Anyone know who the rep is for BC for Area 1, or who I could get into contact with about ordering a custom BC saddle?
Sorry if this is too obvious, but you could try checking with regional shops that sell them. I have one (semi custom, which was a gift bc I’m not that wealthy, alas) & got it thru my fitter, who is independent & affiliated with our area tack shop.
It is truly wonderful butt candy, so best of luck!
I didn’t think about regional fitters, good point.
I’m looking to get the exact duplicate of this custom BC we bought used a few years ago. I reached out last year pre-pandemic but then COVID happened and the fitter understandably didn’t want to travel. I don’t know how long is reasonable to wait but would like to get my horse his own saddle since I have to ride bareback on the days our leasee comes to ride. 
Maybe reach out to Patty Merli in SC and ask who her counterpart is? She would know.
Patty is who I was in contact with, but to my knowledge she is not traveling back to my area. She fit this BC to one of my current horses and would love her back out.
Patty has a great online fitting/ordering option on her website to help the people she’s not traveling too due to Covid. Have you seen that yet?
1 Like
Hastilow USA does the MD/VA region, but I don’t know how far they travel.
There is a full list of Black Country stockists at the Black Country website.
http://www.blackcountrysaddles.com/dealerships/usa-dealers/
Because of the pandemic, Patty couldn’t come to me, either. So I hired an independent fitter to do tracings, then sent those to Patty. When the saddle came, I had the fitter back out for flocking adjustments. Lots of photos were sent to Patty along the way. It wasn’t the cheapest route, but it worked!
1 Like
That seems like an option I could look into. I was really happy with Patty’s work on my other gelding. She really knows her stuff. I’ve worked with a few local fitters here and each of them have left me cold, but not Patty.
1 Like
She’s fantastic and the smartest fitter I’ve met for sure 
hope you get something worked out!
1 Like
You could try posting on the Massachusetts Horse People Facebook group?
Oh, and she also sent me several demo saddles so we could see which saddle shape fit him best from the get-go. Lots of pictures. Rinse and repeat.
I went to Patty after becoming exasperated about shopping on my own. I was paying to ship saddles from all over just to find out they didn’t work. I finally just bit the bullet and bought custom. I don’t regret it! I have a Ricochet. In a previous responder’s words, it is “butt candy!” I have an issue with many saddles hurting my…womanhood. I’ve never once had that issue in the Ricochet.
That’s awesome! Glad it’s worked for you. I’ve heard great things about the Ricochet. Patty sent me a bunch of demos too, but I’m afraid to step out of what’s working for my horse. We’ve already been through one custom (Stubben) fiasco and I started riding him in my other horse’s BC because the Stubben clearly wasn’t working for him. He’s been in this one nearly two years with zero complaints and better performance than ever.
Which model are you riding in?
I’m in a BC Vinci Solare with serge panels. It’s older, but my horse loves it. I like it too, it’s got a great close feel to it and I think the serge panels make a big difference for this horse.
1 Like
Diane Williams has a BC connection … can’t remember the exact facts of the relationship, but I seem to recall she works with someone in CT who is a rep and then Diane does the fitting. I may not have that exactly right, but reaching out to Diane may be worthwhile.
Jay McGarry out of Vermont. I just ordered/received a BC Ballina dressage saddle and am very happy with it. Fair warning due the pandemic/lockdowns in the UK they are well behind. Took 9-10 weeks from when I ordered as opposed to it used to be closer to 5 weeks for normal production. They might be starting to get out of some backlog of orders but fair warning.
Current lead times is about 8 weeks. However I will say shipping has been very interesting with Brexit and everything. 4 out of my last 5 saddle shipments have been delayed by at least a week if not closer to 3 weeks. This is from 3 different companies, not just BC.
