That's a no

Unsurprisingly the twice custom built saddle was returned. The more I rode in it the more I hated it. Then I did my lesson on Friday and DL was like, "Nah. Not one single yah."

bye.

The lesson itself was spent either in the canter because every time we got him pushing in the trot his head popped up and he shut down (we dug around the saddle and found that the shims the fitter had me add to the front of my Mattes were pinching his shoulders), or without stirrups because it felt terrible to use them.

So I called the fitter on the way back to the barn. Unfortunately my County value was trade-in only so I'm stuck with her until she gets me a rideable saddle. No more custom builds, used is fine. She said she'd bring me Ryder and Albion to try on Tuesday. In the meantime she had a Fairfax World Class she wanted me to pick up and try over the weekend.

Immediately my thought was: take the $$$$$$ Fairfax which is worth way more than the Hastilow (she said she would eat the cost difference because of the PITA this has been--ya think?!), act like it fit well enough, and then find another fitter that could get me a correct saddle with this fancy one I now have as equity. Shady, maybe, but the shit this has spiraled into is absurd.

However.

nope.

It didn't fit me or Opie at all. I rode it in for maybe five minutes before having to get out of it. I ended up grabbing a Ryder Legacy at the same time as the Fairfax so that was up next.

I ended up dropping my stirrups another hole on this one--like, voluntarily! And I didn't remotely feel like I was reaching for them or going to lose them. I also really didn't mind riding in it. It has a narrow twist which was a different feel, but otherwise rode a lot like my County which I'm finding is my preferred style. 

I rode in it again this morning to make sure I didn't fucking hate it after all. Again, the narrow twist is different but not horrible. 

I think I could live with it if I had to. I still want to get DL's eyes on it so unless the fitter brings something much better tomorrow I'll keep this one on trial until then.