Man I am so glad that my barn owner, even though sponsored by CWD, has never tried to pressure me into one. Perhaps he thought it would be useless to even bother since I tend to buy what I want without consulting him (horses and saddles included), and since my picks are well-researched they generally end up working out fine.
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Re: self education
Here are links to some websites on saddle fitting that might be useful. There are many more out there, and many videos on YouTube.
https://www.smartpakequine.com/content/saddle-fitting-guide
https://www.saddlecentral.com.au/saddle-fitting-guide
https://www.spinalvet.com.au/saddles-fitting-errors.html
http://www.aikensaddlefitting.com/more-saddle-fitting-info.html
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Smith Worthington provides two excellent guides for saddle-fitting: one for fitting the horse and one for fitting the rider:
It is very useful to have a working knowledge of what to look for in fitting a saddle. That said, I do appreciate the point of view that, at least in theory, saddle reps are supposed to be selling expertise as well as saddles. Naive of me I know, but that is the whole basis of their existence as a profession.
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Another great resource is Jen the Saddle Geek’s website. She used to post here as jn4jenny and her posts here are also informative. She is not a certified master saddle fitter, I don’t believe, but she is extremely informed about the breadth and depth of the saddle market and what manufacturers and models do well.
[quote=“Posting_Trot, post:24, topic:764296, full:true”]That said, I do appreciate the point of view that, at least in theory, saddle reps are supposed to be selling expertise as well as saddles. Naive of me I know, but that is the whole basis of their existence as a profession.
[/quote]
Yes, but is it, tho?
IMO, the advent of the saddle fitter came from a few things related more to changes in HOs and the tack industry. Fewer HOs want to put in the time it takes to learn to fit their beasts. And fewer areas have tack stores, plus fewer tack stores have big saddle selections.
And shipping has gone up and up in price.
And we now ride an amazing variety of horse shapes.
And we don’t slap our personal Stubben or Crosby on everything we ride.
We can’t control everything or fix everything. But I do think we can get better at saddle fitting ourselves. And, yes, you have to spend some time, money and effort on that.
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