What makes a western saddke a “lady” version? Are they sized differently, or is it cosmetic, or same saddle with lighter tree?
You might find some helpful info on this thread from 7 years ago:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/off-course/75597-western-saddles-for-ladies
And maybe here:
http://www.cowboyway.com/Saddles/LadyTrailSaddles.php
Thanks for those links! I am newly in the market for a western saddle and didn’t see an obvious answer…just wanted to make sure there was nothing so obvious that my boyfriend would not want to ride in a girl’s saddle, lol
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Issue may not be obvious until he sits in the saddle for a while. Narrow twist is the most common detail in ladies saddles, but there used to be a tendency to build up front padding to keep rider in place (western equitation seat saddles) that just did not work for male riders.
Wider twist, flatter seat saddles, are what is preferred by the male riders I know who spend a fair amount of time on that saddle riding. True for both English and Western saddles.
It’s the twist, usually that’s created by building the seat with a “strainer” to lift and narrow the twist right under the crotch. Ladies saddle also, usually, has shorter fenders since most ladies tend to be shorter legged then most men.
Obviously these generalizations don’t apply to everybody, some gals like the wider, flatter twist but never knew a guy who was comfortable in a “Ladies” seat. My custom saddle did have the strainer, was never comfortable with the wide, flat seat but that was/is also due to being short with long waist and shorter leg…felt like I was sitting on a beer barrel in a regular saddle and fenders were always at least a hole too long.
Even now, if I pay to take a trail ride somewhere pretty, I ask for a Lady or kid sized saddle.
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Look up McCall saddles. They have lady Wade and lady Pendleton. Both are a built-up ground seat with more scooping out for womens rounder thighs. But I don’t think they use a big riser in front. The leather itself may be a thinner wt. I don’t think they use lighter trees. Look at various custom saddle makers for their lady versions. Iirc, many said that some men prefer the lady versions, too. Those working cowboy / ranch saddle seats are very broad and flat. Like sitting on a steel drum. The Rocking R Wade is one of the most painful things I have ever ridden. Just too dam wide of a seat. Wide twist is not the prob. More like the seat lacks a twist completely, and is wide all the way from front to back. The lady versions build a ground seat that’s up above that wide tree and has sloped sides that a woman can get her legs around. Women in another forum said you can get a good saddle maker to retrofit a new ground seat that will reshape the saddle seat to be more of that “lady” design. I don’t know what that costs.
Interesting about the twist – that is what he said he liked, felt like thighs were in a channel. I, OTOH, like the wide, flat, hard seats. Men have narrower hips, it would seem they might prefer a narrow twist, but I didn’t know about the built up riser. I’ll take a look at McCall. My favorite is a Wade, but too heavy.
Well, I ended up with a Martin Wade at 38 lbs after all. It was in the consignment section of Broken Horn so I could get it for a lower price and a trial period. Saddle fit is so hard, but this seemed to work for all three of us. I used wither tracings, walking/trotting horse with un-cinched saddle, dressage trainer input, sweat marks (to a degree, seems a wool pad absorbs a lot) and no obvious red flags. So… seemed the best thing was to go for it, discover what I like/don’t like and sell it later if it doesn’t work as I thought. And if it is working well, I can order a custom saddle and still have something to ride in while it is being made.
Thanks for the feedback on ladies saddles. We are going to Cowboy Christmas and hope to find one to sit on!
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