Dover Saddlery-Branchburg Store

I LOVE going to Dover when it’s time to stock up or replace my daughter’s worn riding gear. The salespeople are always so helpful and so polite. Not an ounce of pretension there. Yes, some riding shops are quite snotty if they don’t think you are a millionaire! So go to Dover Saddlery where they are all nice! :)

as a kid and even to this day i look forward to getting the new dover catalog so I can drool at the beautiful horses impeccably groomed wearing the newest kit! It’s great that I actually love within a reasonable distance to a brick and mortar Dover — as the shipping charges online is WAY TOO MUCH, and unusually don’t order from them bc of that. Plus the online has more sales but you lose anything you might have saved from item being marked down in paying for shipping … So you don’t really win. Well one time I did order from the catalog and when I got the product it was not how the catalog described it as so I contacted the online store and asked if the store took returns (answer: yes. But in reality; no) so I didn’t have to pay the return shipping.
So I found myself at the store. The store has a bunch of stuff don’t get me wrong, but I find the layout a little funny. I can’t find specific things because they are on top of something else — a display of saddle pads with a shelf thing on top of it for other saddle pads– ones not displayed lower. Lots of the half pads were hiding behind other ones you couldn’t see unless you moved. Please just merchandise the store a bit better!
As a result of the disorganization I found myself contending with, I had to track employees down who were standing on their phones behind the register (pet peeve! I don’t care if you use your phone, surf the Internet, paint your nails etc just so long as it’s not taking away from helping the customer.) to help direct me to things, and the answer I got most from the girl who helped me was «I don’t think we have it» did not offer to see if the store actually had it or not.
I bought some items and presented them with my return. The cashier said she didn’t know how to do a return from the website so she could not do it. Having worked retail in my past, I know it’s a crack situation when you aren’t trained to do the one thing the person wants you to do. I asked if there was someone who could possibly help her and she said «no, but we open tomorrow morning.» Hmm. That left a bad taste in my mouth.
Im lucky to live in an area where there’s a few choices for tack stores. I’m used to horsemans outlet near my work which imo is the best (see review) so perhaps I’m a tad biased. And I find every one at beval to be very good. Dover does carry some brands that the other stores don’t — ie dy’on, ogilvy, der dau, so I still go here quite often
At the end of the day, it is still a chain, but good selection of items and clothes. I still prefer to just look thru the catalog as opposed to purchasing from the store as the sales girls are hit or miss

Certainly not the place to be bargain shopping for anything equestrian related… Go online if you want discounts… However, I must say that the gals at this store have come through for us TWICE in helping to size my impossible-​to-​fit tween into tall riding boots. She is a size 8 foot with a 12 inch calf!!! The girls sized her, very patient, brought out lots of boots at different price points… they were very focused on getting the fit right and not just getting her into the most expensive boots avail. In the end, we purchased a pair that was on the high end, but not as high as custom, and got lifts to make the fit just right. They definitely know what they are doing at this store, and making the trip saved us from what would otherwise have been a TON of shipping and return costs.

Good products BUT! every time I place an order online, Dover automatically adds me to their mailing list and I begin to receive hundred-​page catalogs in the mail. Also, the shipping costs are THRU THE ROOF!

Disclaimer– this is regarding the D.S. website policies
I have been ordering from them for years and I used to give them a grade of «B», but they seem to have changed their shipping prices. Two summer shirts, a pair of lightweight summer pants and a plastic clip racked up standard shipping over $ 20! I asked them about it, and was told they’re sorry I need to purchase from a competitor because I can’t afford it, but they do have sale catalogues. /​fp. The items would have fit in an envelope and couldn’t weigh more than two pounds! I was astonished at their response. I ordered the same things via Amazon for two day shipping at $ 6.99.