Back on the Saddle Train

my current goal for the Walker Fund

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I got a little bit of money for graduating that I was going to put in Walker's College Fund for a saddle.  Then reality smacked me in the face, and I decided that it was a much more financially responsible thing to do to put it on my line of credit instead (since that thing is starting to skyrocket through the roof).

I had completely resigned myself to my cheap English saddle when I decided to pop into Maritime Tack on my way home for a weekend.  While I still haven't completely decided if I have the money for a saddle (or what type of saddle I'm going to invest in - one needs to have some sort of purpose in mind for that), I was extremely impressed with the lady that runs the tack shop.

Not all of her merchandise is listed on her website, but she's pretty much open to ordering me whatever I want.  She told me that she could match almost any major competitor in Canada and the US, and she said that she would give me a discount on all the matching accessories.  As if that wasn't wonderful enough, she told me that I could do a layaway plan with her if I wanted to make payments until I had enough money to afford the saddle, AND when she ordered it for me, she could have it within a week.  She was completely helpful, explaining to me all the differences between the saddles we were looking at (mostly Wintec, Bates, and Collegiate since I was simply perusing), and I was so impressed with her customer service that I pretty much decided on the spot that when I was ready to get a saddle, I would order it with her.

A couple of the saddles I was looking at included the Wintec Isabel Dressage saddle and the Wintec Pro Dressage saddle.  Those were just the synthetics.  I wasn't originally thinking about going synthetic, since that's what I have now, but if I decide to buy a dressage saddle for my not-so-dressagey horse, then perhaps a cheaper model is the way to go.  I also looked at the Bates version of the saddles in leather, but for some reason I can't get the link to work.

She had a GORGEOUS jumping saddle in my size there that she was selling at cost since she ordered it in and it didn't fit her client's horse (another perk - she'll take big ticket items back).  Then I had to remind myself (over and over again) that I can no longer jump my horse.  But boy would we have looked fabulous trotting over all those poles!  Because I was just peeking and trying to get out of there without buying the whole store, I didn't even really ask her what other brands of saddles she could bring in, so I'll be interested to have that conversation with her once I prepare myself mentally for the purchase.

As a general rule, I believe in supporting small businesses, and stores with customer service that fabulous deserve my business!