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@jwils2007 wrote:
Yes I’ve got many photos of my item before sale and on return. I’m within a family of lawyers and police officers who would in a heart beat take this case further. That is utter bull**bleep** eBay would do that it is very unfair!

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I'll respond to the bolded bit in a moment, but if you actually want to fight eBay on this, just know it will be difficult, frustrating and the odds are not in your favour. But, your first port of call is an attempt to convince eBay that the buyer is not eligible for a refund under eBay's own T&Cs for buyer protection eligibility, which require buyers to return items in the same condition as received. In order to be successful with that, you would need to be able to show someone from eBay that the saddles are one and the same, but it was sent in condition A, then received back in condition B.

That will not be easy, since eBay's default position is "well, we can't know what it was like when you / the buyer sent it", and in the face of not knowing, they will let the buyer's claim stand. 

You will likely have to fight eBay every step of the way in this situation, unfortunately, plus have fairly indisputable evidence (in eBay's eyes) against the buyer, and then be lucky enough to speak to a rep who understands and agrees, and then actually be granted a decision in your favour.  (Usually if this happens, it happens on appeal, meaning the buyer is granted a refund first, and that means eBay has a vested interest in not agreeing with you, since it means they have to pay you back, if funds were debited, or that they pay the buyer out of their own pocket, so it really can be like pulling the most stubborn of teeth.

To be honest it sounds like said family would be in a better position to advise you of your options from this point on, be that advising what is best to communicate to ebay, or how to respond to any debt collection requests that arise. Or even pursuing the buyer for recompense, since they would be the one who is (allegedly) committing a fraudulent act, even though it was facilitated by eBay.