Very strange... Saddle fitter

Ah, this might be the saddle people who have a stand at the Equine Christmas Fair in Exeter.

Walking past last year and overhead woman saying to a customer that you don't fit for horse and rider, only horse :eek:

Was going to have a look at their stock as was after a second hand saddle but after hearing that comment decided not to.
 
Terrible she gets away with this. Qualifications page is scary reading, she's very vocal about what she hasn't got, rather than what she has (if anything).

If you want an opinion of a qualified saddler, I've had several good reports about Nutwell Saddlery, based near Bicton. If they (or anothre qualified saddler) say it's a bad fit, surely that should be enough to approach TS.
 
my own saddler has kindly said she will come down and look, I may use nutwell as a second opinion to get two independant views as extra evidence though, thanks for the recommendation.
 
My understanding is even if she was a 'master saddler', that at its core is a qualification to do with the making of saddles. To be qualified to FIT saddles you have to be a qualified saddle fitter, which is different from the core master saddlers thing. The master saddlers organisation do run qualification courses for fitting but you can be an MS without being a qualified fitter. A lot of people get a master saddler in thinking they are a saddle fitter when they arent.

Of course the best of both worlds is someone who is both!

So if calling out a master saddler make sure they also have the saddle fitting qualification (extra logo of a horse side on denotes this)
 
That website hurt my eyes. So badly written, it made me want to print it off, take a red pen to it and post it back...

I didn't get further than the homepage

I used the beds/bucks chap referred to on this thread after he was recommended to me and i didn't know better. One of my biggest mistakes, he markets himself as a 'Master Saddler' but isn't.
 
Orchardbeck said:
I love the way she says '2 in 4 of my callouts are recommended...' So only half of your clients are happy with the service then...
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I wonder if thats gibberish for '2 in 4 of my callouts result from recommendations made by existing clients'?.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cremedemonthe View Post
I found the site very confusing but then I'm only a Saddler, a real one, so what do I know!!
Oz


horsesatemymoney said:
Did you go to saddle school? Or did you learn it all in 4 days?!

Unbelievable, I bet people like this make your blood boil :mad:
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lol, I studied at Cordwainer's College in Hackney on the rural saddlery course, now here (http://www.capel.ac.uk/animalcare/) which included harness making and lorinery course, that was 25 years ago, I'm still learning something new every week and think it is a life time learning curve.I have yet to meet anyhone who knows everything about horses, saddlery and saddle fitting, me included!
She doesn't make my blood boil, I feel she is VERY misguided and I can be opinionated but she makes me look like a novice!
I actually feel sorry for the horses that she has fitted saddles to and the poor unsuspecting people who pay her vast amounts of money to be told what they like to hear.
When I have fitted and flocked saddles on site I don't just say what people want to hear and can be unpopular for it, tough, I won't lie to people and as regards to selling saddles, many a time I have walked away from a sale of a saddle and left the yard as I have had no saddles that fit, I won't make a sale if the saddle is wrong for the horse in any way, secondhand or new, the first rule of saddlery and being a saddler is, THE HORSE'S safety and comfort comes first, the rider is secondary, get a good fit on the saddle and that will take care of the rider as we fit to horse AND rider as part of our assessment.
I would like to meet this woman to see how she operates but THEN she may make my blood boil!
Oz :)
 
There are wonderful SMS Qualified Saddle Fitters out there, just as there are wonderful non-qualifed fitters, and damned lousy qualified fitters. There are plenty of fitters out there who work very successfully but who would have to jump through all sorts of quite expensive hoops to become a QSF even if they wanted to. It is in most part a trade association and they are making it harder and harder to even be in a position to train for these qualifications.

I'll carry on as I am.
 
Vizslak said:
I have noted that para on the website! Shocking! I do intend to take it to trading standards if a master saddler tells me the saddle is not fit for the purpose it was sold for, surely thats enough for them to take action?? I intend to contact her as well, if she swaps my saddle back then I wont be arsed with trading standards although it should never have been taken by her as I actually wrote a letter for the loaners saying if the saddle needed changing then it could be done as long as fitted by a a fully qualified saddler, which she clearly is not!
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If this was a recent fitting and exchange I would be tempted to contact her without delay and tell her your loanee had no right to exchange your saddle and, that if she doesn't return it and collect the other one within 7 days, you will begin legal proceedings and involve trading standards. Chances are your saddle will havev been sold on if it isn't very recent, I hope you manage to get it back, I'm appalled!
 
sbloom said:
There are wonderful SMS Qualified Saddle Fitters out there, just as there are wonderful non-qualifed fitters, and damned lousy qualified fitters. There are plenty of fitters out there who work very successfully but who would have to jump through all sorts of quite expensive hoops to become a QSF even if they wanted to. It is in most part a trade association and they are making it harder and harder to even be in a position to train for these qualifications.

I'll carry on as I am.
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I don't think thats the main point raising issues in this thread, there are certainly some 'unqualified' peoples whose opinions I would value with regards to the fit of a saddle. The point causing outrage is the 'one saddle for life is all thats needed'. I assume that you are with the consensus on that topic?
 
sbloom said:
There are wonderful SMS Qualified Saddle Fitters out there, just as there are wonderful non-qualifed fitters, and damned lousy qualified fitters. There are plenty of fitters out there who work very successfully but who would have to jump through all sorts of quite expensive hoops to become a QSF even if they wanted to. It is in most part a trade association and they are making it harder and harder to even be in a position to train for these qualifications.

I'll carry on as I am.
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I saw sbloom at work yesterday, making a really thorough, proper job of fitting one of the ponies on our yard. She knows her stuff, no wonder she gets recommended such a lot.

It does make me rather angry that really terrible saddle fitters are out there saying things like "a horse only ever needs one saddle", giving saddle fitters a bad name. I know people who won't get a saddle fitter out at all as they think they're just a waste of money and just want to sell you whatever they have in their van. (and I can understand that comment though having had that experience myself last year).

Viszlak - hope you get the result you want.
 
Why thank you OldNag :o

Queenbee said:
I don't think thats the main point raising issues in this thread, there are certainly some 'unqualified' peoples whose opinions I would value with regards to the fit of a saddle. The point causing outrage is the 'one saddle for life is all thats needed'. I assume that you are with the consensus on that topic?
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I think the theory is rather barking. What I will say is that as a specialist fitter for natives and cobs, you do find that certain trees work for certain breeds and that with enough panel depth you have a lot of room for maneuvre and adjustment over the life of a horse...BUT....that is not the same as a saddle for life, which is pie in the sky. Their bones do change - horses throw withers between the ages of 2 and 8 depending on the horse, then again they can show more pronounced withers and a slightly dropped back towards late teens and twenties. Muscular changes in between can also mean a different tree is needed in some cases.
 
Assuming you get on with your loaner, could you involve them in telling this lady they mis-read the loan agreement & have found out that they didn't have the legal right to exchange your saddle without specific permission from yourself? Even if loaners hint that you are considering taking them to small claims in an effort to recoup your loss? If she is a dodgy as reputation, then she may want to avoid any sort of legal attention. Just a thought, hope you get it back.
 
update for those interested, I had a saddle fitter out today who confirmed the saddle does not fit, its to narrow. I have rung the fitter in question and she has agreed to exchange the saddle back ;) She seemed remarkably accustomed to such challenges...odd that! I must admit, she talks a good talk :rolleyes:
 
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shes just told my loaner my horse has ringbone......amazing, she has xray eyes as well as being the worlds best saddle fitter! Ringbone caused by his previous saddle making him go on the forehand no less!!! Lord give me strength!!
 
not to mention the horse has never had a lame day or puffy leg in his life.......I'm spitting feathers here!
 
Vizslak said:
shes just told my loaner my horse has ringbone......amazing, she has xray eyes as well as being the worlds best saddle fitter! Ringbone caused by his previous saddle making him go on the forehand no less!!! Lord give me strength!!
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How odd she didn't include her veterinary medicine degree on her 'qualifications page', considering that only vets can diagnose in this country :rolleyes: :D
 
I think some of the problem here is that many "saddle fitters" don't fit second hand saddles. There used to be a lot of fitters around that did so, now they're a dying breed, which isn't helpful if you're on a budget and can't afford new. Also a new saddle will need a period of "breaking in" the leather.

So this is why the individual in question is used so much; you just CAN'T get anyone to fit a second-hand saddle, not here in the SW you can't. So what tends to happen is that people buy a synthetic (cheaper!) thinking OK so all we've got to do is change the gullet and hey presto it will fit: result sore backs & developing bad habits.

There are tack shops around which "do saddle fitting"; whether the individual or not is "qualified" to do so is another matter. There is a certain individual at a Westcountry tack shop which has made the boast of being the "largest supplies in the South West" and boasting "25 yrs experience", who has sweet FA qualifications. OK so you could say he's got the "experience" - but years ago he fitted a synthetic saddle to my cob who then got a very nasty sore plus I'm sure the damn thing was crooked coz I got an awful pain in my hip from riding in it.

Nutwell are good and have a good reputation; but even for a "bargain basement" cob saddle it would have come to over a thousand quid - which is a helluva lot IMO when all you can afford is a decent second hand and you know a synthetic won't fit. So this is the dilemma - not enough saddle fitters who'll fit second hand saddles.
 
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