter, we are obliged to contact them for original templates and details as per our Code of Conduct. Unfortunately, we are not able to giving second opinions in ongoing issues.

In most cases we are able to carry out minor adjustments to your saddle when we visit you at your yard. If however your saddle requires more extensive work we can return the saddle to our own workshop or to the manufacturer for the work to be undertaken. Adjustments start from £10.

We do not carry out tree adjustments on site unless the saddles are a changeable gullet system. All tree adjustments and re tree are returned to the manufacturer or approved repairer to protect any warranty and ensure only appropriate adjustments are made. For general saddle repairs your saddle may need to be sent back to the manufacturer or to one of Qualified Saddler service providers.

Check out our Troubleshooting & Fitting guide for further guidance.