Guest Blogger: "It's About Henry" by Edie Tschorn

Every once in a while, you run into one of those pieces of writing that makes you stop in your tracks and think, something that speaks to you in more ways than the writer probably intended, something that's so pithy and germane that you have to share with everyone you know. 

That happened to me today. 

Being the TMT Grammar Nazi, it falls to me to edit most of the articles that go on our web site and into our monthly newsletter (which you can sign up for here if you're interested; the little sign-up box is toward the bottom of the page on the left).  When Edie's article popped up in my "In" box, I scanned it quickly, had a great laugh, and then set to editing.  It was tough to do, because I kept getting caught up in the message, thinking of ways it relates to my relationship with Lyric ... and my kids and husband ... and my dogs ... and my work ... and my martial arts .. and ...

Well, you get the idea.

When I was finally through with the technical stuff, I asked if I could reprint it here.  Edie kindly gave me permission.  Hope you all enjoy it.

Taking It on the Road - Saddle Fitting Clinic at Clover Hill in Williamstown, MA

On May 15, Edie Tschorn and I drove down to Carolyn Henderson's Clover Hill Farm in Williamstown, MA to do a saddle fitting clinic.  This is something we've done a couple times before, but this was probably the best we've done to date. 

We started the morning with a PowerPoint presentation on the basics of saddle fitting.  It covers the purpose of a saddle, the different types of english saddles, basic saddle construction and fit for the horse and rider.  It touches on what to look for when assessing fit, what sorts of behavior can manifest when there's a saddle fitting problem, and what can happen if the problem isn't addressed.  We also spent some time discussing issues that can mimic saddle fitting problems, such as training problems, ulcers or Lyme disease - and how to tell the difference between the two.  We also brought some bare trees and junker saddles to further illustrate some of the points we covered, and so people can get some hands-on study time.  Edie and I have streamlined the presentation as much as possible, and it really does just cover the basics, but with some Q and A, it usually runs at least two hours. 

After lunch, Edie had to head back to the shop, so I spent the afternoon doing a bunch of hands-on assessments of horses and existing saddles.  It was a great chance to delve further into the Heavy Seven, and to learn about perfect fit vs. acceptable fit vs. unacceptable fit.  (And I'd like to take a moment to say that I hugely appreciate how well-behaved the horses were.  Doing a fitting while dodging hooves and teeth is difficult, but doing a fitting and dodging hooves and teeth while trying to teach people about saddle fit is a bit more than I prefer to handle all at once!)

I also showed everyone how to take a template, and discussed how to "read" the template to evaluate a horse's fitting needs.  We had also brought a couple saddles to put on the demo horses.  We had a stock model Black Country Eden, and another Eden with a dropped panel and wither gussets.  Fortunately, we had a couple of leaner, withery horses, so people were really able to see the function of the panel modifications quite clearly, and how they improved upon the fit offered by the standard panel.

It was the sort of day I would love have far more often:  a lovely, workmanlike facility, well-behaved horses and interested attendees.  In fact, I'm gearing myself up for doing more of these clinics.  I have some fresh perspective, some new ideas and am thinking about expanding the format somewhat ... so if you or anyone else is interested, just let me know!

From the Trainer's Perspective - Guest Post by Edie Tschorn

This is another in a series of rather infrequent guest blog posts by equine professionals who have another view of saddle fitting.  This time, Edie Tschorn is my guest blogger.  As many of you know, she owned Trumbull Mtn. Tack for over 30 years, and was my employer for about 10.  I've known Edie since the late 1970s; she has been involved in training, breeding, showing, buying, selling, boarding, instructing, and retraining/rehabbing problem horses - and probably a few things I've neglected to mention.  She's helped me resolve some issues with Lyric that had me beating my breast, banging my head and weeping.  I have enormous respect for her experience, opinions and knowledge - and she can no longer claim that I'm saying that because she signs my pay checks.   So here's something from her slant.  Enjoy!

Becoming a Saddle Fitter

This is Edie Tschorn:
... and it's all her fault.
When I started working for Edie at the shop back in the late 90's, I worked part-time, selling saddles on-line and filling in for other shop employees on vacations and days off. I was a stay-at-home mom then, and the job was pretty much ideal: it was horse-related, I did most of my work from home, and if I was needed at the shop, it wasn't a problem, since my husband worked nights and could do "day care" with our sons.
Then came the day when Edie said, "Hey, Kitt - how'd you like to learn to do saddle fitting?"
Because it sounded interesting (and because I was totally ignorant of just what it would entail), I agreed.

Here in the US, learning the trade of fitting and repair can be tough. There aren't a lot of educational opportunities, and there were even fewer back when I started. Here were my options:

1) The Society of Master Saddlers' Qualification course. Located in the UK, you need 3 years' prior fitting experience (and you need to have taken their Intro course) to be accepted. The course teaches you what tree shape and panel configuration would work for a given horse, and how to assess a horse's fitting needs, but it doesn't cover flocking or repairs.

2) The Master Saddlers' Association. They will teach you to fit and to flock (no repairs), but (back then, anyway) you needed to be a County Saddlery rep to get in. I wasn't, and had no desire to be, so I didn't.

3) The Cumbria School of Saddle Fitting. David May will teach you everything, but again, it's located in the UK.

Luckily, Edie was determined to have me educated, and decided the best route was to hire a fitter to teach me. So my education began with Nancy Shedrick, a SMS Qualified Saddle Fitter. I learned about flocking and saddle design, and to do a Flair-to-wool conversion (which is kind of a cross between plumbing and surgery, since you need to open the panels and remove air bladders and hoses, replace it with flock, and sew it all back up).

I also attended one of Mike Scott's courses, which focused on saddle fitting with an eye to equine massage, which was something I'd dabbled in in the early 90's. (Mike has his own saddle fitting and equine massage therapy school now. Mike, if you'd gotten your act together sooner, my life would have been much easier!)

My next (and present) mentor is Patty Barnett of East Crow Saddlery. As I've mentioned before, she apprenticed for years with Gary "The Saddle Doctor" Severson, and took over his business when he retired. She's my go-to person when faced with a big, scary repair; she's talked me down off the ledge more than once and explained how to do some repair or retrofit that I wasn't sure I ought to be tackling.

I also attended the SMS "Introduction to the Principals of Saddle Fitting" course in Oct. of '07, and had a chance to meet Kay Hastilow, Ian and Andy Hastilow (no relation to Kay) and Annette Gavin, who were a few of the instructors.

There are also a couple of helpful books out there. One is Repair Your Own Saddlery and Harness, by Robert Steinke; another is To Handmake A Saddle, by John Harry and J.H.L. Shields. Lots of good info to be gleaned from both.

In addition to all of this "formal" education, there's been a lot of head-scratching, meditation, trial-and-error, pure inspiration and pure panic (like the time one of my very elderly and not very well-made flocking irons broke; I'd inserted about 16" of iron into a saddle panel and pulled out about 6"). I've deconstructed and reconstructed an unholy number of junker saddles that Edie acquired just for that purpose; I've spent hours practicing stitching and cutting and skiving and splicing. Edie (who has a real gift for mechanical reasoning) has helped me with a lot of the "nuts and bolts" aspects of repairs, like riveting and which drill bit to use. She also has a machine shop here on the farm, downstairs from the tack shop (you can see it in the photo, behind the tractor), which is full of useful and wonderful tools (Edie's as big a tool fan as I am).

My education continues, of course - one of the best things about this job is that there's always something new to learn: a saddle company comes up with a new innovation, or you run into a horse shaped like no other you've seen, or someone comes up with a new theory on saddle fitting. I'm also lucky in that I can contact any of the folks mentioned above to ask questions (which I do on a pretty regular basis) and share ideas.

All joking aside, I owe a lot to Edie - she's supported me and guided me, and always made sure I had what I needed to learn the job and do it right; she's been a great boss and an even greater friend. Thanks to you, Edie, this is the first time in my almost 50 years that I've been able to have a job with horses that didn't require a second job to finance it!

I Made It!!

The article to which I contributed appeared in this week's issue of the Chronicle of the Horse! Some examples of my photography are in there, too. I'm just absolutely thrilled. I have to give a huge thank-you to Edie Tschorn, who helped (and footed the bill for) me to learn the art and science of saddle fitting. And BIG thanks to Sara Ineson for the loan of her impeccably-cared-for tack for the photos.

Colleen Meyer of Advanced Saddle Fit was the other contributor to the article. Colleen is a Society of Master Saddlers Qualified Saddle Fitter, and I learned quite a bit from her contributions. And Sara Leiser, wonderful article - thanks so much!