BlackSheep Saddlery

One of the “joys” 😉 of being an independent saddler is working on saddles that other “brand reps” [feel free to feel like the aggressive difference in terminology is in fact a judgement] have worked on before you. Lovely things like leaving broken off panel screws in panels and then just gluing them in the holes?! Anyway…craftsmanship matters. Please don’t let just anyone work on your saddle.

I love looking at saddles and horses’ backs, but a good farm materials bird nest is just as riveting. 😍

Great post from .us (please go follow them) on why a good saddlefitter will wince when you bring out the gel pad. If you don’t believe us, go buy some gel insoles and put them in some ill-fitting shoes and then report back at the end of the day 😘

Win a saddle!!!!! Mention your fave fitter on the original post 🐴❤️😃

NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE OF SCAMS - we will NOT contact you in any form before Friday 5th January (and only then if you have won) DO NOT click any links or messages that may refer to this competition.

**COMPETITION TIME – WIN A BLISS OR LOXLEY SADDLE**
We are giving the opportunity to WIN A BLISS OR LOXLEY SADDLE OF YOUR CHOICE!!!

To be in with the chance of winning, all you have to do to is ‘Like’ the Post itself and ‘Like’ our page.
Please also comment with the name of your favourite Saddle Fitter and their business name, the one with the most votes will also be winning a special prize from us too! We are unable to allocate votes to businesses alone with multiple fitters to make this fair!
Closing date, Friday 5th January.

NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE OF SCAMS - we will NOT contact you in any form before Friday 5th January (and only then if you have won) DO NOT click any links or messages that may refer to this competition. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
This is open to everyone all over the world and if you have a local Bliss saddle fitter we will arrange for this to be fitted as well.
For terms and conditions visit:
https://www.bliss-of-london.com/win-a-bliss-or-loxley-saddle-2024/

I got some leather patches and did a little hyperfocus 🤣. Get your barn signed up for fittings and repairs or order a saddle and get a hat or a t-shirt of your choice!!

Had a lot of fun being BlackSheep Hattery today! I forgot to photograph a few that went out but loved everyone’s’ creativity and willingness to try new things! Stay tuned for more hat bar pop-ups or get in touch to schedule your private one! 🪶❤️

CANCELLED 😩

With lots of new followers recently I thought it was time for a little intro. Who’s your fitter and saddler at BlackSheep?

Hi, Im Ellie and I’ve been a “horsegirl” for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the old school hunters, then pony clubbed, foxhunted, evented, did some jumpers, restarted OTTBs, groomed professionally, rode western for fun and trail rode as much as possible in between all of that. More important than any of the riding though for me, has always been the horse. I used to get yelled at for being late to lessons because I took so much time to groom and tack up. Growing up, my Breyer horses went in their stalls at night with standing bandages made from strips of toilet paper. This meticulousness translated well when I learned saddlemaking after “retiring” from event grooming and the show world. I know horses and tack, and the priority at BlackSheep is and will always be, horse first. Their comfort and safety is paramount because without that, you have no partnership. Horses do not owe us their bodies, athleticism, or even a relationship.

Clients sometimes joke about me telling them that the best place for that saddle or pad is in the burn barrel, but if it doesn’t fit or it’s not safe, it doesn’t serve the horse or rider- get rid of it. After a lifetime of riding in, putting on, taking off, cleaning, taking apart, and fixing thousands of saddles across many brands, you can trust that inside my head is a catalogue of options and my goal is to find the perfect match for you and your horse(s). Regardless of discipline, price point, size or shape, we can work together and get you good tack. Seeing your horse happy in their body and work so that your partnership can flourish is my favorite. After all, we all know there’s no better view than one from between the ears of a horse. Let’s get you up.

Oh we do love a well fitted DP saddle. They are super nice to work on and the horses love them too. If you have a narrow high withered type and have trouble finding narrow enough tree/bars on a western or baroque saddle, this brand is GREAT! And they have wool flocked panels 😍

Are you alarmed by this gullet leather? Why? The saddle is old and looks perfectly “normal” if sitting on a stand. Do you look at the underside of your saddle regularly? (PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF KITTENS LOOK AT IT) 😳 Stay tuned for the reveal of whats UNDER this suspicious spot. *cue foreboding music

WIN A SADDLE!!! Wow!

NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE OF SCAMS - we will NOT contact you in any form before Friday 5th January (and only then if you have won) DO NOT click any links or messages that may refer to this competition.

**COMPETITION TIME – WIN A BLISS OR LOXLEY SADDLE**
We are giving the opportunity to WIN A BLISS OR LOXLEY SADDLE OF YOUR CHOICE!!!

To be in with the chance of winning, all you have to do to is ‘Like’ the Post itself and ‘Like’ our page.
Please also comment with the name of your favourite Saddle Fitter and their business name, the one with the most votes will also be winning a special prize from us too! We are unable to allocate votes to businesses alone with multiple fitters to make this fair!
Closing date, Friday 5th January.

NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE OF SCAMS - we will NOT contact you in any form before Friday 5th January (and only then if you have won) DO NOT click any links or messages that may refer to this competition. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
This is open to everyone all over the world and if you have a local Bliss saddle fitter we will arrange for this to be fitted as well.
For terms and conditions visit:
https://www.bliss-of-london.com/win-a-bliss-or-loxley-saddle-2024/

We usually like to write our own content, but we couldn’t have explained this ANY better. Vertical wither clearance ISN’T all that matters and you simply cannot purchase a saddle only knowing a dot to dot measurement since they vary based on how the panels are attached. Please oh please get a fitter out before buying saddle after saddle. I know our services may seem expensive, but I assure you a bad fit that damages your horses back and having to buy multiple saddles is MUCH more expensive.

Thanks saddlefitting.us for taking the time to visually explain such an important concept!

Check it out! What shape is your horse? Don’t know? Have questions? Send us a message and we’ll schedule a fitting!

BlackSheep Saddlery will also have a pop-up custom Hat Bar at this event! Come see us!!

CANCELLED due to coastal storm headed our way Sunday. Look for us at pop-up locations or give us a shout to come to YOUR barn!

So many great vendors are joining us for this event!
Loose Horse Mobile Tack Exchange – new & used English tack and clothing
Foxfield Races Virginia – 2023 and new 2024 equine related gift items and stocking stuffers
BlackSheep Saddlery & Hattery – free saddle fittings by appointment (email [email protected]) and a build your own hat bar
Indian Summer Guide Service - PONY RIDES!
Grey Horse Saddlery – special gifts for the Fox and Horse loving equestrian
Creature Caps (Gloria Pierson Mix) – hand-knitted hats of your favorite animals
D Haskell Chhuy - equine related scenes on note cards & totes
Old Meadows Farm LLC – artisan goods in leather, silver and mohair
Susan's Second Time Around Shop– equestrian-themed trays and tables
Brickyard Bulls, LLC - Biozyme Vitalize equine products

A little humor for the morning 😆

As a former eventer, it’s accurate.

Copied & pasted....not sure who to give credit...

Have a bad ride? Rough day working at the barn? A saddle you want just financially out of reach?

I'd like to take this time to remind you that...

Hunter/jumpers: we ride horses in circles and jump sticks for a living and then we let some person tell us our horse did, or did not, jump the sticks as pretty as another horse.

Dressage: we trot in circles and let someone tell someone else to write down whether or not we are circley enough for the circle club

Eventers: we decided jumping out of an airplane without a parachute wasnt exciting enough, so we run at mach speeds towards walls, ditches, and small lakes to see who can do it fastest.

Barrel racers: we spend all of our time fine tuning our ability to turn 3 times faster than anyone else

Ropers: we catch calves that are technically already caught

Steer wrestlers: we wrestle an animal that didnt even know there was a wrestling match coming their way

Team Sorters: even on our worst day, we didnt spend as much as the cutters.

Reiners: see dressage, add speed.

Cutters: we let several people tell us were better, or worse, at not letting calves hang out with their buddies.

Team penners: we take caught calves, and make them a little more caught

Mounted shooters: because weve used this skill ever in the last 200 years

Endurance: we take 10 times as long, and 10 times more money to get somewhere an ATV could've brought us.

Western Pleasure: we poke around at wine sipping speeds in the equestrian equivalent of a ball gown.

Trail riders: cheers. Yall have it figured out 🤣

It's not that serious yall, so just have fun!

Pc Rachel Ann Photography

If your saddle company doesn’t offer different tree shapes AND different panel shapes/sizes, the saddle isn’t custom! Let us show you all the options for a truly custom fit and save your horse’s back, and yours!

So lovely and a really close contact feel 😍

Picture perfect!
The Bliss Paramour Eventer in nubuck.

The lovely Freya modeling her new custom Loxley dressage saddle. 😍🐴🍁 This special girl’s shape required a hoop tree, point billet, shortened and upswept rear panel, and her tall rider got a long forward flap with specific block shape, and a built up and padded twist to prevent the dreaded “hoop tree” feel. Everything about her saddle was customized for them both, and we love being able to work with you to offer that!

Sapa has reluctantly agreed to be “flocking” for Halloween. If you need your saddle reflocked, give her a call…
😸🎃

Ohhhh so pretty, and functional!!!

The Bliss Paramour Dressage in the luxurious cocoa french calf.

Dressage riders, do you prefer Black or Brown tack?!

A classic!

This little saddle crossed my path recently, thanks to some friends of mine. They were cleaning out a lifetime’s accumulation of gear and was I interested in any of it?

You need to know that I should be cleaning out my own accumulations, already… and not adding more! But, hey, tack is tack. Gear goes by a different set of rules than, say, were I to hoard old Tupperware® containers. I gleefully picked a few treasures: some pony bits, an antique in-hand draft horse bridle, a holly whip for driving, a lovely set of brass hames and traces.

The saddle called to me from across the room.

It was a tiny child-sized Kieffer, dating to the 1960s. I just knew the maker, before I’d even seen the mark. A 14” riding school model, it had a built-in hand-hold—in cowboy circles, called a night-latch; in sidesaddle terminology, the holy-crap strap—and like their famous ‘Zügspitz’ model, was entirely monoflap in design.

These saddles were way ahead of their time!

Originally, the term ‘monoflap' meant that the panel, the soft part underneath the saddle, was sewn directly to the top part, that we see. In between were sandwiched the tree and webbings that held the girth straps. The stirrup leathers came out from a simple slit cut into the leather and the two sides were joined in a smooth, beautifully welted seam that ran down the centre of the seat. There were no little flaps to curl, the stirrup bars were deeply recessed and there was nothing to pinch, or rub.

The result was a remarkably comfortable and balanced ride, almost like sitting ba****ck but with stirrups.

The saddle maker in me was fascinated by turning over this little gem and looking at its beautiful workmanship. While vintage close-contact saddles have gone the way of the dodo bird, I am hoping that this will make a lovely little pony saddle for Ruby, some day.

Here it is, after its initial inspection and some deep conditioning. New billets will be required but overall, she is in remarkably good condition. I am leaving the little brass name plate hanging from the martingale ring. It will remind me of Ron—the child to whom the saddle once belonged—and of his mother, who was instrumental in starting both Pony Club and the sport of Combined Driving in western Canada. Marg was a ‘driving force’ in encouraging me to get off my duff and live large.

I had extraordinary ponies at the time and yet, I was plagued with insecurities. Doubt with a capital ‘D’.

“Stop making excuses and get out there!” were Marg’s exact words. They were told to me, gruffly, in some exasperation, many years ago… but they’re still apt. If there was anything I would change about myself, it would be this inner parking brake that has me automatically saying no to the unknown, rather than stepping up and giving things a try.

After all, what the heck am I waiting for?

Our favorite sign from travels this week!

Cute tumbler thanks to ❤️❤️❤️

Gotta make sure my Bronc riding buddies are safe this weekend! But do I clean this? I want to. Would it take away the cowboy-ness? 😬🤷🏼‍♀️🤠