For my birthday this summer, I’m buying myself a new saddle. I tend to keep my saddles a LONG time and use them on dozens of horses. I haven’t bought one in forever, so I’m a little lost with all the choices.
Which saddles are the longest-lasting and tend to fit most horses? Budget-wise, I’m looking for something around $3500, give or take. Needs to be suitable for all three rings.
Tottaly biased because it took me 6 months to find a saddle that really fit my mare, but I ended up in a Delgrange with a wide tree. I bought used so mine is about 10 years old and I am sure it has another 10 in it.
Not sure how much they run brand new but you could find a barely touched used for $3500 and they are drool worthy. I also did tons of research and it was really the only brand I found that didn’t have a bad rap for something, atleast of the french ones. Alot of the english saddles (county, etc) last but I didn’t want wool flocked and I think they tend to look clunky on smaller horses.
Good luck!
Saddle shopping is really all about preference. Some people swear by French-made saddles, some love their English-made saddle and other people love Italian or German saddles. Your best bet would be to 1) decide what type of horses you plan on putting the saddle on and 2) start sitting in saddles to see what you like. In my experience, as far as French made saddles, calf leather would be the least durable and buffalo leather would be the most durable. Then you have all types of other variables like seat depth, twist width, etc. Everyone has their favorites and they’re not all going to be the same. Some horses will fit fine in a French-style tree, others will need the shape of an English tree. Then you have foam flocking (many French saddles), then wool flocking (many English made saddles).
I think you might as well ask which breed of horse is best. 
Tend to fit most horses? I think the answer will vary depending on the type of horses you tend to ride.
Durable? Well, I think as a general rule of thumb, heavier, thicker leather lasts longer (assuming of course, that it’s good quality leather well treated).
I bought a Stubben Portos back in the 1970s and it was still in great shape when I gave it to a 4-H member of limited means in the 2000s. I only got rid of it because I finally had to admit that I no longer, and never would again, fit into a 16 inch saddle.
But, 1.) the leather was stiff and heavy and took lots of use and oil to break in and 2) I don’t know how comparable 1970s-era Stubbens are to the new ones.
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