Flocked panels or English-made saddles refers to panels that are filled with wool, synthetic flocking, or a mix of both. There are many diffent types of flocking that is used. Some have wool that is raw, has lanolin, has short fibres or long, is coloured brown or white, or even rainbow, and some wool is combed. There is even horse hair still being used by some random saddlers!
Flocked panels have been around forever, the original English saddle had flocked panels.
Why do we use wool in panels? Wool is natural, it breathes, it cools, and it’s absorbent. A wool-flocked panel will mould and shape itself to match your horse’s back. It has natural shock absorbency; cushioning your riding and your horse’s motion from you both.
(I’m going to use the term ‘flocking’ or ‘flock’ from now on in this article instead of wool)
The best part about flocked panels is the adjustability. You can literally flock a panel to perfectly match a horse’s back. Symmetrically or asymmetrically — filling in or removing according to hollows or lack of muscles.
Flocking can be used to rebalance a saddle as the slightest change in a saddle can alter the seat balance for the rider. By doing this, we can put the rider back in the optimal sweet spot allowing the knee rolls or thigh blocks to lie on the rider’s leg correctly. We can add lots or little, and we can remove.
A horse with a healthy back should be able to be ridden with just a normal saddle pad, no extra half pads should be needed (of course this depends on the horse’s needs and sensitivities).
A flocked saddle will sit higher off your horse’s back, which allows for more spinal movement/space, wither clearance, and freedom to lift their backs.
Often if you change horses, there is a strong possibility that with alterations to the flocking, you could be able to fit your saddle to a new horse. We can make the panels as soft or as firm as we want. And all of this should be able to be done on site, so you can test ride it or see the changes after it’s altered for a relatively inexpensive visit by your saddle fitter.
The cons, we’ll call them, are wool-flocked panels require maintenance. It’s recommended to have your wool-flocked saddle reflocked or checked every six to 12 months. Flocking changes when your horse changes and your riding changes, too. It can also get damaged/indented by sitting on bad saddle racks (the three bar ones). Over time the flocking in the saddle will get packed down so much it becomes hard. After a long period of time, like 10 years, it is recommended to pull all the old flocking out and replace with new fresh flocking.
Wool flocked saddles sit higher off your horses back, so not a close-contact ride. These saddles are also bulkier. When the flocking breaks in or gets compacted, it can affect the fit of the saddle for your horse or affect your balance in the saddle.
It is recommended that a wool-flocked saddle be used on one horse cause it will mould to that horse’s back. By using it on multiple horses you can destroy the fit for the horse it was originally fitted for. It can be absorbent to riding in rain or a very sweaty horse.
I think the biggest downfall is trying to find a competent saddler, who is highly skilled and trained in flocking a saddle. If it is done poorly, it can warp the leather, ruin your balance, hinder the horse, cause rubbing, soreness, atrophy, and even cause lameness.
A well maintained wool flocked saddle can be adjusted with your horse’s growing and changing needs for a long long time.