Maryland Saddlery's Guide to Choosing and Fitting Saddles Issue 1 | Page 3

Selling Saddles
When we sell a saddle, we always keep in mind Maryland Saddlery’s Core Values.
The first line of our core values states that we are both knowledgeable as well as
informative. This means that we have a great deal of information and we are happy and
willing to share it with our customers. Being ethical and professional translates to putting
the customers interest first. And most important, is making the genuine human
connection by listening, understanding and supporting our customers while they go
through the purchase of a saddle.
When a customer comes into one of our stores looking for a saddle, where do we begin?
First of all, I need to find out information from the customer. I ask questions, LISTEN
for answers, ask more questions, and LISTEN for more answers.
So I ask:
What kind of riding do you do? Do you trail ride, ride dressage? Do you fox hunt or
horse show? Or do you ride for pleasure?" Where do you ride? Do you own your own
horse? Have you tried other saddles? Are there any ones you especially like or are
looking for?
By establishing what kind of riding they do or what discipline they are pursuing I know
where to begin the search. No matter how experienced they are, I always begin by
teaching them why they sit how they sit in a saddle. And the differences between the
three most common styles.
Let’s talk about the differences between saddle styles. Saddles seat you a certain way
because of physics. You can't change how you sit in a saddle just by moving your
position. A saddle is designed to sit you in a specific way. That is due to where the
stirrup leathers hang in relation to the sweet spot or the deepest part of the saddle’s seat.
Every saddle has a “working center”. This is the lowest part of the seat of the saddle
and the place where your butt will land with each step your horse takes. Every riding
discipline has a saddle design that matches its specific equitation ”
Stirrup leathers are pendulums. They hang straight down when you put weight in them.
Wherever that stirrup leathers hangs, and the stirrup hangs off of that, is where your leg
position will be. If you have a coach that's telling you your leg is too far out in front of
you and it needs to be underneath you some more, then you probably are riding in a
saddle that has a stirrup bar that's too far from the seat. Conversely, if you leg is too far
under you and you are falling forward the stirrup bar may be too close to the seat.