Ditto, they fit a ton of horses and because they’re “old style”, are sold for practically nothing. Tons of them available in the $300 range and in fabulous shape. The newer Stubbens are softer in the seat but if the old style fits you, it’s still great. If it’s good enough for Nick Skelton and his gold medal, it’s good enough for me!
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Most men take saddles with much larger seats than women. I have a friend who rode in a 19" Stubben, and it fitted him well. He is about 5’9 or so, and quite slim.
Stubben makes two kinds of AP saddle–the VSS which is jumping oriented and the VSD which is Dressage oriented. If you are going with an AP, you can get used Stubbens of various ages and either VSD or VSS for not much money, and Stubben constructs quite sturdy saddles.
So I’m clear on what to look for…Stubben has jump saddles but the recommended Siegfried model is their “all purpose with a lean toward jumping” saddle that actually is a GOOD AP-ish saddle for eventing?
Stubbens are indeed love or hate type saddles. If you found an HDR that you like I wouldn’t pass it up. I haven’t owned one so can’t comment on how they hold up, but I think they are good for jumping.
And just a note, most “eventing” saddles are all purpose, but there are a few out there billed as “cross country” that are really geared for jumping with short stirrups. Which is confusing!
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I thought of this thread when my SO got on a horse that had my 17.5" County Innovation on. It was so small for him, he’s 5’9/5’10 with long legs. He hates riding in my saddles, they are just too small for him.
I’ve got an old HDR my niece, I got it from a friend who’s parents bought it used in 2009. It’s in great shape.
I’m in a situation where I ride multiple horses. I have a Pessoa with an exchangeable gullet that may work for your situation as well. It will likely fit multiple horses pretty well, though not perfectly. There are a good amount of used ones out there for around $1,000 - $1,500 in decent shape.
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Yes. But definitely sit in one and jump in one a bit to see if you like it. Some people can’t stand them because they’re very old school. But if they fit you, they’re marvelous.
What you would be looking for in ANY Stubben saddle are the letters after the name. The name used to designate the leather used, not the type of saddle. What you would look for in a used Stubben would be VSS, their AP with jumping tendency, but it might be a Parcival or a Romanus or a Siegfried or Roxane or almost any name.
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I’ve seen used Pessoas going for $600-1200 locally. My daughter has one (bought used) and uses it with her leased horse but it fits a few others in the barn. So glad we bought it.
Are most people using eBay to find used saddles? If so, how do you know in advance what might work? Are you just trying saddles available where you ride or get from a store then search online for used ones that checked out?
Or do you just buy and hope what you get will work and if not, try to resell?
There appear to only be a couple tack stores in our area that sell used saddles, so we’re a bit limited if we want the ability to return something that doesn’t work and avoid paying a lot of shipping costs.
I’ve used local tack stores with a selection that I can try for free. Additionally, find out if there’s a saddle fitter in your area who will bring a selection of sales saddles with them. One that isn’t tied to a certain brand. Often they carry high end saddles (so they get higher commissions) but if you can try them and see what works for you and the horse.
Ride in as many saddles as you can to help start figuring out what brands you like/don’t like. There are used saddle groups on Facebook that people sell saddles privately, some people allow trials and others don’t. I see people get a lot of comments if they post in search of ads with their specifics. If you find something that you like, then you can search online. There are websites for buying/selling used saddles that are essentially online consignment. Unfortunately you have to pay shipping costs. But if you know what you like, and find one through there then that’s lucky.
I know you had posted possibly looking for one saddle for both you and your husband, but I would consider each of you buying your own saddle. Then you’re not getting something that sort of fits both of you.
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Saddle fitting is complicated.
Here’s how I would approach it -
Decide on the horse first. Tree width and seat size are usually the saddle measurements that most people focus on, but the general shape of the saddle from front to back is also quite important and will make a lot of difference in how the saddle fits the specific horse. The saddle from front to back can vary from relatively flat to fairly curvy or banana shaped. Putting a curvy saddle on a flat backed horse or vice versa isn’t going to work. Similarly some draft types with little to no withers may need a hoop tree saddle. So buying anything before you know which horse you’ll be using it on is not recommended.
Ask horse’s trainer to let you try any saddles currently in the barn that have proven to work for the horse. If any of those saddles work for you too, you can then try to find the same model on ebay or from an internet seller, but even that is not a 100% sure thing. Like shoes for humans - if you and I buy the same shoes (style and size) on the same day, wear them for a comparable amount of time/miles, and then swap, your pair may feel odd on my feet and vice versa. If the chosen horse goes in a wool flocked saddle, you have a better chance of success buying same brand/model/size and working with a fitter to adjust flocking vs buying a saddle with foam panels that can’t be adjusted.
Ask trainer if he/she has a saddle fitter they like to work with. Again, use caution - sometimes fitters for particular brands of saddles sponsor riders and trainers, and they are not always the most knowledgeable. Independent saddle fitters who rep multiple brands can be a better bet, but they also vary considerable in knowledge, skills, and their interest in specifically helping you. I had a less than stellar experience with an independent rep, and in hindsight, I think she just wasn’t that interested in helping me because my horse was a difficult fit, and I didn’t want to buy custom.
Once you know the names of some brands/models of saddles that have a decent chance of working for the horse, then you can leap into the internet waters and start searching. Besides ebay, there are some reputable saddleries that have on-line presences where they advertise their used inventories, and they typically have reasonable trial policies - but you can expect to pay a small fortune shipping back and forth. The names that come to mind from personal prior searches are Middleburg Tack in VA, Rick’s Heritage in PA, Sky Saddlery in Minnesota. You can also check SmartPak and Dover. At one time, SmartPak had a pretty generous test ride program for the saddles they stock but not a lot to choose from.
Finally, when you do have a saddle on trial, be sure to try it multiple times. Sometimes a saddle may initially seem like it works, but after a few rides, you realize that different is not necessarily better.
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We found our saddle on a local facebook sales page and luckily the woman worked very close to my home so we were able to pick up the saddle and try it before buying. We actually paid a little more than I wanted for a saddle because the situation worked well for us. I actually bought another saddle prior to that that worked for a different horse and we didnt try it first but it was a childs size and around $350 so i figured I could just resell it if it didnt work for us.
There are a number of on-line tack stores that allow trials. Caution shipping and return shipping will add up if they don’t work out. You will need to narrow things down to tree width, general tree shape and seat size before you start having saddles shipped. Once you pick the horse an independent saddle fitter should be able to help provide saddle brand/model recommendations. Rick’s Heritage is local to me so my fitter will look through the website and suggest ones for me to try. You may be able to have an independent fitter do the same thing for you.
Middleburg Tack Exchange, Rick’s Heritage (saddlesource.com), Pelham Saddlery, Galloping Grape all allow trials. If you call and speak to them they may be able to help you narrow things down.
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Used stubben IMO. I find those saddles seem to fit more horses and riders at my barn than any other. I recommend the Portos, but I am shorter legged so the edelweiss with a 17 seat is actually my saddle of choice right now. I have a couple of friends in the 6 ft long legged land and they fit in my trainers 17.5 portos no problem. So do I, I love that saddle and as I said, short legged. If I go to a 18 seat I seem to float around and have no support.
