I’m looking for a new saddle for my 6 yo barrel horse. I’m going to get her fitted for it no matter the brand, but was wondering what your favorites are? I’ve always wanted a double J featherlite, but for some reason I’m seeing people say they aren’t high quality. I know Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi uses them, but I suppose that doesn’t mean they are the best quality. I’m more so leaning towards a Martin now, but I also want something light ish (30 lb max) and Martin saddles can be kinda heavy with their nice leather. Any opinions on a double J, Robbie Phillips, Martin, etc? Id like to stay away from synthetic leather, I need something that’ll last awhile. Thanks for reading!
I have a Dakota that is almost thirty years old and it is used almost daily, often more than once. I like the fit on most of my horses, lightweight, and has held up well.
I have another Dakota that is a youth saddle that has also held up well. I believe it is about twenty-five years old. It does need a visit to the saddle repair man for some minor things but overall is in good shape.
Of course I have not looked at a new one so the quality may have changed.
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My Dakota is nearly 20 years old and has been wonderful as well. They’re very well made for the price, IMO!
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I tried a Double J on my main mare when I bought her. Beautiful saddle, lovely leather, and fit her decently, but I myself just could not get use to the seat style. In general, Double J is a good brand.
I don’t have experience myself with Robbie Philips but that’s one of those saddles that is REALLY popular right now and I know a lot of people that have them and love them.
I have tried a few Martin’s over the years when I was saddle shopping. I don’t know – there’s whole theory of fitting wide and shimming never quite made sense to me. And yes, they are HEAVY in general. Now, with that said, if I do ever need to buy a saddle again, I would love to check out the Lisa Lockhart Fearless.
I currently ride in what used to be her design at Circle Y before she left to go to Martin. I have three of her Circle Y saddles. One when she still have her name on it, then my next one was called “Badlands” when they didn’t have an endorser, and now my newest one has Sarah Rose’s name on it. It’s all the exact same tree and fits the exact same, although one of my trees is the WIDE and the other two are the REGULAR. It’s the Flex2 tree. I’ve used them on so many different horses and they fit everything. No dry patches. Even sweat marks. Never ever have issues with sore back. Love them. Fits my butt and fits my horses. 
Now, if I am going to make one complaint about the Flex2 by Circle Y is their leather quality. Its mediocre. Which is sad, because Circle Y used to be a top western brand 30 or 40 years ago. Now it’s cheap stiff leather. But I guess until I find something I like better, I’ll stick with it because I’m very used to how I sit in their saddles, and they are comfortable for me, and fit the horses.
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This was super helpful! I also agree about the circle y thing. They’re still a good saddle brand but I have the Kelly Kaminski wide flex2 for my black gelding in my pfp. It’s super light and I really like it but the dye washed out while we were in the pouring rain at Martha Josey’s, and the d ring where my Latigo/billet goes has some stitching falling out. I’m sure it will still last a long time coming though. Thanks for this reply exactly what I was looking for!!
Just FYI, that the tree in the Kelly Kaminski Flex2 is slightly different than the Sarah Rose and it will fit differently.
I ordered a KK regular tree one year and I found it popped up in the back on the horse I was trying to fit. Got the other Flex2 tree (that Lisa Lockhart started with) and fit great. I emailed Circle Y to ask the spec differences and they are only a few degrees different here and there, but that’s all it takes - a few degrees! - to go from “not fitting” to “fitting”.
How does the Kelly wide look on the horse you are trying to fit? Too wide?
Care to try it and post pictures, for reference? I’m guessing it will be too wide but you never know sometimes. Or if it looks half decent, go for a ride in it and see what the seat marks look like.
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I have two horses right now and my KK fits perfect on my 16 yo black horse. The horse I’m currently needing a new one for is my young dun mare. I’m thinking about a double J as I’ve heard they have a lot of tree types and styles for different horses. Luckily we are going to see a 3 yo in Oklahoma this week so we will probably take the dun with us to get her fitted in Texas. <3
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Not a barrel saddle, but I had a Double J Cutter for a specific that I loved. It was comfortable, lighter weight, and fit that horse well. It didn’t fit our super round, brick house horses great. However, I bought it second hand so I didn’t do anything custom. I’m sure you could.
My friend runs in the Double J pro flex or feather light and loves them. She’s bought multiple!
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Hey just to let you know we haven’t been to a “certified” saddle fitter yet but we’ve met with some friends who can decently fit a saddle and have came to the conclusion that although it doesn’t fit her perfectly, my kk flex tree is the best of everything. She’s getting fit at Robbie Phillips next month but I was wondering if you knew what these dry spots meant? I’ve never seen them in this area before. We had her adjusted at the chiro right before I started riding in this one and she was super messed up. Her most recent visit at the chiro there was nothing wrong with her since I started riding in it. She is cinchy though.
I’ve found that the dry spots are much less noticeable if I ride in thinner pads.
Dry spots mean one of two things
- Your saddle is NOT contacting the back and therefore not getting sweaty (“bridging”)
- Your saddle is way too TIGHT in that spot which creates a pressure point which inhibits the sweat glands from working
So without also seeing pictures of your saddle fit, that’s really hard to answer.
If you think it is better when you ride with a thinner pad, then that may support your saddle is too tight in that location. (Hypothetically, a thinner pad would make the lack of contact worse.)
