What does flocking a saddle mean? Many of you understand what flocking is but maybe not what flocking can and can’t do and what some of the issues are that crop up with flocking.
There are different types of flocking such as crinkle and smooth, synthetic and mixed. Some companies will describe saddles as foam flocked or Swiss or French flocked or even Flair or Cair flocked. Of course, you can’t adjust foam flocking and Swiss and French involve flocking, foam and felt and sometimes a latex rubber liner.
The panels are filled with one of the above types of flocking before being attached to the saddle. Often there are flocking slits under the flap on top of the panel by the top of the billet straps. These are not damaged holes but where the saddle fitter adds or removes flocking with a flocking tool/iron. The wool is added in small amounts, layered upon existing flocking.. If added in large amounts it can wad up and make lumps so it must be added in small, pulled amounts.
Flocking can become matted or compressed after many hours of use and should be addressed with a flocking adjustment or with a strip flock. Strip flocking involves removing the panels and emptying out the old flocking and adding completely new flocking. After a few years, flocking can become balled up, very compressed or hard and needs to be removed. Not everyone wants to take the time or additional expense so even if we recommend it, the customer might just have it adjusted. Be advised that if your flocking comes to us in poor condition, we can only do so much by adding flocking but can adjust it to some extent.
When we work in person, we evaluate the fit and adjust the saddle, put it on the horse and ideally, have the rider try it and adjust as needed. Recently, when I was on a saddle fit trip to Missouri, I worked with several horses and adjusted quite a few of the saddles, new and used. Sometimes it took some additional adjusting as the fit wasn’t quite “there” yet , so I would adjust accordingly. It is helpful to have immediate feedback from both horse and rider.
On the other hand, a customer may bring their saddle in for an adjustment. As with a remote flocking adjustment, photos of the existing fit without a pad, girthed and anecdotal information about what the issues are and how the customer feels, as well as, how the horse moves is very helpful. Sending or bringing conformation shots and tracings if it has been a while since the saddle was purchased, provides additional information.
A flocking adjustment can help a saddle to fit better if the tree shape and panel configuration and width is appropriate. Flocking can’t make a saddle fit if it isn’t right for the horse in the first place. When trying to determine if a saddle will fit with additional flocking, as in the case of a saddle that is somewhat too wide, we suggest seeing if a correction pad helps first. Generally, we can assess how much we can flock by what effect the pad has as long as the saddle has room for additional flocking without making the panel rock hard. If there is room and a pad makes the difference, then flocking can be advantageous. Sometimes a flocking adjustment and a correction pad is needed if a horse has lost condition.
If a horse is asymmetrical, we prefer not to fix that with flocking but with padding. A saddle that is flocked fuller on the hollow side may limit the amount a horse can build up as opposed to using a correction pad whereby the shim can be removed. I do say, “Never say never”, but that is our general policy.
There have been several times that we have received consignment saddles from customers who have had their saddles flocked by other fitters and are unhappy with the flocking job and say the saddle now doesn’t fit their horse. We suggest that before you consign such a saddle, that you let the fitter know as they will often want to readjust the flocking to make it right. I know we would want to know if a customer is not satisfied with a flocking adjustment as we would want to fix it. Sometimes, saddles come to us in bad shape and we do what we can without doing a strip flock,even though we might recommend it. Keep in mind that adding or removing flocking from panels that are already hard or lumpy doesn’t change your saddle into a soft paneled saddle. Sometimes it needs more. We can change the fit and balance but not miraculously transform it without taking out the old flocking and reflocking the saddle. Bumps, lumps and flocking holes can be manipulated to some extent but fixing a problem created by another fitter or just a saddle that hasn’t had its flocking checked in a very long time can require more effort.
I have said this before, more than once, but will say it again. We get complaints regularly about many well known, not well known and some vocal fitters. There are just times when personalities don’t mesh or the fitter makes a mistake. It’s okay to let them or us know in a constructive way since the ultimate goal is to make the horse happy. If we fail to meet your reasonable expectations, or another fitter doesn’t satisfy your flocking needs, see if they can remedy the situation. I’m sure they/we would want to if possible.