About Me
The Reason I Became a Saddle Fitter
My mother and me with my first pony, Wendy
Cisco and I. You can tell I'm an English rider being forced to ride Western!
My current mount Benny and I
Benny and I before opening meet 2016
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I have always been interested in saddle fit but this interest piqued when I got a Paint horse named Cisco. He was a western horse when I bought him and was being used in rodeos and barrel races. I saw his potential as a hunter and purchased him because of his unflappable attitude. After I had him home for a month I noticed that he was acting a little weird. I suspected saddle fit and called the local fitter out. Sure enough, the saddle I had was flocked unevenly. In addition, it was too narrow for him and generally not the right shape. The fitter suggested I purchase a new saddle.
Before my new saddle arrived, I moved to Manhattan, Kansas from Atlanta, Georgia. When it finally got to me it wasn’t what I had ordered and did not fit Cisco as it should. I decided to not let this company make me another saddle and tried to figure out saddle fit on my own. After spending several thousand dollars shipping both new and used saddles back and forth to different companies I decided to give up and ride western. Kansas has tons of horses but those who ride English are few and far between. Finding a fitter that would actually come to me in Kansas proved to be impossible. Everyone I talked to from afar told me that Cisco was a very complicated horse to fit due to his massive shoulders and the hollows behind them. Cisco was much happier in a western saddle. I ended up selling Cisco about a year later to a home where he would only ever be ridden western. I sorely missed riding English and while western was fun it just didn’t compare with the feeling I got when I jumped. With my new horse, a large pony named Benny, I decided to tackle saddle fit on my own. I ended up moving back down to the south and settled in Camden, South Carolina, home to The Saddle Guy, Mike Scott. I had Mike out to check the fit of my horses and he noticed that I seemed to have a pretty solid grasp of saddle fit. We started talking and it was decided that I would be a good fit to take his course. The prospect of becoming a Certified Saddle Fitter was incredibly exciting to me and I couldn’t wait to begin. |
Education
Eurotrees in Walsall, England
with owner Peter Dutton |
Mike Scott’s saddle fitting certification course is roughly 250 hours. Within that total is over 30 hours of internships, and 30 hours of case studies. After completing Mike’s certification course, I went to England to continue my education. I spent approximately 50 hours meeting with different saddle manufacturers, individual saddle makers and tree manufacturers. After returning from England, I have continued to supplement my education as often as possible. Attending continuing education presentations has certainly helped round out my knowledge base. I have been educated on French, Italian, English, Czech, Argentenian, German and more brands. This familiarization with each country’s styles of saddles has helped me to better serve my clients. |
Riding Background
As a teen at a jumper show on Rocket
As a teen at a dressage show on Otto
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I have essentially been riding since I was born. My mother rides so I was given my first pony when I was just under 2 years old and haven’t looked back since. Growing up I primarily took hunter/jumper lessons and trail rode. I did not enjoy showing as a child so I didn’t do much of it. As a teen I focused on dressage. I also fox hunted occasionally. During college I was able to continue riding and took on several project horses as well as continue to take hunter/jumper lessons and the occasional dressage lesson. After college I moved to Kansas and picked up roping. Now I have settled in South Carolina and enjoy trail riding, fox hunting, and taking dressage and the occasional hunter lesson. I keep my horses at home and really enjoy being in control of their care. |
Vision
Lacing on the backs of the panels
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More than anything I find that my clients just want to keep their horses happy and healthy. Typically when a new client contacts me their horse is having a problem with saddle fit. Often I find myself having to make the dreaded “your saddle doesn’t fit” speech. I HATE having to tell people this. Saddles are expensive investments (even used ones!) and I don’t like seeing my clients struggling to scrape up money to find something to keep their horse happy. Because of this I have made a goal to create a saddle that can be fully customized to the individual horse and rider combo that won’t break the bank! Hopefully I will have progress on this goal to share soon!
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