I trail ride my Mustang quite often 4-5 days a week. We do lots of riding over obstacles and jumping logs and ditches at all gaits. I ride western. I am too chicken to ride english. My joints do not hold up like they used to.
Has anyone cut the horn off of a western saddle? The horn gets in my way. I am afraid of impailing myself on the horn.
What do you think?
Just buy yourself a hornless aussie saddle. That is what I have. I feel secure (I had a bad XC accident 10 yrs ago) and yet can do what needs to be done without a horn in the way.
I have a western style endurance saddle, high in pommel and high cantle, very secure for trail riding without being poked by the horn.
I knew a person who cut the horse off a western saddle. She did endurance riding and had this old saddle that fit her horse really well and was old and beat up. So she took it off with a hack saw. Much to her suprise it was a metal horn which is a bit uncommon and was tough sawing. She had to wrap the pommel with a strip of leather to cover the cut. It did work, so if you have an old saddle that fits your horse then why not?
Bonnie S.
I know of people who’ve done it. You can cut it off with a sawzall and either file down the sharp edges and/or wrap the pommel with leather or a piece of inner tube.
I’m afraid of impaling myself on Western horns in general. 
Especially when dismounting 
Or worse, getting your shirt caught. Now that is quite the embarrassing moment…
But to the OP, if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, do you have a local saddle repair shop or tack store that could help you do it?
I totally see your point, why go out and spend money on a brand new saddle if your current one fits you and your horse.
Practically all horns are metal bolted on, then covered.
On some of the really old saddles of the 1910-20’s, the metal horns were not covered.
Grandma’s saddle was like that.
Mexican saddles have the very thick, wood horn, but they don’t generally tie hard, but dally carefully, so the rope slides, doesn’t take a hard jerk that may break the wooden horn.
I would take the saddle to a saddlemaker and ask them to remove the horn, but it would make more sense to learn to ride with the horn or get another saddle with a smaller or no horn.
If your saddle is a barrel racing or cutting saddle, those have the sharp taller narrower horns that can poke at you.
Many riders really don’t like those extra tall skinny horns, because if you and the horse fall, they can hurt you badly.
[QUOTE=chicamuxen1;3097823]
I knew a person who cut the horse off a western saddle. [/QUOTE]
Wow that’s crazy, she could have just unsaddled him
(lame joke I know)
The problem with getting another saddle is that my mushtang is hard to fit. This is the first saddle that really fits him well. I am going to try it out for a while to make sure it is one that I am going to keep for him. I don’t care how it looks. I really like the saddle. I have never liked horns anyways. Get in the way. Always catching on something, like my tummy.
I would take it to a saddler and maybe cover up the defect with leather wrap or rawhide to decorate it up a bit. Saddle would look fine without it.
Thanks.
I rode with a girl about 6 years ago out on the trail. We decided to canter, I was in front, she was behind me. All of a sudden I hear her start cussing at her horse and look behind me. The horse is bucking like a bronc, and she goes to grab the horn, and it flies off in her hand and flies over the horse about 20 feet in front of him:eek:
I’m suprised she stayed on. A month later she put her saddle up for sale. Don’t know if anyone ever bought it though.
Maria
[QUOTE=mustangtrailrider;3099968]
The problem with getting another saddle is that my mushtang is hard to fit. This is the first saddle that really fits him well. I am going to try it out for a while to make sure it is one that I am going to keep for him. I don’t care how it looks. I really like the saddle. I have never liked horns anyways. Get in the way. Always catching on something, like my tummy.
I would take it to a saddler and maybe cover up the defect with leather wrap or rawhide to decorate it up a bit. Saddle would look fine without it.
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
I did this with a saddle of mine. I took it to a person that does saddle repair. She cut off the horn and wrapped it with a leather that matched the saddle. Worked fine for me; however, the saddle was not worth much so I wasn’t worried about effecting it’s value anyway.
i had this done to my big horn saddle. i also hated getting hung up on the horn,but did like the deeper seat it provided for long trails. so far,so good.
I bet there’s a way that a saddle shop could open the leather on the pommel from the bottom, pull it back, remove the horn, and then lace the leather back together, while covering the hole where the horn was. I sure wouldn’t buy a new saddle if the only problem is the horn.
Or you could just apply the hacksaw. :lol: If it were me, I’d just hacksaw it off, then wrap the horn in leather latigo material. By the time you cover it up with a rain slicker and pommel bag, nobody would ever be able to tell anyway.
:lol: Oh that’s hilarious! Probably not for her at the time though. That’s a real pickle when your “oh sheeeeet” handle snaps off. :lol:
YES you can get the horn cut off
I’ve had the horns cut off several different western saddles over the years. NO problem if you find a good saddler. They just wrap the bare spot with leather, and voila, you’ve got your own endurance saddle!
I’ve had it done to several Big Horn saddles, because their endurance saddles don’t fit my horses, but their trail saddles do. I’ve even had a horn removed from a Bob Marshall treeless, because you cannot post in a BM with a horn without hurting yourself!
I’ve also seen a few other people do the same thing. If you have a saddle that fits but the horn is in your way, have a good saddler cut it off and you won’t have to go through the hassle of finding another saddle to fit.
Thank you for the support. I don’t really care about resale. It is a saddle that fits horse. I don’t want to find another saddle. This is our 6th one I believe. He has changed shape quite a bit. Otherwise, he is a good boy.
I hate jumping debris and having a horn in my gut. LOL. Not much fun.
If you know anyone with a SAWSALL they can quickly and cleanly cut the horn off even if it is steel. Any welding shop or even alot of garages will have a sawsall. It is just a power hawksaw. Most muffler shops will have a sawsall.
You can cut it youself or also use a 4 1/2 inch grinder with a chop saw blade also. Using a hand saw is about the hardest way since it is manual and you have to hold the saddle steady while sawing.
I think it is a good idea and a good wrapping afterwards will cover up the cut.
I have used wet rawhide for this since it can be wrapped really tightly and when the rawhide dries it really pulls itself tight and with careful wrapping can look good.
Cut the horn
I did it and like the results
I cut the horn off of my Abetta western saddle a couple of weeks ago. My horse needed a slightly wider saddle than my Abetta endurance model, and the Arabian-tree western fits me better as well. I felt like that horn was aiming at my gut, and I’ve even occasionally had my coat catch on it when my horse gets up to his antics. Not fun and it only fueled my fear.
I cut the horn off with a hack saw and covered the opening with duct tape that matches my bridle. It ain’t pretty, but I feel oh so much safer without that horn! I’m too lazy to sew a real leather patch on there, and the saddle is synthetic anyway. I thought about using bicycle tape to cover it and have a nice look, but the duct tape was fast and didn’t lower the wither clearance.
If you put your reins in your left hand and then put that hand on the top of the horn, it’s impossible to hook yourself up. In any case, you think stepping off your horse, not laying flat and rolling off.
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