Packing Down The Shearling

[Ben]

When I built my 3^rd saddle I lined it with 1" bark tanned shearling from Bowden. I completed it and started riding it in the middle of March. The shearling was packed down the middle of June. I put on 300-400 miles of trail riding and I think that would correspond to around 100 hours of riding.

Ben

[bruce johnson]

This is far from a scientific study, but this is a progression of my own saddle. The constants are the same horse and same pads. The left side view is after the first ride. It had about 3-1/2 fingers of clearance. The gullet views were last week and it has now had about 30 hours on it. The clearance is right at 2 fingers. The shearling is a Lazy M, tree is 6-1/2 finished gullet about 4-3/8 handhole width.

The geometry in me says that just packing the wool should not allow that much of a drop. Other things are at work here - skirts spreading? plate rigging pulling in more? Latigos pulled tighter? Just from my impression, the saddle rode a little looser for the first five rides or so. More side to side maybe, and that has gone away. Pretty even sweat too.

[Denise]

This raises some interesting issues for people trying new saddles on horses to check for fit. 1 1/4 fingers - depending on the size of your hands - will be an inch plus. If they get it to fit "right" at the beginning, it could actually end up being, not just too low, but also too wide so the front will tip down and mess up the whole bar contact area as a result. Curious what others say about their experiences in new saddles and how they "work in" - and the fit considerations that go along with that.

[kseidel]

My experiences are similar to Bruce's. About 1.5 - 2 inches of settling of the front of the saddle from new to packed woolskin. Of course, the back settles too, but not as measurable. The saddle settles overall throughout the back quite a bit from new to "broken in". It is difficult to accurately fit a new saddle to a horse by trying it out. Seems best to have a competent saddler that you can trust to construct the saddle to properly fit your horses. A new saddle would not show much sign of improper fit initially. Once broken in, it would not be very "new."

Keith

[hidepounder]

Blake,

Why does it need to be Dawn? I have heard about Dawn being used in a number of places but have yet to hear why it is different than any other detergent.

Thanks,

Denise

Denise......I can't speak directly to the use of Dawn in this instance, however I am an advocate in the use of Dawn or Joy dish soap (that's what I use the most) in the water that I apply to my leather for tooling. These soaps contain detergents which are surfactants. Surfactants break the surface tension of water allowing for a more complete absorption by the cells of the leather, enhancing the "casing" process. So I'm going to hazard a guess that the same or similar principles may apply with the fibers of the wool........I don't know if that makes any sense but it sure sounds impressive, don't you think? LOL!

Edited August 22, 2011 by hidepounder

[Denise]

Sounds impressive, all right, and it makes sense. But do other dish soaps work as well, or is there something in those brands that is different than say, Sunlight or Palmolive?

[Billy H]

Hey Keith,

You bring up a great point about putting new saddles on a horses back; really hard to tell if that saddle will fit well after it has had a chance to break in. In fact I have read more than once of folks on this forum who have purchased a saddle that they thought fit good, rode it several hours and found problems. Trying to return a used saddle is very difficult. There are great benefits to having a custom saddle built from the Saddle Tree up. Billy

[hidepounder]

Sounds impressive, all right, and it makes sense. But do other dish soaps work as well, or is there something in those brands that is different than say, Sunlight or Palmolive?

I would love to dazzle you further with my vast and thorough knowledge of this subject, however I must confess that I really don't have a clue! My standard answer on the rather frequent occasion that I find myself in this situation is..."that was how I was taught!"

Edited August 23, 2011 by hidepounder

[kseidel]

Hey Keith,

You bring up a great point about putting new saddles on a horses back; really hard to tell if that saddle will fit well after it has had a chance to break in. In fact I have read more than once of folks on this forum who have purchased a saddle that they thought fit good, rode it several hours and found problems. Trying to return a used saddle is very difficult. There are great benefits to having a custom saddle built from the Saddle Tree up. Billy

Billy,

There is a lot of trial and error (sometimes more error) in learning how to fit saddles to horses relative to specific performances. Denise's original question about specifics regarding packing down sheepskin and how it affects the fit of the saddle is something all saddlemakers should know. We makers with extensive training and personal experience sometimes take this knowledge for granted. There are a lot of novice makers, both of saddles and trees, that do not know these fundamental basics, and their clients become their unsuspecting beta testers. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that we need to better educate the next generation in order to sustain and improve our trade.

You also bring up a good point about returning a used saddle. If we "guarantee" saddle fit, how far does our guarantee extend? Are we willing to admit our failure after 3 months of riding? We could no longer resell the saddle as "new." But most saddles that are close to the correct size and angles will fit acceptably when new and not settled into their final fit. It is not until then that the problems may surface. It is only through experience that one can confidently build for that final fitting.

Keith

P.S. Sales people also have a responsibility to properly assist a buyer in getting that new saddle that will actually fit for the duration.

[kseidel]

It doesn't have to be Dawn. I just prefer the original Dawn that is unscented to avoid attracting any critters to the fleece when it is in the tack room. Its also what I keep on hand to use in my casing water to break surface tension and make the water a little wetter. I used original Ivory for years but Dawn is easier to find in the unscented version. Dawn and Ivory both have a leather friendly Ph and doesn't seem to remove any tanning oils and dry out the leather.

Blake

I would like to know more about this soap in your casing water. I have found some advantage to "soft" water, but do not know about using soap in the water. Would you elaborate please?

Thanks,

Keith