Quick questions about hard seat saddles. There is a house down the road from me having an estate sale and they had a couple of older ranch type hard seat saddles for cheap. If they are still there today I think I will snag one. I am curious though, as somebody with no padding in my butt area, am I going to hate spending more than a few minutes in one of these saddles? What is the resale demand on hard seat saddles if it doesn’t fit my horse? Thanks!
I like them and dislike the padded ones as I don’t feel the horse as well. My son, who has no padding himself, likes the slick seats better too.
The padded seats are the ones you’ll hate if you spend hours in a saddle. There’s a reason cowboying saddles don’t have padding.
Resale is going to depend on the maker and condition.
The reason cowboys don’t like padded is because when it rains, they just don’t hold up as well and they are then very uncomfortable wet.
Other than that, most that don’t have to work hours in the rain tend to prefer a bit more human comfort and get padded seats.
I broke my tail bone, twice and hard seats are not good for me, padded ones make a big difference, in bad times even use an extra sheepskin seat saver type cover.
Some cowboys put up with wet padded seats if they have a problem with slick ones, because they truly are a better mousetrap for most riders.
As for market value of either kind, that I don’t know, but if the saddle fits you and your horse and they are selling very cheap, you should not have a problem with a loss when reselling them, if you didn’t pay too much for them.
I bought a hard seat after hearing all the arguments for them, and regretted it. My wife flat out HATED it.
Particularly if your horse has a little extra suspension, just a skim of padding really is nice.
Hard seats are fine if you’re always 100% with the motion of your horse, but they’re punishing if you’re not.
I thought I understood what a hard seat was until I looked and sat in a Billy Cook that was truly cement like. I don’t have much padding either and it was painful within minutes of riding. Western hard is a whole other ballgame!
But I am fine in “regular” hard seat - no gel or squishiness and very firm, but with a tiny amount of give if you push.
So if these saddles are that cement type, I would pass!
I think it depends on the saddle --my favorite saddle has no padding on the seat --it is the most comfortable saddle I own and I am very thin with no padding of my own --I think it’s comfortable because of how the seat rests against my seat bones. My more padded saddles don’t fit in the same places --it’s an Association tree, for what that’s worth, and it rides with one’s legs nearly straight down from the hip --like a dressage saddle, tilting the rider’s pelvis slightly forward. Works for me and my horse. Saddles that are a “chair seat” put pressure where I don’t like it.
Foxlgove
What kind of crap are you people riding? Like Foxglove mentioned, I imagine the quality of the saddle has more to do with it. I can spend anywhere from 2-14 hrs. a day in a hard seated saddle. Even when I rode under trainers I preferred the hard seated saddles over padded. So maybe it’s a preference.
Also live in the desert where rain it doesnt rain much yet everyone rides a hard seat.
I love my hard seat and so has everyone that has tried it. I have ridden 4-6 hour trail rides in it on big moving TBs over a huge variety of terrain and have found it easy to stay with the horse. I find padded seat extremely uncomfortable, every one I have ridden in gives a bruise at the edge of the seat.
I’m with Christa P, padded saddles always give me a bruise if I ride in them for any length of time. And padded seats—at least padded suede seats—give me sweaty butt. I love my slick seat saddle, but that could be because it fits me really well.
They may be quite collectible. Or they may only be suitable for decoration.
OP did you get them?
I didn’t get them, sadly. I went back yesterday and I guess one of the family members decided to keep the two saddles. 
But this thread has me intrigued by hard seat saddles now. I think I may keep an eye out. If I can find one super cheap I wouldn’t mind giving one a try.
It is all about shape. A saddle that matches the shape of the rider distributes the rider’s weight over the widest surface area without high pressure areas. That is what makes a saddle comfortable. Adding padding to that may actually make it worse if the seams become high pressure areas, or it may enhance an already good seat. Padding over a badly shaped seat may help for a short ride, but any length of time and the high pressures come through. The shape and comfort of the seat say a lot about the saddle maker.
