Texas Business

Since 1999 Alene and Louise have regularly visited the Houston area of Texas to fit English style saddles, initially to friends’ horses. These friends run a Hunt with proper foxhounds and hunt weekends spending a considerable number of hours each day in the saddle. They had been riding in very small, expensive close contact saddles which were bought with the rider in mind rather than the horse and repeatedly gave their mounts sore backs. Once Alene explained that each horse really needed its own saddle and persuaded them to try one of ours, everything changed including the weekly chiropractor bills which were greatly reduced. The horses were far more comfortable and moved more freely.

The riders couldn’t believe how comfortable and secure they were themselves when they were put in a balanced position and riding became easy. Word spread and more of the hunt members wanted to try the saddles. The results still amaze us, the sales broadened out into the eventing market with one barn alone stabling over 80 horses nearly all buying a dressage and jumping saddle. We still visit this barn 12 years later and maintain the fit of their saddles

Our visits to Houston involve meeting new clients and selling new saddles, rechecking existing saddles we have previously sold and maintaining them i.e. checking girth straps and reflocking them. Our saddle manufacturers have also accompanied us on 1 or 2 occasions and are a massive source of information to ourselves and our customers, explaining the various options that would suit their horse best. It is incredible the variations of fittings and adjustments that can be made to fit even the most impossible shapes – we do enjoy the challenge of a difficult horse

We keep a small stock of saddles in Texas which we use as a template for initially fitting the horse (it’s rare that an “off the shelf” saddle will fit) then we will custom make the saddle for that particular animal. You can then choose the colour and the type of leather you want; there is a varied selection from plain leather, suede or buffalo and colours from black, brown, Australian nut and ranch. Once the saddle is made, we ship it over and then check it on the horse when we arrive on our next visit. If we are not happy with the fit, we will remake the saddle at no further cost to you. We also welcome the presence of your trainer while we are fitting as the more information we have about your horse and the way you ride, helps us do our job well

If you are within 3 hours driving distance of the Houston area and would be interested in a saddle fitting (English style – jumping, dressage or general riding), please contact us.

We remain extremely grateful to all our texan friends who continuously welcome and support us, look after us and give us vehicles to make our tours around the countryside.

Our Next Visit

* Our next trip is planned for:

TBC

If you need to make contact, the Texas number (832 613 8358) will be in use during our time there.