Inexpensive saddle vs Expensive saddle . . .thoughts?

[Foxglove]

I just last year at this time started to move from 60 years of English riding to Western Riding (Ranch Horse, specifically). My question likely applies to both disciplines, however.

Right now in my tack room I have about $10K worth of English saddles (two forward seat for fox hunting, and one Dressage for dressage --duh).

And I have one 20 year old $400 Western Saddle that my granddaughter used for her 4-H years.

Because I am moving into Ranch Horse, I use the Western saddle. Both the trainer and the saddle fitter agree that the western saddle fits Bob and me well. Because it’s required, I have added a $200 flank cinch (roping style, very wide, hoping that it makes Bob’s belly look smaller) and a $200 pulling collar --specific to roping which I do on a limited basis (old gal here, not going to be roping calves and jumping off Bob to hog-tie them) --at best I will rope with a break-away honda --so more for show than actual necessity --but it looks nice on Bob.

Getting to my question: The woman I bought Bob from is selling two used Western saddles --one for $5K and one for $3.5 K. That led me to wonder --what’s the difference? My $400 tricked out old Western saddle is suitable, comfortable, and fits us both.

Would spending $3-5K on a saddle make Bob and me better at Ranch Horse? These are not silver saddles, just plain roping and riding saddles.

Clearly a trained violinist will play more beautifully on a quality violin, but does that translate into horses and saddles?

Thoughts?

Pix is Bob in our saddle --he doesn’t have his new breast collar on, but you can see his roping flank cinch. I have since been admonished to tighten that cinch up so it touches his belly.

[fordtraktor]

The saddle looks fine if it fits you both, but that is the wrong kind of saddle pad for it. You need a square pad, that is a shaped one for a barrel racing skirt.

[Foxglove]

Thank you @fordtraktor! I do have the correct square pad–I use the one in the pix for daily work and the square one for showing

[Kyrabee]

To me, that saddle looks perfectly functional (and comfortable). What more do you want? Anything fancy or expensive is going to draw the eye from beautiful, handsome Bob

Susan

[Angela_Freda]

Id get another pad like fordtraktor noted, to use as my daily pad replacing the shaped barrel pad and call it a day.

[Mango20]

If that saddle fits you both and is of decent quality (looks like it), then there’s no need to spend any more money on a different saddle. Also, maybe it was $400 when you bought it, but I bet it’s worth more now. For instance, probably about 12 years ago I paid $500 for a used Pessoa pony saddle, and it looks like used ones are selling for over $1000 now.

[Foxglove]

@Angela_Freda -I’d love to hear your thoughts about switching pads. I do have a similar pad in black that I could use. The trainer said the pad/saddle combination “kept the saddle off Bob’s withers.” She also recommended the square colored pad, but as an addition, not to replace.

I just attended a roping clinic with a professional roper (actually makes money with his horse!) who had exactly the same pad I use that you said was a barrel pad. Like my trainer, he recommended a second single layer square blanket pad on top of it.

Here’s a photo of Bob unsaddled . . .

[JB]

Whatever pad is used needs to extend beyond every pressure/weight bearing point of the saddle, or the edge of the pad can potentially cause bruising. That’s the problem with the BR pad with that saddle in the first picture - the fender doesn’t appear to have padding the full length under it longitudinally

The bottom half of the fender not having any pad under it is fine, there’s very little weight against the horse at that point

That’s why you really want a square pad for your saddle

[Snowdenfarm]

Just to answer your question about the difference between price points in western saddles, I am not expert, but I can shed a little light. One difference is aesthetics – is tooling and silver trims. That can up the price on even a cheaply made saddle. The big difference, to me, is whether it is a custom, bench-made or production saddle. Personally, I think bench-made is the sweet spot for quality vs price. I had a bench-made McCall that I bought new and used hard. It wore like iron and I resold 15 years later in amazing condition for more than I paid for it. Amazing quality.

If I were looking to buy another western saddle, I would absolutely buy one from Dave Genadek at aboutthehorse.com. Quality saddles made by a saddle maker who has spent a lifetime learning about anatomy and movement to perfect a saddle that allows for both. He also has used and less expensive synthetic ones on his site. Plus he is honest as the day is long. I do not know him personally nor do I have anything to do with his business. Just tremendous respect for him and his products.

[poltroon]

Saddle price is a mix of so many different things which include fashion, cost of materials, and function.

An inexpensive used saddle can be a great deal, as long as it fits and is comfortable. It might be inexpensive because it doesn’t fit other horses, because the seller is in a hurry, because it has cosmetic damage, or because it’s not a fashionable brand that people are searching for.

My favorite dressage saddle was incredibly cheap because it was a little funky looking, brown, and had an unknown brand name (but made by the people who became Albion). Dang if that hasn’t been a saddle that all three horses I competed in dressage went well in, at least as well as the fancier ones I tried to replace it with later.

In a new saddle, certain brands are very popular and can charge a premium price. It might be custom or semi-custom, reflecting additional specific work beyond a production saddle. It might use especially expensive leather.

If the saddle fits you and the horse, the price has no bearing on whether or not you will do well with it.

(It’s not like there are saddles out there with fancy suspensions or other tech that create a substantially different experience for the same basic design.)

Some newer trends are good for horses (like wider gullets between panels) and some don’t matter. Same with trends in how the rider seat and flap are positioned.

Enjoy your saddle!

[Angela_Freda]

@Foxglove

@Angela_Freda -I’d love to hear your thoughts about switching pads

In my own words, pressure points or…
this

@JB

Whatever pad is used needs to extend beyond every pressure/weight bearing point of the saddle, or the edge of the pad can potentially cause bruising. That’s the problem with the BR pad with that saddle in the first picture - the fender doesn’t appear to have padding the full length under it longitudinally

[tabula_rashah]

Can you sit in the other ones and see what they feel like?
No way of knowing just by price how it’s going to fit/ feel

[Spudsmyguy]

@JB

Whatever pad is used needs to extend beyond every pressure/weight bearing point of the saddle, or the edge of the pad can potentially cause bruising. That’s the problem with the BR pad with that saddle in the first picture - the fender doesn’t appear to have padding the full length under it longitudinally

Came here to say that. Exactly right.

[Spudsmyguy]

@Snowdenfarm

Plus he is honest as the day is long.

Not sure about that. He sold me a pad with the shims on the inside that he said would alleviate some saddle fit issues I was having, even brought my horse with me so he could examine up close. After using the pad for a month my horse was back sore and had white hairs across her back. Sent him pictures and asked for my money back and he ignored me.

[Snowdenfarm]

Wow, I am so sorry to hear that. Then take my experience with a grain of salt and tread carefully.

He was in my area about 10 years ago, so I took my horse to him and told him I wanted to buy one of his saddles. He asked to see what I was currently using and I showed him my McCall. He said it was a great saddle and not to replace it. It did sit on my horse’s shoulders though, so I bought one of his pads and it was perfect, giving my horse a great fit and shoulder freedom.

After that experience, when he had said he had a lot of requests to design a dressage saddle based on the same principles, I was one of the first on the waiting list. A year or so later I got one of the first ones produced, but as he had warned I found the design didn’t translate to a dressage saddle. He immediately refunded my money, including return shipping.

[RedHorses]

My biggest concern would be that the $400 saddle is both genuinely a roping saddle, and still solid. There are no end of saddles that appear to be safe for roping, but aren’t built to take the pressure and will give at some point.

[Foxglove]

@RedHorses --I bought this saddle new 10-15 years ago for my granddaughter who was riding one or two western classes in 4–H. She liked it because it was light enough to lift. It fit her horse well. That’s it. It is a “King” brand saddle. I don’t think it is specific to any discipline --to my untrained eye, Roping Saddles have a deeper, more forward seat that this saddle. On the other hand, it seems too deep to be a WP saddle or an equitation saddle. I suspect it is a Western Saddle and nothing more.

My roping will be limited (probably won’t actually rope a real live cow until next year if ever) to using a break-away honda. Ranch Horse Trail uses a dummy head --and no points are awarded for actually roping the fake cow. All points go to the horse if he stands still (Bob stands still well). Points can be deducted or awarded to the rider for efficiently building a loop. That’s what I am practicing.

[Foxglove]

@tabula_rashah --received the “401 Error” yesterday when I tried to reply —the lady selling the two high end saddles (same person I bought Bob from) is about a foot shorter than I am and maybe weighs 90 pounds. I don’t think either of these saddles would fit me.

I only posed the question on inexpensive v expensive because I was curious. My current saddle works well. At my level of riding skill, I doubt a more expensive saddle would make me ride better (as do the higher end dressage saddles in my opinion). Nor would it, at the level I show --local-- impress a judge who might/might not recognize an expensive saddle v inexpensive --this does seem to be a factor in WP where silver saddles dominate.

If I do keep up with this discipline, I will, in a year, likely sell all my English --fox hunting and dressage tack and clothes and take the money and buy Bob a nicer saddle.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Foxglove, my experience with a custom western saddle was the difference in leather quality. I did not add any silver or extra fancy tooling - in fact kept it rather minimal. The leather, and like another pointed out, the structural integrity under load (roping). Everything about it was just more solid.

That said, for my purposes really I only went custom because I liked the way this saddle sat me. It was much easier to ride than any ‘off the shelf’ saddle I’d ever used.

[2DogsFarm]

I’m agreeing with @Mango20 & @Obsidian_Fire
What a saddle cost 10yrs ago is probably less than the same saddle today.
Whatever Brand du Jour is in fashion with the discipline of choice determines this a lot of the time (looking at Voltaire ) & they later fall out of favor & price goes

If you do decide Bob gets a new saddle, are there any saddlemakers in your area?
If you’re going to doesn’t $$$, may as well go custom.
At our age, probably the last saddle we’ll buy
I went semi-custom for my last Stubben in 2010.
Maybe ask around.
In your 'hood, Troyers or Shipshewana Harness might know of someone.

We used to have a guy who made Western saddles for all disciplines & also repaired my harness.
Sadly, he retired to FL & golf a couple years ago.