New Saddle Hunger

[Hermein]

I’ve been in English saddles a l-o-n-g time; have two youngish horses who are both greenies; think I want a nice little western saddle for them. Both horses have short backs, are round, and have forward girth grooves.

I’ve seen pictures of a couple of saddles that appeal to me, and wonder if anyone has one of them or has experience with one.

Here’s the Circle Y: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=93f1e439-f389-4f58-b80f-5f3eab1fd029&gas=3875%20superride%20yosemite%20gaited%20trail%20saddle

Here’s the Fabtron: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=6c071e54-eef2-470e-a43a-37a0b1216f0e&gas=demo%20saddles

Thanks.

[imaginique]

I have the Fabtron Cross Trail. It has FQH Bars, so it’s wide and the bars are flat, so if your horse is a QH or built like one it should be fine. It also has a really deep seat. I think it’s a nice saddle for the price. I found mine on ebay for $750 and it has a flex tree. You can buy it @ horsesaddleshop.com for the same price with free shipping. Also they have templates to download to make sure what size tree your horse takes. I don’t know anything about the Circle Y but I like it!!

[Hermein]

Thanks for your info on the CrossTrail. I was attracted by the “English” panels on the tree, the forward rigging and how the stirrups were hung.

I think the Circle Y is prettier; otoh, I don’t enjoy having to get the dust out of the stamped trim, so am probably better off with the smooth leather. I like the forward rigging set up on the Circle Y maybe a little better.

My horses are round Arabs–like cute barrels with legs. No withers, no ribs. I don’t understand the delicate Arabian saddles that some saddlers make–my Arabians have all been sturdy beasts.

[Pocket_Pony]

Good luck to you. I’ve been western saddle shopping since March and find it so much more difficult than shopping for an english saddle and I’ve spend a lot of money shipping saddles back and forth for trials. If you get lucky on your first go-round, you’ll be very lucky indeed!!!

[Hermein]

I agree that it’s harder to find a fit for horse and rider in a western saddle. And let’s not forget how much some of the western saddles weigh!! :eek:

[imaginique]

[QUOTE=Hermein;7259813]
Thanks for your info on the CrossTrail. I was attracted by the “English” panels on the tree, the forward rigging and how the stirrups were hung.

I think the Circle Y is prettier; otoh, I don’t enjoy having to get the dust out of the stamped trim, so am probably better off with the smooth leather. I like the forward rigging set up on the Circle Y maybe a little better.

My horses are round Arabs–like cute barrels with legs. No withers, no ribs. I don’t understand the delicate Arabian saddles that some saddlers make–my Arabians have all been sturdy beasts.[/QUOTE]

If your Arabs are built like mine (both have passed away unfortunately) you should probably look for an Arab tree. There’s no way my QH saddle would have worked for the Arabs and when I bought the QH I had to buy a new saddle because the Arab trees have more rock. Fabtron makes a saddle with an Arab tree. Not sure if Circle Y does or not. A QH tree would bridge terribly on my Arabs. Again, horsesaddleshop.com is a great help. You can send them pictures, etc and they will help you find the right saddle. Worth a check. Happy shopping. I HATE saddle shopping.

[Bluey]

An old Courts barrel racing saddle is the only western saddle that fit my arabian ranch horse decades ago.
Any other good western saddles I could make work, but there were trade-offs to that, until I came across that saddle, that finally fit properly.

I will say, the old Windy Ryon Amy Gambling style saddles fit the closest on most any horse we ever put them on, even my arabian, but they were so heavy and somewhat large on his short back.

I think you have to keep looking until you find one that fits.
With hard to fit horses, it is best if you can try saddles before buying.

[49_er]

I am also looking for a western saddle. I live in an endurance mecca (not me…I only like to ride for 2 hours or so), and my vet is an FEI vet. I have happily used my Reinsman SQH for 30 years on all of my riding horses. Now she is telling me I need a different saddle to correct some issues she is seeing in my mare. So I have started looking and trying. The first one was a Crates FQH and the gullet was fine, but it bridged and did not have a narrow twist. Today I am trying a Reinsman FQH that belongs to a friend. This weekend I am going to look at a Chavez, but probably will not be able to try it on my horse.

[Fillabeana]

An old Courts barrel racing saddle is the only western saddle that fit my arabian ranch horse decades ago.

Not surprising!

My little AQHA mares have no withers, beer-keg backs which are heavenly to ride bareback, and a nightmare to fit a saddle to.

My mom found an old Crates barrel saddle, its serial number indicates ‘semi-quarter horse bars’ but the thing is wider than wide, and it fits these mares fairly well.

I’ve also had an old-ish (made late 80’s, I think) Circle Y Arab Tree saddle fit those mares nicely, wasn’t my saddle but I’d have bought it if I could have at the time.

A ralide-tree barrel saddle won’t be heavy to shlep around. I’d buy one if I found one to reasonably fit, and you’re probably in the $300 to $600 range for a used one.

I wouldn’t, however, buy a saddle with a flex-tree. While it SOUNDS like that would fit a horse’s back better than a ‘stiff’ tree, the lack of stability and the tendency to flex where it should be stable, and be stable where it should flex, make the flex-tree saddles notorious for soring horses’ backs.
Aktill posted this link a while back from tree expert Rod Nikkel:
http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/index.php/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/checking-out-a-flex-tree/

New saddles are fun for sure, but I’d sure go beating the bushes for some wide barrel saddles if I were trying to saddle a round, short backed Arab.

Seat sizes can vary, so you will want to put your butt in some saddles for sure. Barrel saddles are designed to have a tall, supportive cantle while the horn is very upright, so the ‘seat size’ might say 14" where in a reining saddle, the seat will measure 15"- and give you the same room/clearance for your thighs. (In fact, lots of the PRCA barrel racers ride in 13" saddles. They aren’t pixies, they might ride a 16" jumping saddle. But barrel saddles might have a smaller-than-expected seat size to fit; I’d expect a 16" barrel saddle to be reeeaallly roomy.)

[Hermein]

Thanks for all the input. I’ve looked at pictures of the barrel racing saddles, and all I saw seemed to have the stirrups hanging really forward. I think I’d need a 15" seat. I’ll definitely check the links that y’all posted.

I was going to pm imaginique (owner of a Cross Trail) to see if the stirrups were mounted in a position that wouldn’t put you in a chair seat, but I’ll just ask here so we’ll all know. Are they? :winkgrin:

Regarding the fqh trees and bridging: Do you mean from front to back? (That’s what I think you mean.) I think the longest saddle that would fit these horses would be in the 24" range, so I wonder if bridging would be a problem. The Arab saddles I’ve seen just look really tiny and narrow.

I have an old Wintec all purpose that fits every horse I have, so it’s not that I can’t ride until I get a western saddle–I just like to have the (false) sense of security on a green horse that all that leather gives you.

[rememberthenight]

My tanky arabs fits well in my crates Wide (FQHBs) trail saddle. I love how the fenders hang, and it feels like a nice balance dressage saddle, just with a serious horn! The crates and circle Y Arab trees were too narrow at the gullet. I have a circle y older Arab tree that works ok on my youngest, but she is quickly getting to broad for it.

[Fillabeana]

In my experience, the stirrups on a barrel saddle do indeed hang to the front. That would make it possible to stand up in the stirrups, over the horse’s withers as it sprints, much like a jumping saddle has you in 2-point over the ‘withers’ as well.

If you want a western saddle with a more dressage type position, you’re probably going well out of the stock/mass produced market anyway.

You might find one that works OK, that you aren’t fighting, it depends on your own conformation. My wide Billy Cook all-around saddle puts my feet out front, but my mother (shorter by two inches, bigger behind by maybe 3 pants sizes) fits it great, with stirrups underneath nicely. My mom’s badonk-a-donk, you see, places her seat bones farther to the front of the saddle and thus the stirrups are ‘placed’ correctly for her. My badonk-a-donk has never been J-Lo abundant, so I end up with my seat bones farther back toward the cantle in a western saddle.

The saddles you pictured have the stirrups hung well out in front, as well, I would be chair-seated in them.

Make sure you are looking at where the stirrup hangs in reference to the deepest part of the seat, not in reference to the rigging or the swells.
Also, a common method of saddle photography demands that the fenders CAN swing forward, so many photos show a western saddle with its fenders pulled far forward, though they may be hung ‘under’ the rider. Or not- you have to be able to ‘see’ where the stirrup leather goes over the bar of the saddle.

Since you already have a good-fitting Wintec, and you are looking for a sometimes, secure western saddle, I still think a barrel saddle (especially with a nightlatch to grab) is a reasonable saddle. The barrel saddles tend to have a great supportive cantle on them, you don’t want to get wonky as the horse accelerates after a barrel!

[Hermein]

Checking back in. What I Should Do is get myself down to Los Angeles and Norco and hit all the saddle shops that have lots and lots of saddles. I should take templates with me, or haul the horses down, too*. Jeez.

Thanks for all the good information and advice.

*You don’t know the meaning of anxiety until you’ve hauled two horses in a 3-horse slant through Los Angeles traffic during rush hour. :eek: :eek: :eek: :dead:

[Beverley]

I hauled my hard to fit gelding to the store. We wheeled out 4 saddles at a time to try. It was definitely the way to go,though the store felt obliged to assign a worker to ‘guard’ the horse while we were inside getting more saddles. His ‘come hither’ look to any pedestrians in the lot was tending to attract crowds.

[imaginique]

Hermein, I didn’t get your pm but saw your post. The stirrups are set in a balanced seat, which is one reason I bought the saddle. I got used to riding in a dressage saddle when I had my Arab mare that I always look for saddles with a balanced seat. So no chair seat.

[Hermein]

That’s GOOD news.

There is a tack store barely within driving distance that usually has quite a few used saddles as well as new ones–almost all western. I’m going to go over there and sit in some likely looking prospects as soon as I have a free afternoon. That should at least help from my side of the saddle. I can always throw an 80 gallon barrel in the truck to let me know whether it would fit my horses.
:winkgrin:

More later, no doubt.