This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- Karen McCarthy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Anyway, if you are gonna plunk down a wad of cash on > an important investment > like a saddle, english or western, always insist on > trying it out first, if > at all possible. Most good tacksellers worth their > salt will alloooow this > for a deposit against the saddle I guess we are lucky out here - we have a tack shop in nearby Olympia where you can take your horse TO the shop(by appointment) and their saddlemaker will fit a saddle to the horse. We did this with our Fjord geldings several years ago. Mine was an easy fit: the first saddle we tried on him(an old 'beartrap' or 'ranch saddle' handmade in Idaho) fit him perfectly AND fit me also. The other horse was a real challenge! I lost count of how many saddles they tried on him before they found one which fit. After my husband rode in the saddle a few times it became obvious that the saddle was NOT a fit for HIM. The store took saddle back(in good condition, of course) and refunded our money. We later found a saddle which fit both my husband and the horse. These saddles are NOT all handmade saddles. The ones we were trying on our horses were 'off the rack' saddles - just looking for one that fit. As my husband's horse grew, he eventually needed a regular roping saddle with semi-QH bars - he's a BIG horse, over 15 hands and around 1400 pounds, with a huge stride and lots of 'body energy'. Maybe you can find a tack shop in your area, or a local saddle maker, that will offer the same service of fitting saddles to horses. It was a great help to us, as we had always driven our horses and were not used to fitting saddles. Mary ===== Mary Thurman Raintree Farms [EMAIL PROTECTED] Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
