I sat in a dale Chavez, & blue ribbon equitation saddles while trying horses. I really liked how both of those put my leg underneath me. A lot of the other saddles I have ridden in have too wide a twist to be really comfortable, & put me in a little bit of
a chair seat (ranch & reining saddles).
I would like to find something along the lines of those eq saddles, but WITHOUT all the silver. This will be an extra saddle & the silver just puts them up out of my price range.
Any recommendations?
Good that you have found some saddles that fit.
I would not dismiss other brands off hand, western saddles being no two really alike, you may find other brands may also have one that fits you great.
I thought after several decades and hundreds of horses I knew what worked best in saddles for me, until I had a chance to ride in a saddle my friend trainer was using.
I hurried to try other such and found another perfect fit.
Also consider that our conformation and how we ride and the horses we may ride changes over the years and we may require a different saddle later.
If you have a chance to go to some of the bigger western shows with many vendors, you can try hundreds of saddles, many of those you prefer.
Try to find those shows close to you and spend some time there.
Not all those saddles have lots of silver, some used ones have minimal silver and that can be taken off and/or changed for plainer accents.
The saddle I ended up with was a 15" used Cicero Kyle reining saddle and changed the fancy diamond shaped show conchos to round plainer ones, so it fit in reining and ranch classes just fine.
That saddle has a narrow twist and put me in a perfect balanced middle, easy to sit thru anything a horse does and still leave a bit of room to go with the wilder action, doesn’t tie you in there so the saddle itself beats you when things get hectic.
If you’re not planning on using it for showing, you should be able to find a training version of both of those, which would be cheaper than the actual show model. I have seen people show in them on occasion as well and still place high in WP classes!
I’ve ridden in many “Bob’s Custom Saddles” and find them really comfortable. The “Reiner” models were the one’s that I owned, they have a large selection on their website.
Me too, the Lady Reiner was my favorite and it fit practically all horses.
Many Bob’s saddles tend to also be somewhat lighter than other good brands.
They also have affordable plain working models and will build any to order also.
I have a continental reiner which I love, but I am specifically looking for an equitation seat for this saddle. The Bob’s have too wide a twist for me.
I think you need to try their ‘Lady Reiner’ they claim to have a very narrow twist.
yes, not as bad, but I am looking for an equitation seat, not a reining saddle.
Another saddle maker you could try is JJ Maxwell, they are in Anderson, CA. I have owned their wood post wade and they are well balanced saddles that will get your leg under you in proper alignment. Saddles are lightweight and he will build to your specifications, including moving the stirrups farther back on the tree to align your hip to heel etc.
thank you
It sounds like you may like the Julie Goodnight trail saddles, they’re designed for proper equitation and a comfortable fit, with a narrow twist that a lot of riders like. They’re especially popular with crossover riders, who ride English and Western because the tree and seat are designed to keep you comfortable and balanced. They’re trail saddles, so they’re easy to keep clean, but they’re popular in many arena disciplines so they have gorgeous tooling to fit in there as well.
They’re also lightweight, and have the Circle Y Flex2 tree, which many horses love. Depending on exactly what you’re looking to do with the saddle, it could be a great fit!
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