I really enjoy riding in my Courbette Vision Cross Country saddle while trail riding. Very, very comfortable!!
I love my DeSoto endurance saddle and have about 2000 AERC miles in it. I highly recommend it for horse and rider comfort.
If you don’t like wide twists, they might not be for you, but I recently started riding in my treeless Barefoot Cheyenne again. I bought it about 10 years ago and never rode in it that much (didn’t seem to like it much back then) but recently brought it out again and wow, I love it now. My Arabs are both round and wide and extra wide and they are both moving super in it, much better than their treed saddles. I just did a 25 in it and did great. The Barefoot saddles are reasonably priced too.
Big thigh blocks can be very useful if they fit you correctly. In your way if they don’t. My Atena has a pretty substantial block, but it really only comes into play if I’m up galloping, or headed down a steep incline. In both of those cases, it lends support and lets me use my muscles a little less, which = less fatigue over the length of a ride.
I have to put in a plug for a Barefoot London. It’s treeless, dressage, and I love the deep seat and close contact. I’m going to add a full fleece seat soon. I use it on a gaited Standardbred and I think he’s very comfortable in it.
Stubben Scout. This is their police/military saddle.
Pros: Medium weight; lots of D-rings; very comfortable seat; neutral seat (puts the rider neither forward nor backward and allows a very balanced seat and the ability to move forward or backward as a situation might demand); fits a variety of back conformations; allows easy shoulder movement.
Cons: Not cheap (but you get what you pay for); comes in any color you want as long as it’s Black or Honey; minimum seat size is 18" (English measurement); hard to find used.
They look like this: http://stubbennorthamerica.com/product/scout-saddle/
A quick search did not turn up any used ones for sale.
Been riding mine for almost 10 years on our Marchadors and it works very well.
G.
At a large local tack store while talking saddles the manager said the Stubbens have a very hard seat so that put me off them.
I don’t want a treeless saddle,
Can’t believe its so hard to find a good trail/pleasure saddle. I was looking at some deep seat dressage saddles but no room for dee rings and not sure I’m strong enough to ride that all day.
Rode my old western saddle last week because it sort of fits him and just about destroyed my hip. I really need the range of motion I get from english leathers, often changing lengths during a long ride really helps hip and knees.
I looked at the smith worthington web site, trail and police saddles but wide twists and u need to have a local dealer to fit your horse.
I have a beautiful Steele saddle but it is to narrow for him and sweat marks show bridging when I ride him in it. Its in prefect condition and will be sold when I can find a new saddle.
Help
For me, my Steubben feels like “coming home.” I get up on my horse and settle into that thing after a long day, and it’s like the weight of the day just falls off. Definitely not too hard a seat. Just the right amount of smoochness, for lack of a better (or real) word, to welcome your seat, but not restrict it.
If you find a saddle you like, you can put D rings on it; that’s an easy fix, as I understand it (I had extras put on my Steubben). .
I’ve been looking into all the saddle recomendations, wow some lovely looking saddles like Frank Baines. BUT gaited riding is different , most of these saddles have a forward seat ,for trotting , jumping , getting up off the horses back. I guess thats why a friend suggested dressage saddle because of the placement of the stirrup bars give you the long straight leg for deep gaiting horse. My horse can over stride 30 inches w/o even asking him and more than that at a running walk which of course I wouldn’t ask him to do for long on a trail ride but his usual relaxed walk is over 24" . For you who ride trotters I mean thats how far his hind foot lands over where his front foot lands.
Anyway can’t see me all day trail riding in a dressage saddle. Some gaited folks use the :chair seat but thats not for me, thats the old fashioned TWH look, seat back hunched over. How awful.
I’ve looked into some of the “gaited” saddles suggested and most are using Steele Trees which are to narrow for this flat backed horse.
Twenty yrs. ago I’d just use a bareback pad. Anyone figured out time travel yet?
Field trial saddles. Haggis is my go to brand. Theres many more out there. Very secure seat. you will be pleased.
The Stubben does not have a hard seat. I’ve got a 1903 British Yeomanry Officer’s Saddle (made in the late 1940s) that was common in the British Army. THAT has a hard seat!
The Stubben is not overstuffed like a Cossack saddle but is not at all “hard.”
With any saddle you have to sit in one (even if just on a stand) to get a “first look” at how it feels to you. 
G.
Look into the Thorowgood endurance saddles. They have a straighter flap, so that you can ride with a longer leg. I have one and can ride for hours. Can
t ride in a saddle with a forward flap as it kills my hip.
[QUOTE=walkers;8011008]
I’ve looked into some of the “gaited” saddles suggested and most are using Steele Trees which are to narrow for this flat backed horse.
Twenty yrs. ago I’d just use a bareback pad. Anyone figured out time travel yet?[/QUOTE]
Steele Saddle Tree Company makes dozens of trees with different rock, twist, flair and available in gullet widths all the way up to draft. They sell bare trees to companies such as Allegany Mountain Trail Saddles, Crates, etc.
Steele Saddles are a completely different company that sells saddles, saddles NOT made on the trees by Steele Saddle Tree Company. They are a saddle some people love, other hate (chair seat), and they do not have as many fit options.
Just in case you thought they are one in the same, which many people do……
Steele is an excellent choice. Their “try before you buy” program is outstanding because they will send you a used saddle you can actually ride and then make up your mind. A lot of places will allow a trial, but “if you scratch it you bought it.” With Steele that’s not so much an issue.
My wife had a Steele Plantation years ago and liked it very much. I tried it and it just wasn’t for me. Some makers use a different tree for men or women riders. I don’t remember whether Steele does or not. In any event it was great for her and I didn’t like it at all.
Today we both ride Stubbens.
G.
I have a Parelli saddle and I love it. It’s a western but when I look at it from underneath it looks English then it has small fenders and the stirups are turned. It give a lot of room at the shoulders and withers. I really like my saddle!
I used to ride in Stubbens when I rode Arabians; I did not find the seat too hard, but one synthetic I had was like riding a board! However, I got a nice -real sheepskin- seat cover and the seat was perfect. Just be aware that it will take up about half an inch in your seat.
For my last gaited horse, I got a Buena Vista saddle from http://www.hillcrestsaddlery.com/ I took photos and wire tracings and he made a saddle that fit my horse (and me) well. The panels are stuffed (like old style English saddles) and can be changed somewhat to fit another horse if needed. The stirrups are on leathers (I don’t like western fenders either) and the seat is “suspended” and lets you find your own “sweet spot”. They were designed and made long ago when gaited horses were much more common.
I sold that horse, and the saddle fit my new horse pretty well. But - the new horse had a poor topline, once I got him fit and muscled up, the saddle no longer fit. I was able to sell my Buena Vista quickly, then got my next saddle from http://www.sycamorecreeksaddles.com/
Again, photos and wire tracings. They are also specific to gaited horses, though now they do make trees that are suitable for trotting horses. The trees for all of the saddles are “western”, but the finished saddle can look western, endurance, english, or like a traditional South American saddle. The saddle built for me had elements of three different saddles from the website. It was very easy to work with Tony. The saddles are made one at a time in Bogota Columbia. When there is a “batch” to ship, they all come at once to Tony (he’s in TN) and then he ships them to each buyer. Having had saddles made for me before, I’ve had waits of 4 months to a year! Sycamore is much faster (not as fast as off the rack of course) and has a generous return policy.
These saddles also have padding in the underside of the saddle, so you only need a fairly thin pad, not a big heavy western pad.
Those paso saddles are so beautiful, thanks for the links
Looked through the Stubben site and found they make a Gaited pleasure saddle, deep seat.
Anyone experienced with this saddle?
Thanks
I wish I had known about them when I was looking!
This seems like a thoughtful review: http://www.horsetackreview.com/review-display/12982.html
And here are a couple of gals who clearly love theirs: http://gaitedhorses.net/forum/index.php?topic=4635.0
Stubben no longer makes gaited horse saddles.
They didn’t recommend the Scout for a deep gaiting horse, too forward a seat.
I am not finding anything thats not western which I can’t ride.
Money s not a issue ,
who have thunk?
It is not listed on their website, but Allegany used to (and probably still would) make a plantation style fender, like this….
http://s19.photobucket.com/user/krahm558/media/AMT%20SADDLES/LT16enduranceplantation.jpg.html?sort=3&o=62
