Handmade Western saddles versus top brands

[Scribbler]

At our last horse expo/trade fair, I got talking to a number of people in the region who build Western saddles from scratch. They buy the trees from a manufacturer, visit to fit the right tree to the horse, and then make you a saddle to your specifications. The starting price they generally quoted was around CAN $2000, though I’m sure it would climb up once you started wanting options, especially carving.

I’m riding English at the moment, and this amount of custom work for the price sounds like a insanely good deal! If you wanted to buy a good brand of jumping or dressage saddle new, it would run at least $4000 to $6000. And while you could order options and have the panels stuffed to fit better, you don’t get a choice of tree and the saddle is in no way truly custom-built. No one locally is making English saddles from scratch.

My question: do you think you’d get a better fit plus quality overall buying a handmade Western saddle from someone reputable, over a name brand ready-made saddle?

I think that probably if I go shopping for a Western saddle I will end up looking at good used saddles, like I did for my English saddle. But it would be nice to know if full custom is a reasonable back-up plan if maresy is hard to fit.

[aktill]

For $2000 they aren’t using trees any better than a store saddle. That may not mean they don’t fit your horse, but a truly custom tree alone is $500+

[Palm_Beach]

I really like the Circle Y flex2 tree, it’s been a great fit on several different horses.

[Aces_N_Eights]

$2000 is a pretty cheap base price for a custom saddle. Just because it is handmade doesn’t always means it’s better. There are some saddle builders stuff I wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole.
My everyday work saddle is a fairly basic roughout and it was still over $5k to build.

[rainpants]

My saddle was about $2000 new, custom and hand made. No carving, but well made. It isn’t a custom tree but I found that stores here were not carrying what I needed for my mare, its all SQH made for a narrow horse (primarily barrel saddles) or FQH bars which never quite fit right. She ended up with QH bars (something I hardly ever see) and the tree picked was the one that was the best fit for her overall shape. The rest of the saddle had the things I like - nice suede seat, relatively low horn, skirts, rigging etc all the way I want them.

I’m very happy with the end result and it is quite well made. Better made than most of the brand name saddles I’ve owned. It’s plain, but I’ve owned probably a half dozen saddles from that many brands and this is definitely my favourite. (Though the memory foam in the Continental I had that didn’t fit her - so cushy on my tush, I do miss that on long days!)

http://www.baileysaddlery.com/

[Mukluk]

@Scribbler;8690814

If you wanted to buy a good brand of jumping or dressage saddle new, it would run at least $4000 to $6000.

$4000- $6,000? That seems mighty steep to me. What kind of saddle are you talking about? Just curious.

[Scribbler]

[QUOTE=Mukluk;8691128]
$4000- $6,000? That seems mighty steep to me. What kind of saddle are you talking about? Just curious.[/QUOTE]

This is in Canadian dollars Even before the exchange rate tanked last year, Canadian prices still were running 20 % to 30 % higher than the U.S.

These saddles are not kept in stock by Canadian tack stores. You either have to special order, or to go through an independent rep, if one exists in your region. Prices will vary also depending on the leather, options, etc., you get.

I would call these basic reputable brands. If you want Hermes :), that’s $8500, so over $10,000 Canadian. That would be considered a splurge

Passier (German), about $4000
County (British), the same or a bit more, I think (they don’t list prices on the dealer site)
Schleese (Canadian), $5000 to $6000 depending on model (friends have bought recently so I know :))
CWD (French), I think $6000 to $7000, given what the secondhand models are selling for (I saw a second hand excellent condition for $5000).
Stubben (German), $3000 to $4000

http://www.bahrsaddlery.com/passier-optimum-ii-dressage-saddle-37801.html

http://www.bahrsaddlery.com/for-the-horse.html?manufacturer=3294&price=4%2C1000

An English saddle selling new, full-price, in the Canadian $2000 range, might be considered a good starter saddle for the price, or a piece of overpriced junk.

I have a second hand Passier dressage saddle and a second hand County jump saddle that I’ve had re-stuffed to fit my horse. Both were bought privately from friends, and I have an independent saddle fitter on call.

[Scribbler]

[QUOTE=aktill;8690875]
For $2000 they aren’t using trees any better than a store saddle. That may not mean they don’t fit your horse, but a truly custom tree alone is $500+[/QUOTE]

Yes, I realize they aren’t custom trees. But these saddle makers had a pile of manufactured trees in different sizes, and would start by fitting the tree to the horse. If you are buying an English saddle, you are basically stuck with one tree shape per brand, so all the models in that brand fit the same. You have to either shop around for the brand of saddle that best fits your horse, or trust that the brand rep can make their saddle fit your horse (which doesn’t always happen, though many owners can’t really tell, and pay a lot for a saddle that doesn’t fit and never will).

So even the option of being able to choose from a dozen pre-manufactured trees seems amazing to me!!

[shayaalliard]

A good friend owns a saddle company. His bench made saddles run around 1200, not fully custom, but handmade in the USA- and they are fantastic. Better and more comfy than any big name I’ve ridden. He’s got saddles out there ridden every day for 12-15 years still going strong.

So it can be a great option- the only downside is resale value is likely to be lower on a less known brand.

[Foxglove]

At one point I had a white Percheron who was ridden by my three kids and me. In a “horse saddle” he looked like a regular horse in a pony saddle --kind of ridiculous. He was 18.2 hh, 2100 pounds --but not a wide draft --just an overall big horse. Because the kids (and I) wanted to show him in local shows western, we needed a saddle that didn’t look like a pony saddle. I found a saddle maker (Dave Hulbert of Hulbert, OK) who understood what I wanted. He made the Percheron a black saddle with “oversized” skirts, strings, breast collar and matching bridle. It took a bit of hunting to find a saddle blanket that fit right (we did, however). The saddle looked perfect on the draft --everything in an over sized scale. Since daughters and I are all tall and thin, we looked pretty good on the horse (modest blush). The horse died last January. I still have the over sized saddle. Not sure what I’ll do with it at this point. FYI that big Percheorn won a ton of ribbons, including a first place in reining! He wasn’t fast, but he was accurate to a T. He was also my go-to horse for fox hunting and dressage. Nice horse. Still miss him.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/a18d234e-fac0-425f-a4cc-a68abb8d20a0_zpsb5304dff.jpg
Foxglove