What Would you Do - if this happened

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

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Hypothetically if you went to a a new trainer or a camp to be told that your saddle does not fit, but it just so happens that they are a qualified saddle fitter and will go and get you a saddle to try.....

What would you do ?
 
If I’d been not progressing as I’d like with the horse then I’d try the saddle they were offering to see if it made a noticeable difference.

If I didn’t have any doubts about my horses comfort I’d thank them and say thanks but no thanks.

But then I’m not the type who is blind to how my horse is going, unlike some
 
Gingerwitch said:
Hypothetically if you went to a a new trainer or a camp to be told that your saddle does not fit, but it just so happens that they are a qualified saddle fitter and will go and get you a saddle to try.....

What would you do ?
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I would listen with interest as, if I had gone to a trainer I presume I would think that they knew their stuff.

I would see where they thought my saddle did not fit. I would allow them to fit a different saddle to my horse. If I thought that saddle fitted, I would have a ride in it.

If the horse went brilliantly in it compared to the usual way of going, I would likely beg to buy the dratted thing.

If it made no difference, I would think them for allowing me to ride in their saddle.
 
I would definitely try the saddle to see if it had any noticeable difference. If it didn't I would say thanks but no thanks, if it did I would say I want to think about it and research more about the price the saddle fitter is asking. But knowing me, even if it made no difference to the horse or me, the thought would niggle at me when I got home and I would probably get another saddle fitter (luckily I have one I respect and trust implicitly) to give me a second opinion.
 
I am not a saddle fitter and rarely have a saddle to sell but nearly every horse that has come here for schooling has arrived with a badly fitting saddle, sometimes recently fitted by a qualified saddle fitter and it is usually the root cause of why they came for schooling, I have seen some dreadful examples that were never going to fit and it is always the first thing I look at when I meet a new client.

It is not answering your question as they may just be out to con you but it is a huge problem in my experience so I would not be inclined to ignore them.
 
I have seen some woefully ill-fitting saddles when out and about usually fitted by the same qualified saddle fitter. I recall one cross country clinic where the rider repeatedly got off to adjust the saddle and another at a pole work clinic that needed a crupper to stay on and the rider fell off three times. I do wonder how people can passively accept the saddle fits because they have been told it fits when clearly it doesn’t.
 
be positive said:
I am not a saddle fitter and rarely have a saddle to sell but nearly every horse that has come here for schooling has arrived with a badly fitting saddle, sometimes recently fitted by a qualified saddle fitter and it is usually the root cause of why they came for schooling, I have seen some dreadful examples that were never going to fit and it is always the first thing I look at when I meet a new client.

It is not answering your question as they may just be out to con you but it is a huge problem in my experience so I would not be inclined to ignore them.
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See now I never have an issue with someone such as yourself saying about a saddle not fitting, i also think that getting a decent saddle fitter is very much the luck of the draw. My issue comes when I hear of people going to the same instructor and always come back either with a new saddle, a new saddle on order or feel so demoralised that they stop having lessons.

An up front instructor that says that saddle does not fit and explains why, but does not have a saddle to sell will always get my vote, or even an instructor that says that saddle is crap and leaves it at that.
 
I used to have a Solution saddle and had been trained to fit them. I often brought it to a lesson when I thought the saddle was an issue.

Usually the horse went better, sometimes transformationally so, and the rider would (sometimes begrudgingly) ask how much I wanted for the saddle. Oh no, the saddle was NOT for sale. didn't like it to compete on myself, but it was a fantastic diagnostic tool when I was teaching and I was not selling it. Besides, it meant that, with a range of pads, I could fit up any horse with a workable solution.
 
Red-1 said:
I used to have a Solution saddle and had been trained to fit them. I often brought it to a lesson when I thought the saddle was an issue.

Usually the horse went better, sometimes transformationally so, and the rider would (sometimes begrudgingly) ask how much I wanted for the saddle. Oh no, the saddle was NOT for sale. didn't like it to compete on myself, but it was a fantastic diagnostic tool when I was teaching and I was not selling it. Besides, it meant that, with a range of pads, I could fit up any horse with a workable solution.
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Oh yes my Drfat mare, huge shoulders with a short barrel of a body had 4 different saddles in 5 years ( we had them all in the tack room), admittedly she lost weight over that time. She tried a few others as well, then we had a Solution fitting and it freed up her shoulders and she went so much more freely than she ever had. Needless to say, we bought it.
 
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