Hi everyone,
I will be teaching my nieces to ride, ages 6 and 11. The 11 year old is about 4’11 and the 6 year old is average height for her age. I don’t think the family is interested in buying two saddles to accomadate both perfectly. They have ridden in my 17 inch with no problems. I have found a few decent used saddles locally but both are 17 inch. Do you think this will be to large? Any input is appreciated.
At this point in their riding education…I don’t see saddle size as a major issue. One 16.5" saddle would be nice, but I’m sure you can get the basics underway with a 17". Good for you to teach them.
A 17" saddle is pretty big for a little kid. They can ride but it will be a disadvantage.
On eBay, you can almost certainly find a 15" Stubben Rex saddle for a couple hundred dollars. It won’t be the prettiest saddle, but it will be a better fit, and you can sell it again when you’re done.
What I’d suggest is start them out in what you have and see if they’re really going to stick with it. And start prowling eBay so that when a bargain comes along, you’re ready. When you get to the intersection of “I’m sure these kids are at least $x committed” with “Oh, I found a great saddle for $x,” you’ll be ready. 
Make sure that if nothing else you get small stirrups for the 6 year old. (I would recommend peacock stirrups). A child’s foot can slip through adult ones with disastrous results. The 11 year old might be ok.
Thank you everyone for your replies! I will absoluetly be using safety sturrips for them in a smaller size than adult sizes.
Two things you didn’t asked that I learned teaching my daughter.
When teaching beginners, keeping their confidence is absolutely critical. Riding school horses know their job so well and are in regular work, in a way those of us teaching just one kid on our own sometimes forget. So be methodical in your prep - check in with the horse before you put a kid on it by riding a few minutes or putting the horse on a lunge line earlier that day, especially if the horse wasn’t worked the day before.
Half of what makes riding fun is the social aspect of it, so finding them a group of other kids to ride with could in the long term be what keeps them excited.
Yes, most definitely if you are going to actually teach them to ride, that is, more than just going around at a walk. I am 5’ tall, and there is no way I can ride comfortably in my husband’s 18" all purpose saddle. Even a 16.5" is too large for me, depending on the brand. I have a Stubben Rex that is 50 years old. I love it, fits me like a glove, and is not for sale under any circumstances.
I used to teach little kids at a big riding school. The smaller kids all used the same saddles as the adults. I didn’t find it a big issue with the deeper seated and well broken in ancient all purpose saddles (that had a straighter flap), but did find it an issue with the close contact/forward flap saddles.
Put the bigger kid in your 17" with stirrups that fit her boots, and pick up a 16" for the smaller sister. It might be a little big for a while, but that beats replacing a 15" in a year. The smallest saddles never seem to fit anyone very well, anyway.
I’m not sure that the seat size is as important as the flap size. For beginners I’ve always found that it is better to err on the smaller side rather than the bigger size.
The pony saddles have shorter flaps and it helps the kids get their legs around the horse than just having 99% of their legs on the flaps.
The bigger seat size also isn’t nearly as secure as a smaller seat size.
I found when my girls were small that the Pessoa pony saddles held their value very well and were very easy to resell after they outgrew them. I even made some money on a couple of the saddles.
I know that parents might not want to purchase a saddle but the Pessoa (or Bevals or like saddles) will be easy to resell and will hold their value as long as the kids take care of them. They are pretty hardy saddles, I can’t say that my girls were great about care but they did clean up well when I conditioned them etc.
It’s really hard for the kids to learn to ride without tack that fits.
Pessoa makes a 15 3/4" seat and it would probably work really well for both girls. It will be a little big for the 6 year old but should last the older one until she’s ready to fit into an adult saddle.
Both of my girls went from a 15 3/4 to a 16.5 or 17" saddle (depending on the brand) with ease. The 15 3/4 had a little shorter flaps than an adult 16" and the flap size is what they actually outgrew first, not so much the seat because they were both really thin at that age.
I’d personally much rather be in a saddle which is too small and flaps that are too short than in a saddle which is too big. I’m much more stable that way.
Unless they both have long legs/thighs, I wouldn’t try to teach them much in a 17" saddle. That’s just too big for them. DD is tall and just outgrew her 16.5 this year at age 12. Years ago, when we changed her to a nice (not expensive) saddle that fit her well, her riding grew in leaps & bounds. If they don’t fit the tack, they’re just going to fight the saddle. Fighting for position will make it far less fun. Nice kid/pony saddles aren’t hard to find, nor are they expensive. Look for the Pessoa or Bevals - around here they’re easy to find for less than $500 and then resell for the same.
It isn’t the seat size, it’s the geometry. The problem with a too big saddle is that the lowest point( hopefully in the middle) is too far behind the stirrup bars, putting the rider automatically in a chair seat, and making posting very difficult. I work with a couple of 5-6-7 year olds, and they’re all pretty solid in the Wintec kids saddle. I agree with hype- you can probably get a few right-size saddles pretty inexpensively and, if you take care of them, sell them on for about what you paid. If you get a 16 for the older child, she can pass it down when she outgrows it. And you’ll probably get a few years out of the 15 for the smaller child. On the other hand, if you handicap both with inappropriate saddles, they won’t stick with it very long.
A few years ago we were watching a Denny Emerson clinic at Equine Affaire. One woman was in a GIANT saddle. Denny suggested she find a more appropriate one. When the woman objected, Denny said something to the effect of “First, blame the equipment. When that is fixed, you have a chance to get it right.” She came back the next day in a much smaller saddle, and, wonder of wonders, she could actually do what Denny was suggesting.
IMO this is at least as true for a beginner as for an advanced rider.
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