Hello fellow Canadians- I am looking for an independent saddler in Ontario- saddle probably needs re-flocking. I am up near Owen Sound so a fair distance from tack stores in the Golden Horseshoe area. In the past I have used Bahr’s and Canterbury Outpost, but Bahr’s doesn’t come up this way and not comfortable using Joe again. Any suggestions in the Collingwood/Meaford/Owen Sound are that anyone knows?
Thanks!
Following because I am struggling with this as well 
Ann at Equestrian Imports is fabulous. She is in the US but you can do your fitting virtually, and ship your saddle to her and she can change what is needed and ship back (for the most part).
We just had one changed and it was under 2 weeks to ship down and back.
Highly recommend her, she has fit multiple horses of ours and never had any issues.
Thanks Jealoushe- not keen on virtual saddle fitting but might go down this route. What are her prices like to reflock, and what did it cost to ship saddle?
It was around $250 for us to have the tree adjustment and ship there and back. Ours was not a reflock but she widened the tree. Not sure about the reflock prices, but she is reasonable over all.
Heather MacLean is an independent fitter. She isn’t brand driven and works all over the place. She is quite thorough and meticulous.
Can I ask why you are not comfortable using Joe? I had him out once myself a very long time ago, but have generally heard good things. I am likely to be in need of a fitter in the next little while myself so I’m just curious if you’ve had a more recent experience! Feel free to PM me if you’d prefer.
You could always see if Nathan from Sprucewood goes up that way? He came out to look at my saddle and was quite professional and knowledgeable. I am not as far north, but it may be worth a call.
Apparently Nathan isn’t taking on new clients. I know a couple people who have contacted him in the last few months about fittings and he is too busy to add to his clientele list. Worth a call to check but likely will need to go another route (and these people were much closer to Sprucewood than OP).
John Banbury from Paramount Saddlery will work with any brand of saddle and won’t just try to sell you a Paramount. He is very skilled at repairs and adjustments as well as fitting, but isn’t afraid to tell clients their saddle is fine and doesn’t need any work. I don’t know how often he is in your area but he does have a sponsored rider and a few clients up that way.
Thank you BigMama1- I have used Christian from Paramount in the past, he pushed me HARD to buy a custom made saddle from him. I will contact John and see if he will be coming to this area soon.
Christian sold Paramount to John and Irina a few years ago. Initially I think they had some growing pains adjusting to an unexpectedly high level of demand, but seem to have a good handle on things now.
John does the fitting and service for a number of people at the barn where I ride - I’m the only one who actually has a Paramount saddle.
There is some pending litigation happening with Paramount. I would be careful dealing with them. There are several people who are still owed thousands of dollars on saddles which were not correct or never received. There is a group on FB, if you search posts.
Seconding the beware of paramount comment.
I have heard that there have some been some fishy dealings.They sold 2 of a my friend’s saddles and kept the $$
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Could you provide a link to the Facebook group? I tried searching but couldn’t find anything. I can only speak for my personal experience, which has been great so far. I bought a used Paramount saddle about a year ago from a tack shop and have been dealing with John and Irina since then for fitting / adjustments and I’ve got no complaints. No attempts to upsell, no unnecessary work or adjustments, good communication, reasonable prices, basic reflocking and adjustments done right on site. As I said above, a number of other boarders have now started using John too, and have been happy with his service.
PMd
Could you pm the link to me as well please?
That’s unfortunate
I’ve had nothing but really good experiences with Christian. He adjusted an old Kieffer and a Collegiate –– never suggested I get something new. When the best County fitter (Erin Wilson) retired, he did a great job on both my Countys. I was sad when he was no longer available.
I now use Joe from Canterbury, who recently did a great job fitting a new-to-us Amerigo.
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Same here. He never tried to push a new saddle on me.
I don’t think he does saddle fittings any more, but he does saddle repairs and I’ve only heard good things about his work.
