Saddle repairs, reflocking and leatherwork. Bench work, not retail — bring it in, or catch the pickup run.
Full strip and reflock, or a partial adjustment to correct a panel that has packed down on one side. Wool, and I will tell you if the tree is the actual problem.
Replaced in matched sets rather than singly. A billet that has stretched is the one that fails, and replacing it alone leaves the girth pulling unevenly.
Hand-stitched where the original was hand-stitched. Panels, skirts, knee rolls, stirrup bars and the seams around the cantle that go first.
Keepers, buckles, reins shortened or lengthened, cheekpieces matched. Harness work by arrangement — it takes longer and I will quote it properly.
Checked for a broken or twisted tree before any other work is quoted. There is no point reflocking a saddle that will never sit level again.
For leather that has been stored badly rather than used hard. Dry, stiff and grey is often recoverable; mould and rot usually are not.
Almost everything starts with the same look: the tree, the panels, the billets and the stitching, in that order. Most saddles that come in for "a reflock" need the flock adjusted and one set of billets, and the owner has been riding on a saddle that sits a centimetre low on the near side without knowing why.
If the tree has gone, I will say so and I will not take the job. A broken tree is not a repair, it is a replacement, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a season.
The pickup run goes out on Tuesdays through the valley and the surrounding pony clubs — leave it with the club or the agistment office with your name and number on a luggage tag and it will come back the same way.
Otherwise the bench is open weekdays. Ring first if you are driving any distance; I am often out on the run.
enquiries@sablehollow.com