I have never made any claims to being an "expert" on saddles--rather what
I am doing is collecting information on saddles/models/styles,
description of the horse and the rider's comformation, special fitting
problems for both, weight of rider, rider's assessment of quality,
rider's satisfaction/dis-satisfaction with fit/performance/customer
service, and so on.
What I receive is largely anecdotal and not easily quantified or coded
for easy retrieval and statistical analysis. If you believe this to be
an easy task, I will gladly FTP my two reams of print-outs (that's 100's
of pages of descriptions from subscribers to this list alone!).
I receive information/contributions from riders who are NOT subscribers
to this list. Their input is just as valuable and just as welcome. A
description of my efforts were part of an article in Trail Blazer
Magazine--so I am a recipient of a great deal of information regarding
saddles.
If I receive requests for recommendations for particular saddles, I can
tell that individual what I currently have in the database.
I do not make saddles, I do not sell saddles for a living, but I have
purchased a sufficient number of saddles for use in CTR/endurance that
have or have not worked for me or my horses and I am willing to tell
whomever requests my input what my experience has been. And I am quite
clear in specifying that this is MY experience, the information to be
accepted or rejected as the recipient sees fit.
I do not, and will not, reproduce letters/memos/private conversations as
that would violate a journalistic trust.
Regarding the furor over the Sport saddle: there have been quite a few
posts regarding problems with this saddle, problems with solutions that
have been helped along by free exchange of information. All these posts
are available through the archives and I would recommend that anyone
curious about a particular topic research the archives and read for
themselves what each individual has to contribute to that topic. I did
not report "design" flaws, just a materials problem. The fact is, the
trees do break--you as a consumer need to know this. You also need to
know how many and under what circumstances. The shoot-the-messenger
mentality does little to advance product improvement.
d.