Saturday, February 2, 2013

Whose Blog is it, Anyway?

In the hustle of trying to get Panther Run Saddlery organized, I haven't had time to add to (or even stop by and check on) this blog ... and I find I really miss it.  So I made some time today to check my stats, which I haven't done in weeks.  When I went to one of the referring sites, I found a very nice blog and a post extolling (and rightly so) the many virtues of Black Country saddles.  There was also a very nice bit about Trumbull Mtn. and "their" blog, Saddle Fitting: the Inside Journey.  

This isn't the first time I've encountered that misunderstanding, and in the past, I've usually let it slide.  But now that I'm no longer employed there or affiliated/associated with the shop in any way, "I want to make one thing perfectly clear:"  this is not their blog.  It's mine.  "All content copyright Kitt Hazelton / Panther Run."  It's right there in the footer (which I do know that few people ever read, but ...).  So I hope this will clarify things once and for all.  My blog.  Mineminemineminemine.

Ok, now that I'm done barking and peeing on trees and fence posts and scratching up the ground, let's talk about what's going on now.  I have replaced the bulk of my important saddle work tools (there are a few left to buy, but the meat-and-potatoes tools are here).  I have Albion saddles.  I have Duett saddles.  I have a couple Bliss of London saddles, and am their dealer for the northern New England area.  Loxley saddles are on order, and I'm expecting them sometime around Valentine's Day.  I'm accepting selected used saddles for consignment.  I have saddles in for repairs, and I have customers sending me templates (some of them are customers from my days at the shop, and I can't adequately express how much their loyalty and faith in me means).  I just had another article on saddle fitting published in TrailBlazer magazine, and I have to finish an article on saddle fitting for the Arabian sport horse for www.thearabiansporthorse.com.  I have the budding Panther Run Saddlery web site in the competent hands of my "web guy" (we had to move the hosting site and do some technical stuff that I'm just not confident about or capable of doing myself).  I'm busy, and things are moving ahead and looking pretty promising.  It's a crazy time, and not a particularly easy time ... but from what I understand, that's pretty much the norm for the situation.   Being a one-woman show is way different from the way I worked for 14 years, and sometimes I think I'm crazy to be doing this at my age ... but the thought of not doing it isn't something I can contemplate.  So onward and upward.