Hi all! I’m an eventer who needs another saddle like a hole in the head, but I just can’t resist looking for a lightweight western saddle to play around in. Unlikely to show — mostly wanting to do trails & fun riding. Maybe you can help me find a few options for my very non-standard-western horse?
I’m getting older (sigh) and I’m short, so I need something both comfortable and lightweight. I’m totally fine with synthetic, though I’m open to leather if the saddle is light enough (maybe 22 lb or less, and the lighter the better). Budget approx $600, so used is A-OK!
My horse has narrow shoulders, high withers, and a long and curved back, so he’ll need semi QH bars or thereabouts. A older 15" semi QH Wintec I borrowed from a friend fits us both pretty well. (It resembled the current all-arounder model, though it was about 20 years old and the models may have changed.)
Wintecs are certainly within budget, but after riding in my friend’s saddle and sitting on a few more Wintecs in tack shops, I notice that the Wintec all-arounder style puts me a bit too far back on my pockets.
Barrel saddles seem comfortable for me. Unfortunately, the only Wintec barrel saddle I’ve located was a 14.5" and about an inch too small to be ideal.
I also tried the synthetic Monarch model from a Columbian brand, Mesacé. SUPER comfy for me and I fell in love… but it didn’t seem to fit my horse that well, no matter how I moved the adjustable panels. Waaaaaaaah. Even though it seemed balanced front to back, it perched up high on his back (I felt… above him rather than snugged around him) and it tended to slide side-to-side as well as backward. 
Of the synthetic brands, does anyone know which brands’ trees might fit my high-withered, curvy-spined boy best? Or can you think of any leather models from other makers that might suit?
Thanks so much!
