I’m not sure I’m happy about the “sponsored by” relationship between pro (or even fancy junior) and a saddle company.
For me, the problem seemed most clear when Beezie Madden was close in bed with Bates. I owned one of those (the original, Australian ones). While David Bates had a good reputation as a saddle designer, the balance in my Caprilli was weird. And it had CAIR panels (which I switched out for wool). In addition, there’s no way that tree would fit every horse.
So when I see Beezie Madden sponsored by them, I have to wonder: Does that imply that someone of her caliber and knowledge chooses this saddle over all others? Should I follow her lead because there’s something substantive behind her decision to make any implied claims about the quality of those saddles? And if there’s not an implied claim of quality that her entry in that “sponsored by” relationship seems to suggest, why should I care what equipment well-heeled elites choose? Maybe they chose the saddle for the business relationship and not the product. And if that’s true, and nothing I can do will put me into a position that means I’m as valuable to a saddle company as is Beezie Madden, then how does her riding their saddle imply that I’d gain any benefit At All by buying their saddle?
When this relationship was in play, I did look at pictures to see if Madden was, in fact, riding in one of these distinctive-looking saddles. I don’t recall that being the case.
That all said, I suppose I’d rather have a trainer blatantly hawk a saddle they liked (for any reason-- monetary or whatever, so long as the specify), than have opacity in that “I ride in this saddle and have some kind of relationship with the company… you should buy one.”
And another relevant point: I’ll believe the person who is the best fitter of saddles to horses and riders. Sometimes that’s really a saddle manufacturer’s sales rep (who does this all day, every day), and sometimes the skilled trainer is better at evaluating fit and performance because of what they study all day, every day. But it doesn’t help me to have a trainer who is uncritical of saddle fit recommend a particular saddle or sales rep.
The short answer to the question for me, then, is that I take the advice of a trainer who I think does a good job fitting saddles. I politely ignore or don’t seek out the advice of a pro whose saddles don’t seem to fit horses and riders well. But I don’t think a trainer’s inability to write a good prescription for a saddle (while taking a shot at that) makes them utterly untrustworthy anymore does it make a trainer bad and in-cahoots with a DVM if she says, “Yanno, I think you might want to X-ray those front feet. He ain’t right on the turns.” It’s an informed opinion and a suggestion, not an attempt to take over the power of the vet.
