The Saddle Saga: Trials

The Saddle Saga: Buyer’s Remorse

I’m sad to say, but buyers remorse hit quick and it hit hard.  Within 48 hours the afterglow from my shiny new saddle was starting to thin and the fact that I bought a red piped saddle for a liver chestnut was starting to set in.  Each day I hated the saddle more…not because it was uncomfortable…but because I couldn’t stand the way it looked on Champ.  I figured that if I was going to spend as much as I did on it…I’d better love it.  Since I was in my trial period, I started looking around and quickly found a similar older used Wolfgang Solo locally being sold for a much better price.  A quick chat to the owner and a quick chat with Robyn revealed that the flaps were not going to be long enough and the knee rolls were an older style that wouldn’t suit my conformation.

The Saddle Saga: The One

Robyn was kind enough to offer to search for a saddle for me…and in the meantime she let me continue to ride in the red one without charging me.  Within a week she had a saddle to show me.  It was exactly the same saddle (and a new demo model) except it was all black.  There was one notable and important difference with the new saddle.  It had a big scratch.  She let me know there would be a discount for the scratch.  The photos showed a pretty notable scratch, but she guaranteed that it didn’t split the leather and it wasn’t going to weaken the area.  It was just superficial.  I had to pay to have it shipped up from Southern California and had to ride in the red one another week.

The Saddle Saga: Buyer's Remorse

When the black saddle arrived I was thrilled.  She tried it on Champ, I rode in it a bit and she adjusted it slightly.  I handed her back the red one and gave her my credit card again.  I was delighted to have a plain black saddle that looked great on Champ and fit me wonderfully.  I was a lucky girl.  It saved me a little over $1,000 as well because of that silly scratch.  I got the deal of the decade.

The Saddle Saga: The One

But was it all perfect and happily ever after…

To be continued…