A question for sidesaddle people... AND AN UPDATE

[Brigit]

[QUOTE=JumpWithPanache;4860023]
Y’all are way too enabling. I’ve been desperately wanting to try side-saddle riding and have considered a cheapie as a way to try it to see if I like it. Sounds like I won’t get a decent idea of whether side-saddle is fun (for me) without a well-fitted saddle. Problem is, there aren’t any side-saddle people around here so I’d have to fit and learn on my own. So the question is this: If I save up to buy a mid-priced used saddle, roughly $1000-1500, will the saddle hold its value if I decide I don’t want to stick with it? Or of course, I decide I love it and want a different saddle, especially one reinforced for jumping… those are more expensive, right?

I’m thinking the “Wii Jar for Extra Change” might have to become the “Side-Saddle Jar”. :yes:[/QUOTE]

Yeah I would hold out for a good one. I’ve heard that the bad ones (if really bad) can make it much more difficult and not enjoyable to ride in compared to a good saddle. Most of it has to do with them not being built correctly; seat isn’t quite right, pommels aren’t set quite right, panels aren’t stuffed right so you tend to feel very insecure which shouldn’t be the case at all.

I would honestly try an Elan as a starter saddle, for the most part they seem to have a good reputation and I would think if it didn’t fit your horse or if you weren’t happy with the quality, you could likely return it.

As for fitting, I was in the same boat, I had nobody to help me fit the saddle so I bought one of those bendy things and did wither & back tracings of my horse and sent the cardboard cut outs down to be fitted to the saddle. Turns out it was a near perfect fit!

And yes, if you buy a good, old name saddle they generally do retain their value very well. I wouldn’t doubt that I could re-sell mine for the same as what I paid for it.

Oh and as for a sidesaddle that’s reinforced for jumping being more expensive. Not true, you can get a reinforced saddle for as little as $1000 or even less sometimes! Check out the www.sidesaddle.com website too, Linda has a pile of super neat saddles in all price ranges.

You really won’t regret saving up for a better saddle. Unlike an astride saddle that you can “make do with”, it’s hard to “make do” with a sidesaddle that doesn’t fit you or your horse or is poorly made.

[MyGiantPony]

@JumpWithPanache;4860023

Y’all are way too enabling. I’ve been desperately wanting to try side-saddle riding and have considered a cheapie as a way to try it to see if I like it. Sounds like I won’t get a decent idea of whether side-saddle is fun (for me) without a well-fitted saddle. Problem is, there aren’t any side-saddle people around here so I’d have to fit and learn on my own. So the question is this: If I save up to buy a mid-priced used saddle, roughly $1000-1500, will the saddle hold its value if I decide I don’t want to stick with it? Or of course, I decide I love it and want a different saddle, especially one reinforced for jumping… those are more expensive, right?

I’m thinking the “Wii Jar for Extra Change” might have to become the “Side-Saddle Jar”. :yes:

It would be worth it to take a day and meet up with someone like SSR who has a lot of saddles, sit on a few to get an idea of what works for you, then start shopping.

And yes, if you buy one of the Grand Old Dames at a fair price, you’ll be able to re-sell it if it doesn’t work for you. She’ll hold her value!

[JumpWithPanache]

I know there’s a woman in Colonial Williamsburg who rides side-saddle 'cus I managed to finangle my way into a carriage ride down to the barns at the end of the day. They set me loose in the barn to check out the carriage room, tack room, and horse areas. AND!!! I saw something like three side-saddles on the racks plus another on a little stand to sit on during barn tours. Do you think it’d be terribly odd to approach one of the drivers up there and inquire about who rides and if she can teach a little?

[Brigit]

[QUOTE=JumpWithPanache;4860240]
Do you think it’d be terribly odd to approach one of the drivers up there and inquire about who rides and if she can teach a little?[/QUOTE]

Not at all! I would definitely do it! I’ve gotten to do some pretty amazing stuff simply because I asked. You never know what it might lead to, if there isn’t someone there that does teach it, they might know of someone else that does. Go for it!

[midkniggit]

[QUOTE=JumpWithPanache;4860240]
I know there’s a woman in Colonial Williamsburg who rides side-saddle 'cus I managed to finangle my way into a carriage ride down to the barns at the end of the day. They set me loose in the barn to check out the carriage room, tack room, and horse areas. AND!!! I saw something like three side-saddles on the racks plus another on a little stand to sit on during barn tours. Do you think it’d be terribly odd to approach one of the drivers up there and inquire about who rides and if she can teach a little?[/QUOTE]

It’s worth a shot! Also, you’re in Hampton? I’m moving to Chesapeake next week, and would be happy to let you test-ride my sidesaddle. It’s an older Western Elan.

I managed to pick it up for $500, so it is possible to find a decent saddle without spending a fortune. The leather on the Elan is not fantastic, but the tree is properly made, so you sit correctly and are comfy and secure. I’ve done 10+ miles on the trail in it.

[AdAblurr02]

EVERYTHING you listed is WRONG. If your friend can return this thing and get her money back, she should do that. There’s no way to make this one “ridable”, at least not for anything past “wedding picture” use, and it sounds just plain dangerous. Two balance girth straps is the dead giveaway to “built by idiots who don’t give a hoot”.

FWIW, the Elan saddles do not come with the old style safety stirrup fittings (which all had two ends, one on saddle and one on leather - and were not the same maker to maker) but they do at least have a normal stirrup bar, and they do ship with a Peacock iron and balance girth. Marti is great to work with and will do her utmost to ship a saddle that will fit your horse and is appropriately sized to your measurements as well.

My Elan was just an oddball, and since I do tack and saddlery anyhow, I decided it was time to learn more about fitting and setting up a sidesaddle on my OWN experimental category saddle! I now feel confident that I can fix the Elans if they get tweaked or broken, and since that does happen (saddle gets dropped, broken in shipping, horse rubs or leans on something to itch and busts the fixed head!) and it’s good to know how.

Hope that your friend can get out of this one and into something more suitable!

Kate

[QUOTE=Brigit;4859670]
Well my friend got her saddle the other day and I hate to say it but it sounds scary. I haven’t seen it in person but from the pictures she sent me and the questions she was asking, it sounds like the makers had absolutely NO CLUE what they were doing.
I’ll list the issues so this is easy to read.

1. The seat looks like a flattened english saddle, really narrow near the front where your right thigh should rest. Actually the whole thing really DOES look just like a flattened english saddle with pomels stuck onto it.

2. The pommels look very oddly placed, I’m not sure but I have a feeling it would make a person twist sideways and be difficult to sit squarely with their hips.

3. The balance straps scare me. First off there is a strap on both the offside and the nearside for a balance strap, kind of like what a back cinch on a western saddle would be like. I have a feeling that’s what the makers thought it was supposed to be like. Could you imagine the wreck that could cause if someone did it up like that and it slid back??? Eeek!
   The saddle does NOT have a point strap to attach the balance girth to underneath the flap on the nearside. I had to explain to her that the point strap should be attached to the tree so just “getting on put on” might be costly.

4. It was supposed to come with a balance girth but it didn’t, so she asks me where she can get one and then asks if I thought it would be ok to ride in it without. I said I thought it was a bad bad idea.

5. The stirrup bar does not have a safety release mechanism.

6. The seat looks EXTREMELY slippery and small.

<SNIP>

If we sit down and think of what my friend is going to have to pay now to get this saddle rideable, I bet the difference won’t be that much.

lets say she paid $250 for the saddle, plus oh probably $100 shipping? She’s going to need to buy a balance girth - $100, and hopefully a safety stirrup - $100, maybe a stirrup leather $40 (for a cheap pair), and then she’ll likely have to pay at least $200 to get a point strap put on. So now we’re at $790. I think the cheap saddles are really one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” type things.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! To the experienced sidesaddle people out there that steered me in the right direction when I got into riding sidesaddle a year ago. I am so glad I waited and bought a nice old name saddle.[/QUOTE]

[Brigit]

@AdAblurr02;4861838

EVERYTHING you listed is WRONG. If your friend can return this thing and get her money back, she should do that. There’s no way to make this one “ridable”, at least not for anything past “wedding picture” use, and it sounds just plain dangerous. Two balance girth straps is the dead giveaway to “built by idiots who don’t give a hoot”.

I thoroughly agree. I think it could be made somewhat safe for walking around & like you said, picture purposes but for the type of riding she wants to do, I think it’s an accident waiting to happen. I asked if she can send it back but I don’t think she can. Besides, if she did, she’d probably end up paying more in shipping than she paid for the thing.
I’ll be going up her way at the end of the month for a horse show, I think I’m going to have to get her to ride in my saddle so she can see & feel what a good saddle is like and why it’s so worth it to get a good one!

[Whisper]

@analise;4858639

Do they make sidesaddles for draft horses? (my guy goes in a 36cm Duett astride).

I got to ride a Suffolk Punch sidesaddle in a clinic, and I know someone who has hunted her Shire mare aside. I’m not sure what brands they used, offhand, but they definitely exist!

You might try Ann Moss, but I don’t have any contact info for her. I understand she has taught sidesaddle lessons in Maryland, though.

[Kerrysmom818]

sidesaddles for drafts

I think Elan sidesaddles are wide enough for drafts. There are quite a few members of SOLA who ride clydes and use Elans. Contact Marti at Hundred Oaks

http://hundredoaksinc.com/

[shoutten]

Answers for ALL things sidesaddle

If you need answers for ANYTHING sidesaddle I would contact Davera Ackenbom in VA (www.foxwhisperfarm.com). She knows it all and is always happy to answer questions over the phone, email or in person. She is often the expert for writers when they need to know anything about sidesaddle for books or articles. She also taught some of the women at colonial williamsburg and a couple of movie stars how to ride aside (besides coaching national champions)! Just can’t recommend her enough

[everyequine]

[QUOTE=everyequine;4859507]
Hey Draft & DC people!

The Elan’s now come in super XX-Wide!

I too have had a few of these, and had to tweak the leaping head. I added a queen to the hunting head, and it is much more comfortable. (I found it was too far to the left for me too.) I had 3 saddles for 3 different horses. It is a good useful saddle. I still have one that I use. I also have a Mayhew, and am spoiled by it, but I can ride the Elan comfortably on the horse it was bought for.
Other than the few adjustments I made it is ready to ride right out of the box. I didn’t tear down the tree just had my husband bend the leaping head for me… the leather part slips off and exposes the metal. He did it carefully.
Contact Marti, www.hundredoaksinc.com she will gladly help you, and she has many old English makes available too.
American Lady Aside http://www.americanladyaside.com/ALA1.html also consigns saddles, and has some nice ones available.
http://americansidesaddleassociation.org/[/QUOTE]

Yes, they do make them in XXW, pretty generous trees, and they have a gullet that is wide all the way through.

[sadlmakr]

I am impressed with the acurate knowledge you ladies have about a properly made sidesaddle. Hooray!
Most of the Asian imports are immitation sidesaddles. Not real sidesaddles at all. And you are right about them being made on astride trees with the horns stuck on in the wrong places. AND the double balance girths (one on each side?) is a tip off that the maker knew nothing about what he was doing.
I have had these come through my shop and yes it takes time to take the panels off and remove the extra balance girth and reflock the panels so they don’t dump the rider off to the left(add a balance billet). The leaping horn on most is too far back and doesn’t let the leg in to the saddle. I did take one off and put it forward under the top pommel or fixed horn. But all that takes money to do. It is better to go with someone who you know will give you a decent saddle. I also recommend Marti at Hundred Oaks. She has wide and extra wide tree sidesaddles.
It is a big problem even with some American made Western sidesaddles that the trees are made wrong. Some well known high end saddlers have made sidesaddles that are beautiful works of art. But they built them on trees that are no good. Not made right and not balanced to keep the rider in proper postition. Then the sport of sidesaddle gets a bad name. Not the fact the tree makers don’t know what they are doing.
It is too bad because there are lots of proper trees available for the treemakers to copy.
I see Asian imports on Ebay all the time that some tack dealer got stuck with and they are dropping the prices down to $199. in some cases. Don’t get “taken”. They are not made right.
'I was asked “how can these people sell things not made right.” Because there is no regulation of the saddle industry. It is a “free trade” country and it is the buyer who should beware.
If people do not buy them, they will not sell them.
Sidesaddle can be fun and safe IF you get a good well made, well fitted sidesaddle. Just be careful what you buy and from whom you buy it.
JMHO
sadlmakr