Cob Jockey

 Amazing Patrick saddle fitter Kate lives near Lamplight, and I knew GP trainer had told her about my CWD saga, but I was still surprised when CGP told me Kate was going to show up with a loaner Patrick for me.

Mary with the truth bombs, lol

I was even more surprised when Kate showed up with a BRAND NEW loaner Patrick. Like I don't think it had even been girthed before. But I wasn't at all surprised when she set it on his back and it fit like it was made for him.

Mary: "That's a pretty darn good look for a random loaner..."

She set it on him, stepped back, and made an "Am I good, or am I good?" expression with a wry smile. It was perfect. She had been prepared to adjust the flocking, but didn't need to in the end. It's almost-but-not-quite perfect for me, mainly in the flaps which are far too long, but I didn't even say that out loud, I was just so grateful to her for bringing it after how hard he'd objected to the Trilogy that morning.

Could definitely be worse shoulder fit

The final surprise came when she told me I could keep it until mine comes in, free of charge. And THIS is why I bought a Patrick, in the end. I consider the price I paid not just the price of the saddle, but also paying for the relationship with this very talented saddle fitter who is just as invested in my own success as my trainer is.

Part of the reason she's letting me borrow it indefinitely may be that there's still no ETA on my own saddle. They're having supply-chain-related sourcing issues for materials, and England may be heading for yet another lockdown, so saddles are taking longer than usual to get done. My trainer's barn's saddles they ordered in the 1-2 months before mine just came in two weeks ago, so mine could be another 2-3 months.

SERGE PANELSSSSSSS! The care instructions for serge are "use a lint roller on them sometimes". That's...it. I just love it.

I rode in it just long enough Friday afternoon to determine I loved it. I was once again struck by the same feeling I wrote about in November of 2019, that a well-fitted Patrick makes Dressage easier (not sure if it's the "well-fitted" part or the "Patrick" part, but the two go hand in hand thanks to Kate so it doesn't really matter). 

Connor immediately lowered his head and relaxed over his topline in a way he hadn't with the Trilogy, or even with the CWD in a while for that matter.

Happy boy

So that's what we took into the show ring the next day!