The More Things Change ...

The shop at the Pullman Family Farm, summer 2012

This year has brought some pretty dramatic changes to my life. This summer, we had to put our dear old Tanka dog down due to the infirmities of old age.  Then, Edie passed away on Sept. 20, and my brother-in-law Chris passed away 15 days later - oddly, from  the very same cancer Edie had.  And on Oct. 26th, I learned that as of November 30, my time with the shop will be over.

The owners have decided to move the physical location of the shop closer to their home - understandable, since their commute is about 60 miles one-way.  However, the new location they've chosen puts the shop 60 miles away from me. That would mean that my 40 mile round-trip commute would morph into a 120 mile round-trip commute ... and that ain't gonna happen.  Not for me, and sadly, not for my co-worker Nancy Okun, either - her commute would actually be 12 miles longer than mine.  So as of 5 pm on Nov. 30, after roughly 14 years with the shop, it's officially good-bye.

Change is unsettling, no question - but after the first terrifying, stomach-dropping shock, it often turns out the be just the kick in the ass that was needed.  Since Edie sold the shop in 2009, things have changed significantly; I've become increasingly restless, and have spent more and more time contemplating the possibility of "going independent" and running my own business ... and if this isn't the universe telling me that now's the time to do just that, I miss my guess.

In the years I worked with Edie, I learned about saddle fitting, repair and design ... and I also learned her particular business philosophies, practices and ideals, those specific ingredients that made a little tack shop up over the indoor arena 3 miles off the main road in a town of less than 4,000 people the go-to place for saddles and fitting.  So I'd say that I have a very successful business model to use.  I've also met some outstanding folks in the saddle business who've helped and taught me: Nikki Newcombe, Ann Forrest, Nancy Temple, Patty Barnett, Rob Cullen, John, Gemma and Cassie Hartley, Frank Baines, Victoria Coleman, Mike Scott,  Brita Rizzi and Louise Palmer, to name just a very few, and since they've heard the news, they've been even more kind and supportive.  And since the change has become public knowledge in the saddle world, Nancy and I have had three people very kindly approach us with offers to rep saddles, and we're going to take them all on.  I'll still be taking saddles to barns and traveling to do adjustments; I'll also be working long-distance with templates and photos, and I'll still be writing this blog, same as ever.  I'll also be setting up my own web site, which will have fitting info and - new feature - videos.  In deference to the fact that I need a regular income, I will have to find a "real" job, at least for a while, but my focus will be on getting back into saddles full-time as soon as possible.  I truly love doing this, and don't see any reason I should quit.

Saddle Fitting Course

Ok, folks, it's official:  I'm going to be teaching an introductory saddle fitting course starting this spring (aiming for sometime in May).

The Horse Gods and Goddesses have been tossing this up to me for quite a while now.  Seems like everywhere I go, both on the Internet and in the "real" world, I'm running into people who want to be educated about saddle fitting.  That's one of the reasons I started doing this blog, and one of the reasons I have videos in the works, but I'm hearing that people want a real, hands-on course.  Since there is a definite lack of such courses - especially here in the States, and especially courses that are open to the general public - I'm thinking my path is pretty clear.  I've discussed the idea with Mike Scott, who runs one of the only US fitting courses, and he's kindly offered input and support.  Edie is offering to let me run the course at the Pullman Family Farm in Shaftsbury, VT (formerly Trumbull Mtn. Stable).  So-o-o-o-o-o ... here goes!

This course will be modeled after the Society of Master Saddlers' Intro course; it will be comprehensive enough to give Jo(sephine) Q. Horsepublic a good handle on the basics of saddle fit and also provide a solid foundation for those who want to continue studying (with Mike, for example) and become a professional fitter. We'll cover the basics of fitting:  English saddle types and sub-types and fitting challenges particular to each, fitting options, a bit about saddle construction and foam vs. wool panels.  It will discuss equine anatomy, conformation types and fitting options for each; we'll cover taking a tracing, using the tracing as a guide to choosing a saddle, and assessing the "Heavy Seven" of saddle fitting.   We'll also cover fit for the rider and how saddle fit can affect rider position and comfort, and we'll cap things with a chance to fit some real live horses.   The course will run 2 days (weekends, most likely) and will include lunch and snacks and probably a rather large amount of take-home material.

Now, just to be perfectly clear, let me tell you what this course will NOT do:

• It  will NOT cover flocking or saddle repair.
• It will NOT make you qualified to fit saddles professionally.
• It will NOT "certify" you as a fitter.

And believe me, my students will be signing an agreement stating that this is VERY clearly understood.  My plan is to offer a good foundation and basic understanding, NOT to loose minimally trained fitters on the unsuspecting horse world.  I will NOT offer professional references to people who've taken this course unless they've gone on to complete a comprehensive fitting course.  I do not want to find out that anyone has hung out a shingle based solely on what they get from this course.

'K?

That's the plan so far.  I'll post the whole course outline when it's done.  Costs TBA, but it will probably be in the $450-$500 range (and for those who have to travel to VT, there are reasonable accommodations and meals available within a 10 minute drive of the class location).  Class size will be 5 people max.

If you're interested, please e-mail me at saddlefitter@hotmail.com and I'll put you on the list.  I'm hoping to offer the course more than once a year, but that will depend on demand.  And if there's anything you'd like to learn about that I haven't mentioned, please let me know!

Random End of Year Stuff

Writing is a very organic and uncertain activity.  You start out with a specific story in mind, but half-way through, you find that the story (or post, or article) has gone haring off on its own down a path that you never meant to walk.  Sometimes those bits of writing get shelved and pulled out later (I have quite a few of those), sometimes you hit the "delete" button, and sometimes you follow the path just to see where it will lead.  This blog has turned out to be one of those "follow the path" things.

When I started this blog, it was something of an experiment in using social media as "free advertising" for the tack shop.  It's worked pretty well - turns out that it's consistently one of the top portals to the shop's website.  It's also grown into something more, though.  I truly enjoy writing it, and it's been received far better than I'd ever expected.  It's given me a chance to get some education about saddle fitting to the general horse public, it's allowed me to give a leg-up to some friends and colleagues, and it's given me an outlet for the frustration and silliness I encounter on a regular basis.  It's also led me to being asked to write articles and do interviews ... which I find amazing.  Who'da thunk a cranky half-a-century-old saddlefitting broad living in the booniewhacks of VT would have input and info that the general horse public would find interesting?!  It's all very, very cool, and I thank each and every one of you from the heart.

Given that this is the last day of 2011, I thought it might be fun to throw out some random things.  Two are flat-out brags, and the rest are things that never seemed to quite fit into any specific post.  First, I'm going to get the brags over with.

Here's the cover of the TrailBlazer magazine that features my "To Shim or Not To Shim" article:

All glossy and shiny and makes me go "wooooooo ...."

The frontspiece of the article:

Byline and everything!!!
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Second brag.  I have been invited to the London opening of the movie War Horse:

This is thanks to Nikki Newcombe, the former Sales Manager at Black Country Saddles.  She's started her own saddle company, Bliss of London (which will be featured here as soon as they're ready to launch), and very kindly invited me.  Don't I wish!!!
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My work space at the shop is a bit on the cold side.  We're up on top of a barn, and the walls in my office are NOT well-insulated.  I do tend to like lower temps (when people remark on the chilliness, I tell them that old meat needs to be refrigerated) and dress in layers to help deal with the occasional hot flash ... so the outer layer in the winter months is almost always polar fleece.  It's warm, it's lightweight, it breathes ... and it's probably not the smartest choice for someone who plays with sheep fur (or at least navy blue polar fleece when the sheep fur is white):

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Got a six year old saddle in last week for a strip flock.  Not only was it incredibly dirty (I mean, you really need to work to get dirt jockeys on the panels), it had never had the flocking touched, and it had been ridden in jeans.  Here's what happens to your saddle's seat when your ride in jeans:

Close-up view.  The hair-side finish has been worn completely away and you can see the skin side.  A year or so more of riding in jeans, and the saddle's owner will be looking at a $600 re-seat.

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When you flock a saddle, you tend to work with small pieces of wool, maybe 6" or so long, but not much bigger.  Big chunks of wool don't lie in well; they wad up and leave gaps and divots.  I've pulled some pretty impressive pieces out, but these are the record holders - the longest is about 31" long.  I call them The Scalps of Mine Enemies.

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So what's up for 2012?  Well, going to get the mare back in shape and under saddle (and it will have to be a new saddle; the middle-aged spread she's developed can't be encompassed by anything other than a hoop tree ... so I'll have to say goodbye to my Passier GG).  Also going to have shiai (test) in karate to get the second stripe on my brown belt.  And finally, I'm working on the syllabus for an Intro to Saddle Fitting course.  I want to gear it specifically to prep students for Mike Scott's saddle fitting course, and also make it comprehensive enough to offer a good basic education for an individual's personal use.  It'll be a 2-day weekend course ... more on that when I'm further along in the organizational process.

Anyway, here's wishing all of you a happy and safe New Year - and as always, thanks for reading.

Dear Fellow Saddle Fitters: Pay It Forward. Good Karma Counts.

A while back, I wrote about the difficulties inherent in getting a good saddle fitting education here in the States.  Yesterday, I had a chance to see it from the other end.

I received an e-mail from a woman named Kelly, who lives in eastern Canada and is taking Mike Scott's saddle fitting course.  One of the requirements for Mike's course is that each student spend time doing internship and observation, so she asked if she could stop by the shop on her way down to the course in South Carolina.  Remembering how Edie and I had struggled to advance my eduaction, I agreed.

I was very impressed with this woman.  Her dedication and drive to learn were obvious:  not only is she committing serious time and money to this course, she asked a lot of excellent questions and had some really fine insights and ideas.  But she was running into one big sticking point: she hadn't been able to find anyone who'd let her intern and observe.  Where she is, there are few fitters (and those fitters are mostly reps for one saddle company), and their overwhelming attitude is, "Why should I train my competition?" 

I was lucky - I only ran into one fitter who felt this way when I was starting out.  That attitude didn't bother me much back then, but - considering what a long, bumpy trip it's been - it really, really bugs me now.  And, hey - all you fitters with that attitude?  Here's why:

First, I really think that any saddle fitter worth the title has to be aware of the shortage of good fitters here in North America, and is sort of honor-bound to help educate someone who's sincere about learning.  I mean, this is for the good of the horse!  It isn't all about you. 

Second, it's not easy to become educated.  Sure, you may have had to go to the UK to learn, or may have had to apprentice with someone, and may even have encountered that same attitude from the fitters you approached when you were first starting ... but does that mean you need to perpetuate it?  The laws of Instant Karma definitely apply here:  if you're willing to help someone else out, it'll come back to you.  Give someone a leg up along the way, and they'll likely return the favor.  And even if they don't, it's just the right thing to do.

Third, that attitude makes me wonder if you're insecure about something.  If you're worried that there may be areas where you lack knowledge, or that the person you help now may someday know more than you, then it's up to you to continue with and add to your education.  Given the dearth of good fitters out there, I honestly believe that there are more than enough clients to go around, even if the number of good fitters doubled.  And that leads me back to my first point.

Ok.  Verbal spanking done.

One lesson I've learned in all facets of my life is that you can learn something from everyone you meet.  Being open to sharing what you know - and being willing to listen to feedback - can add a lot to your knowledge base.  It may be that the only thing you learn from the other person is that you don't like their method ... or it may be that fresh eyes on a familiar situation can offer some really neat new insights.  I've taught dressage, martial arts and, most recently, started sharing what I know about saddle fitting.  I love to teach, I've learned a lot, and, as my Sensei Jon Bottomms taught me, it's a wonderful thing if someday the student might surpass the teacher.

So if there's anyone out there who has questions, please don't hesitate to ask.   And if you'd like to learn more about Mike Scott's course, check out http://www.saddleguy.com/classes.php.

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!