Can you reduce the price of my saddle?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Saddle & tack prices and exchange rates

Llewie modeling his Thermatex rug

We recently received an e-mail from a reader asking if our blanket prices might soon be decreased to account for the recnet change in the exchange rate.  This is an issue that comes up periodically because so many of our products are made in the UK or the EU and the exchange rates do fluctuate.  We have not changed the Thermatex prices for several years despite many currency fluctuations, and we don’t anticipate that we will, though their prices have gone up.  Incidentally, some overseas suppliers denominate their exports in dollars (including Thermatex) so what we pay for the dollar-denominated products changes only when they raise the cost to us of their dollar-priced goods.

Where we are paying suppliers for direct imports in pounds or Euros, we try to set retail prices that allow for a window to both sides for currency-price fluctuations, and we try to calculate that window so that we can absorb some loss on the exchange when the rate swings the other way as well.  And the window certainly does bulge both ways. › Continue reading

Tags: exchange rates, importing saddles, saddle prices, tack prices

Anyone for Side Saddle?

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 | saddle fitting | 4 Comments

This saddle was custom-made for this horse. The other saddle was off the rack at half the price. You be the judge of which one is the better fit.

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Tags: British saddlemakers, custom saddles, rider fit, saddle fit, saddle fitting trade-offs

The battle for the soul of the saddle fitter

Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | saddle fitting | No Comments

It is my impression that virtually every saddle fitter I have ever met has a genuine concern for the comfort of the horse.  It is thus fantastically frustrating that we are lacking a science-based, unified theory of correct saddle fitting.  Most of the time we don’t really know what is optimal for a particular horse and we have to rely on personal experience to make that judgment.  To some extent — for me at least – judgment derives from years of digesting the kind of “learning experience” that I might have preferred to avoid if possible.

These photos are clear examples of conflicting philosophies of saddle design:    

I find it extraordinary that there can be such divergence of opinion about some of the most fundamental aspects of correct saddle fitting.  On several occasions, I have had the opportunity to hear presentations by well-known luminaries in the field who have developed their own brands based on particular design concepts.  I have tried to be as objective as possible in evaluating what I understand their approach to be, and to be open-minded to new concepts that might help me to be a better saddle fitter. › Continue reading

Tags: pliance testing, saddle design, saddle fitters, saddle fitting, saddle panels, saddle technology