Why won't The Saddle Bank take my saddle?

Being the worlds fastest growing online saddle retailer, means at The Saddle Bank we get offered hundreds of saddles on a daily basis. Sadly we cannot take them all! We know who are buyers are, and what they want.

If your saddle is not what our customers are looking for, we won't tell you its something we can sell, and stick in it our warehouse gathering dust (like some other companies). You won't be happy as we won't be able to sell it and turn it into cash for you. We won't be happy as we won't be able to deliver our excellent service to you.

However... we will always do our best to help you - even when we are not the best place for you to sell your saddle...

What saddles does The Saddle Bank take to sell?

We take Quality Used English saddles, and Ex Demo saddles of popular brands.

Brands such as;

• Albion GP/Dressage/Jump - 2005 onwards
• Kent and Masters - All models
• Fairfax - All models
• Monarch - All models
• Thorowgood - T4 & T8
• Ideal (Must have the Green Ideal Nailhead)
• GFS - The newer range which are adjustable - If its on the GFS website now, its one we will take!
• Amerigo
• Equipe
• Devoucoux
• Bates (2010 models on wards) - Does your saddle have the silver Bates Stirrup keeper? If yes, we take it!
• Black Country (Not extremely old models)
• Loxley - All models
• Bliss - All models
• CWD
• Exselle - All models
• Falcon/Jeffries - Not extremely old models
• John Whitaker saddles

If your saddle is on the list... We would love to help you!

Get in touch with our super friendly team by filling in our Sell A Saddle form here!

What saddles does The Saddle Bank reject?

Below is a list of saddles we do not take, and the reasons why.

• Western Saddles

  • We do not know anything about Western Saddles - we specialise in English saddles

• Old saddles

  • Two reasons why we do not sell old saddles;
    1. Saddles have a lot of component parts which can go faulty, particularly with age.
    We only sell saddles which are sound, and fit for purpose.
    2. Technology and innovation has moved forward a lot, with new research and development.
    Some old saddles have very narrow channels, narrow surface areas of the panels, plus other factors which can cause discomfort to horses.

• Unbranded saddles

  • People want to buy brands - sadly unbranded saddles do not sell very well.

• Indian made saddles

  • Very poor manufacturing standards, and often have nails sticking out, and all sorts of rubbish used in the panels as flocking.

• Saddles with faults; broken tree, large amounts of stitching repairs, reflocking required, any severe damage

  • If a saddle is faulty we cannot take it. It could be Beyond Economical Repair - i.e not worth the cost of replacing the tree, or we may not have the time to carry out repairs such as stitching, or reflocking.

• FLAIR Saddles (Air filled panels)

  • FLAIR is quite specialist, and requires a FLAIR Trained fitter to fit the saddle.
    Sadly, not many of our customers are looking for FLAIR saddles, so we could take your saddle but it could take over a year to sell!
    That's not what we want, and certainly not what you want.

• Barnsby (White Nail Head - or older!)

  • A simple way to guage the age as to whether we take Barnsby or not. Does your saddle have the gold, or White Barnsby nail head?
    If so - sadly its too old for us to take!

• Harry Dabbs/Jaguar  - Sadly we are no longer taking any Harry Dabbs/Jaguar saddles

  • Due to issues confirming seat/width/model details from the serial numbers, we had to make the sad decision to stop selling Harry Dabbs/Jaguar saddles!
    Some of them are absolutely stunning saddles - however if we are not able to get the correct information for our customers, we cannot be confident in what we are selling.

• Passier

  • Not popular in UK - more popular in EU and USA, but still a slow moving brand.

• Old Wintec saddles.

  • Wintec have made great improvements to their saddles over the past few years. We don't take older wintec saddles as they don't have these fantastic features. 
    We DO take Wintecs which are 2018 or newer. Flip your saddle upside down and check on the underside of the left flap. This will be where your serial number is starting with a W. W18 means it was manufactured in 2018. If your saddle is a 2018 or newer we can help you sell it. But sadly 2017 or older we won't be able to take. 

• Thorowgood GRIFFIN - or other older models

  • We only take Thorowgood T4 and T8 saddles.
    We do not sell the non adjustable synthetics, or those with fish inserts - sadly we do not have buyers for them.

What should you do with your saddle if The Saddle Bank won't take it?

If your saddle is not something we will NOT take, you have some other options;

• Western Saddles -

  • Find a specific group on Facebook for Western Riding and advertise your saddle within the group

• Old saddles -

  • Depending on the age and condition of the saddle, if you believe it is usable and fit for purpose, try selling it on eBay/Facebook. But if that saddle is not ride-worthy any more and could cause a horse discomfort why not put it on eBay as 'ornamental use only'. Shops such as Ralph Lauren, and some themed bars often have old saddles as props in window displays.

• Unbranded saddles -

  • If you have a good quality saddle with no brand - you will have to keep preserving with trying to sell it. But it will be harder... Why? Well how will anyone find it? When people are searching for saddles they are looking for particular makes/models... so when they are browsing eBay or Facebook what title would help them find your saddle?
    E.G 'Brown Leather Monoflap Jump Saddle 17 inch Wide - similar to Ideal Impala' << Don't compare it to something it is nothing like, but if your saddle is genuinely like another make or model then putting that in the title will help people who are looking for similar saddles to find yours.
    Although eBay may tell you off - so check the rules before listing your item.

• Indian Made saddles - BIN IT!

  These are so terribly made they should not be sold.
  If you were unfortunate enough to buy one, right it off as a lesson learnt and put it in the bin..

• Faulty saddles

  Speak to your local saddler and see what the cost of having the saddle repaired would be.
  If you have a serious fault, such as a broken tree, always go back to the manufacturer and have the repair carried out by them.
  They stock/have access to the trees they supply in their saddles, so its really important that this type of repair is done by the manufacturer.
  If its a stitching repair, or requiring a reflock your local saddle fitter, or master saddler should be able to carry this out for you before you sell it.

• FLAIR Saddles

  • Speak to a FLAIR saddle fitter and see if they will be able to take the saddle to sell on commission basis for you.
  • It could take a while to sell, but they are the experts in FLAIR.
  • You could also advertise it yourself on ebay/Facebook to get it out to a larger audience.

• Good Quality older saddles (Barnsby/Ideal... good old english saddles)

  • If you have a good quality older english saddle that is sound and fit for purpose, there are some companies that will be able to help you.
    Jade of Broughton Yard sells lots of good quality older saddles for under £400 and should be able to help you if The Saddle Bank can't.

• Harry Dabbs/Jaguar

  • Lots of companies will sell Harry Dabbs/Jaguar - this is a decision we have had to make, due to too many issues verifying serial numbers.

• Passier

  • Try advertising in the USA Saddle groups as Passier is more popular in US.
    Or advertise on eBay and offer international shipping.
    You can book international shipping via www.Parcel2go.com

• Old Wintec / Thorowgood Griffin

  • eBay / Facebook is the best place for these. People often don't need a trial on a saddle which is £150 or less, so are happy to purchase on eBay/Facebook.

Learn more about how saddles should fit….

Are you a horse owner/rider who would like to learn more about saddle fitting? Or learn how the saddle can impact your horses performance and welfare?
Click on the link image to learn more about how to recognise signs of a poor fitting saddle.