A lot has happened for so many over the last year (year and a half).  

For me I have refocused my business concentrating on my established clients, their trainers and the brands I feel make the best and most consistent product while also offering me the support I need as a fitter.

In order to keep some things more simple (while making others a little more complicated) I've also decided to rebrand my saddle fitting under a new LLC.  This is largely for simple logistical reasons.  

What I really want to talk about is the pressures that have been placed on both the saddle fitting and veterinary fields as I have experience them.  While I no longer practice traditional veterinary medicine I'm feeling some of the pressures of increased demand and need from clients for care.  Fortunately there are more and more veterinarians becoming interested in and pursuing education in complementary modalities.

Saddle Fitting and Sales has been particularly interesting since we saw the pandemic become an earnest global issue.  Early on horse back riding was considered one of the more covid safe activities as we are outside, with good ventilation keeping a reasonable distance as a typical feature of our sport.  While many stayed at home, had a bit more time for their horses and, fortunately, in most cases, were able to maintain their income affording more time for their equine pursuits.  Many found themselves with a bit more disposable income as travel and other activities were not safe.  This created a greatly increased demand for horses, trainers, and of course saddles and tack.  This need has been felt across all of the brands I work with.

Combine this with global spread of a deadly virus.  Subsequent lock downs as people tested positive or became exposed to the virus have not helped either. In addition, all of the I work with are based out of England Brexit has created yet an additional layer of stress as the European sources for leather and other component parts suddenly became unpredictable.  All of this means we have seen a perfect storm of stressors on the saddlery system.

Ultimately I want you to understand is that it has been a hard year to meet the needs and demands of clients.  Saddles that took 5-6 weeks in production, in some cases, are being quoted at 21+ weeks while 12-14 seems to be pretty standard.  Used saddles are in short supply with high prices and everyone hopes to get their needs met yesterday.  The frustrations and demands on the industry means there are new opportunities in saddle manufacturing (however a master saddlery certification takes YEARS to obtain) but it also means that there have been a lot of difficult conversations and choices being made.  Stock is difficult to come by and its hard to predict needs months in advance.  Can we hope that this bubble in the horse industry doesn't burst while we plan our stock almost 6 months from now?  I am endlessly grateful for my understanding and wonderful clients as well as the support for all of the manufacturers I work with, but Ive seen the stress taking its toll on quite a few fitters as they exit the field.  Please be kind and understanding and know so much of this is still out of everyone's control. 

The term independent fitter gets thrown around a lot and means different things to different people.  For some it's a fitter who has no new saddles to sell or wholesale accounts, to others its a saddle fitter who runs their own business even if they are a brand rep.

For me, an independent fitter is a fitter who does not work for any companies directly.  Can you provide truly unbiased opinions on saddle fit while still accepting pay checks from other companies - sure.  Each company that hires brand representatives operate differently but many have sales goals and pressures placed on the fitter that make it hard to operate truly "independently".  Many of the brands also have limits or restrictions on if/when and how many other companies one of their representatives can sell for.  

For me calling myself an independent fitter means that I have no conscious or subconscious obligation to encourage you to buy any particular brand.  There is no additional pressure real or imagined to push you toward one brand or not.  This frees me up to advise and fit a variety of saddles and be honest when I don't feel comfortable fitting a saddle to a horse.  Being an independent fitter allows me to choose models and brands based on horse, rider and budget needs with no pressure from one individual company to promote their products specifically.  It means that I can choose the brands and models I sell and work on based on what seems to work in my hands and how well the companies support me and my clients if and when concerns, questions or issues arise.  It also means when you call me out you will get me, my knowledge base and a variety of saddles and options to order spanning over 10 different labels.  You will not get a "company" line.  It does not mean that I will know the ins and outs of every saddle brand produced but it does mean I have direct experience with quite a few different companies and models.

As an independent saddle fitter I have a degree of control that affords me the ability to set my schedule and attempt to find a work/life balance that suits me, it allows me to say "No" when I don't think I'm the right fit or my books are too full to be of service to new clients.  It allows me to offer riders what I think they need not what I think needs to be sold.  It allows me to attempt to control my inventory based on models and brands that seem to work best with no pressure to sell the newest thing.

What does hiring an Independent Saddle Fitter mean to you.  What do you hope and expect to gain when hiring a fitter?