The best fitter I ever met was a lady who was trained in England, worked for several years for Bates, and then moved here. She actually knew what she was about. Sadly, most of the others I’ve met fall into Trak’s pattern. Since fitters, like farriers and whole bunch of other non-licensed professionals, have no real mandatory professional standards for either their training or application of their skills this is a real “buyer beware” area.
The “fitter” who works for a company will try and sell you their company product. That’s only natural. If it’s a premium produce (like Bates, for example) and the seller trains their staff to a high standard then I see no difficulty in using them. If the saddle is just not right, no matter how well it fits, then the buyer can thank them for the their time and try another vendor.
The independent fitter is not tied to a company but also does not have the benefit of company sponsored training. A buyer will have to engage their services separately (by the job or by the hour) and this will add to the cost of the saddle. Many buyers do not budget for this. Many buyers also seem to follow the rule that says “you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.” The Good News is that having a fitter involved early on might focus the buyer on a specific type, or even brand, of saddle. It would also eliminate some of the “my horse is hard to fit” arguments by demonstrating that it’s not; or, in the rare case that it is, verify that but also give direction in type of saddle to look for. The Bad News is that this process could still mean multiple visits and a higher cost. If the dollar amount is constant then dollars that might go to the saddle end up with the fitter. This still might be OK if the fitter does their job well. If they don’t then it’s money “down the tubes.”
Saddle fit is important, but so is proper farriery, nutrition, fencing, etc. It has to be part of the whole horse.
G.
