New pack saddle

[Nanno]

ah an interesting point to be sure. Inbuilt padding in equine saddles is not a 'thing' much here in Australia, so I hadn't even considered the implications.

Are you sure? I was thinking most saddles in Australia are of the English type, which are notorious for needing padding replacements every ten years or so. Usually the panels are stuffed with wool flocking that has to be replaced as it becomes compressed over time. Synthetic foam padding was used a lot in the 1980's and '90's and was a mistake. I believe only the lower-end saddles still use it.  Foam is cheaper and lasts longer than wool, but once it eventually wears down or hardens with age, it can't be replaced even if the leather on the saddle is still in good shape. The entire saddle has to be discarded. This is one advantage of western saddles--there is no padding, so as long as the leather is still good, the saddle will never wear out. I've seen western saddles from the 1800's that are still in good working order. Military saddles (including the English versions) are generally stripped down to a leather-covered tree because the military doesn't like dealing with difficult and expensive repairs, which would include replacing the incorporated padding in a saddle. 

The same principle applies, in my opinion, to any type saddle that gets rough use, such as a pack saddle. These things get bashed on rocks and trees on a regular basis, which means that if you have a careless goat, he's going to tear up your padding long before he can destroy the saddle tree. Pads deteriorate more quickly if they can't be reversed, and it's harder to see problems with compression and material break-down when the pad is attached to the tree. Pads also deteriorate in storage if rodents get to them, or if you have any sort of issues with mildew. Straps fall victim to this too, but straps are easily replaced by the user. The pads on the Warnke saddles are a custom design that is not so easily replaced unless you have skillz like Charlie Horse. Since I do not have skillz, I'm holding out for a simpler design.   

A simpler design should also be less expensive--something we can probably all get behind. I told Marc I'd love to see his saddles outlast him and still be on the trail decades after he's gone. Phil's favorite saddle is a John Mionczyinski original from the early 1990's or so. It looks a little rough and we'll eventually have to replace the leather straps, but it's as functional is it was when it was new and should still be going strong when my goats and I are long gone. I like that in a saddle!

As you can tell from my rather lengthy response, I'm fairly passionate about saddle fit and design. I have no skills to make one myself, but I love to see what other people come up with. I've yet to see the "perfect" goat saddle design and I'm eager for the day it comes out.