A reader, Firedrake, has posted a story of intense frustration with finding a saddle that will work for both her horse and her.  This is not an uncommon situation, and riders often kiss a great many saddle frogs without managing to find a prince.  But there are reasons to be optimistic – patient and optimistic.

In reality, many people have one saddle failure after another without grasping that they are really trying very similar saddles time after time, dressed up in different outfits under different brand names.  Even saddles     

“custom-made” for the horse (a loaded term if ever there was one), or a brand of saddle that is supposedly designed to meet the requirements of a particular breed (what a good idea that sounds like) can be a terrible let down, and it isn’t always easy to know exactly why.