Paying it Forward

When I was in my first couple years of university, I started taking lessons from an instructor named Val. She had a background in both hunters and dressage, and she was the one who got me started on the road to dressage. I owe a lot to her instruction: she was the one who taught me what collection felt like (early stages at least). She's the one who taught me what shoulder-in and haunches-in were and how to do them. The list goes on. Of course, I was paying her to teach me those things. There was one way that she went above and beyond her role though, and that was lending me her dressage saddle.

At the time, I was riding in my old, old Stubben all-purpose that I had always ridden in. It worked to a point, but then came the time where it was hard to keep progressing without the right saddle for the job. I had never sat in a dressage saddle at that point, and she allowed me to ride in her personal dressage saddle so I could feel the difference. First, I rode in it just for lessons. Then she extended the offer to allow me to borrow it any time I was out when she wasn't using it. The dressage saddle did make a positive difference.

A few months later, I moved to another city for 8 months for an intern job. There, I was able to save up some money and buy my own dressage saddle - the Jag that I have owned ever since.

The day I bought the Jag

I don't think I ever thanked Val enough for how much I appreciated the saddle loan. Being able to ride in a dressage saddle as a poor student helped me to make the commitment to dressage without having to shell out $$ before I had it.

Now, it's my turn. Since bringing home my unicorn, I now have an extra dressage saddle that I'm not using. I reached out to a young rider in my area. She is an extremely dedicated rider, and has recently found a love of dressage, but as a student she is not in a place where she can replace her jumping saddle right now. I've offered her a mid to long term loan of my Jag until she no longer needs it.

Do you have any tack lying around that you can't bring yourself to sell (might need it someday!), but that you aren't using? I challenge you to see if a loan of it would help some young rider in your community.