It's been a while

Good morning! I just realized that it has been quite a bit since I have posted on this page!

Life update:
IT has been CRAZY this winter, which is a fantastic thing and something that I was prepared for. I am so grateful and thankful for the oppurtunity I have to grow my business and add new clients!

I have added a new sponsored rider to my team. I have known her for a very long time and I’m thankful that I could offer her the opportunity. Camelia has always been hardworking and and honest equestrian that carries the same principles as I do. The wellbeing of the horse always come first, everyone deserves a well fitting saddle, and no pressure for the clients to purchase a saddle if their current saddle already fits. She runs and trains at Kross Creek farm in Rhinebeck, NY so if you’re in the area check her out!

Okay...but Who Am I?

What a wet start for the week, but thankfully it wasn’t as wet as all the weather people were concerned about!

Thank you to everyone that sent in questions and suggestions for me. It will really help me develop this blog to be something that YOU find informative and interesting. As I was going through all my messages, the most popular question was asking information about myself and background so I decided to do a little introduction about myself so you can get to know me better.


So, who am I?

For those who do not know me, my name is Patricia Baker and I have lived in Upstate New York for practically my whole life. I have also been fortunate enough to grow up around horses and had a mom that loved them too. I’m a second-generation saddle fitter (thanks mom!) and I have been working as a saddle fitter for about 8 years. I have a wonderful daughter that will be turning 2 soon (she needs to STOP growing so quick though!) that seems to love horses (and animals) as much as I do.

Indiana’s first "ride” on Riley last year!

I have two lovely ponies, Riley (Fell Pony, 18 years old) and Raven (Arab Cross, years old). I have ridden dressage since I can remember. I’d like to try jumping but I also like for my horse to keep all feet on the ground (see the problem?), so you can catch me drooling over the jumpers at shows. Jumping lessons are on my bucket list, and who knows maybe this winter I can finally check that item off! I have ridden several different breeds like; PRE (he was PSG), Fjord, Morgan, Friesians, Andalusian and a whole bunch of others. So far the two guys I have now are my favorites, and I’m so thankful that I have them as my dance partners!

I absolutely love my job. Are there days that are better than others? Absolutely - as anyone knows being a small business owner that is not all rainbows and butterflies, but I wouldn’t change what I do for anything! I love the travelling and meeting new people. There is no better feeling in the world than getting the chance to help you as a rider, develop a better working relationship with your horse through saddle fitting. Every horse and rider deserves a great fitting saddle, regardless of discipline. I love working with amateurs and professionals, ponies or horses (I’m a bit of a sucker for ponies though! Sorry, not sorry :-)).

Next week I will be doing a post about fitting with a half pad. Do you need one? Why do I need to tell my fitter that I want to ride with one? What does it do to your saddle fit?

If you have any questions about saddle fitting or products that you’d like answered, please email me at synergysaddlefit@gmail.com

Here Comes the...Bridle!

Happy Monday Everyone!

As promised here is the new blog post for Monday about the Flexible Fit Equestrian bridle and Leather wrapped reins!

There are a few reasons as to why I’m really excited about them. First, you can easily custom order your bridle with different sized pieces. Both of my ponies are a combination of two different sizes, they never fit in a stock bridle off the shelf, and this has made shopping for bridles difficult at times. As I customer I think that having the ability to easily order your bridle the way you need is *amazing*.

The next great thing is, out of the box the bridle already felt broke in. In my opinion, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to get a bridle together with super stiff leather. You can’t convince me, or my fingers, otherwise 😊

I also love the quality for the price, you get lovely and supple English leather. Snaffle bridles range from $209 to $229, with various options for patent leather nosebands and browbands. Double bridles range from $220 to $389.

This particular bridle also features a removable flash, they do have other option for no flash or a regular flash that is not removable.

I have to admit that at first I wasn’t too keen with the rubber webbed reins (Listed as Sure Grip Reins) being standard with a lot of their snaffle bridles. My experience with webbed reins have not been great because they can be very stiff and tough on the hands (even through gloves). However, these did not disappoint because they are quite supple and easy on the hands while maintaining a grippy feeling.

I do consider myself to be a bit of a “rein snob”. I’ve spent years riding with the same reins from Albion (still really nice reins of course!), but since trying FFE’s leather wrapped padded reins I think I’m going to make the permanent switch over to these. They’re at a great price point for $99 before shipping. They also come in 4 different lengths; Pony (52”), Cob (56”), Horse (58”) and Oversize (61”).

If you can’t tell, I’m very excited about this company and their bridle options. I like their quality, their shipping time, and custom sizing options.

There are somethings that I hope they add in the future. More customization options for dressage bridles, such as adding brown options and other colors for the padding on the noseband, brown options for Dressage snaffle bridles, and a two tone offering.


Options will be added to the website as I receive them! Please message me if you’re interested in ordering a bridle and would like to discuss your different options or sizing:
synergysaddlefit@gmail.com

Welcome to the Start of Something Great!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Welcome to my new blog - “Life of a Saddle Fitter”!

I’m very excited to start this as a platform for fellow equestrians. I get a lot of questions while working out in the field and there is an overwhelming amount of product/technology in the market. Hopefully this can help you wade through it all and get a little education about how your saddle should fit! I will also include the occasional day to day goings on for a saddle fitter and what I am up to.

On Monday August 16th I will be reviewing a couple products from Flexible Fit Equestrian and talking about what I have going on in the next couple of weeks.

If you have any questions that you’ve been dying to ask, feel free to email me at: synergysaddlefit@gmail.com