Those are lovely thanks so much!!!
That crocodile is so pretty!
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Mhmm. Yes I can see how the patent might show even smudges.
I liked the crocodile more than I thought I would, actually. They also had a tooled floral pattern of sorts that was nice. I probably would’ve opted for that. This saddle was a demo that was sold to me after the one I custom ordered didn’t fit…at all. So I didn’t order the crocodile, but it really did grow on me.
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I just got a new saddle in as a custom from Ideal - brown with stingray cantle and blue piping. I’ve had colored piping on many saddles and the only one that ever looked crappy was a gold metallic that did not hold up. I painted over it with rose gold paint and it held up fine when it was painted.
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Thanks - at least the horse is excellent at stall rest, lol. That helps a ton!
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It does show smudges but it polishes up fine.
Oh goodness. I’d much rather have shabby piping than I’ll fitting saddle! What a mess!
Floral tooling sounds pretty too!!!
Well that’s excellent to hear!!!
I’m a sucker for rose gold.
Yes a good patient makes things easier!
Good to hear the patent polished up well.
This is a Patrick I bought used last year. It has blue patent billet holders with rhinestones and… whatever that piece is between the panels and cantle. Not what I would have ordered, but it’s holding up well. I might consider ordering something similar, but would probably go with black patent (or brown for a brown saddle). My main issue is coordination - like if I want to show in brown or green, it doesn’t really go together, and that’s annoying.
I also have a Black Country that I ordered new in 2015 with silver piping. The silver has completely worn off, and looks like white piping now, even where the saddle doesn’t really come in contact with anything. So I don’t think I would do any metallic piping again.
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Thank you for sharing! That’s rather pretty!
Nice! Very pretty!
I bought a used Trilogy with patent on the cantle and piping. Its fine and I know from my driving days to use a little vaseline on the cantle to clean it up. If I were going with a new saddle I might think about the crocodile in the above pic - it looks pretty cool.
Regarding colors, that’s a no for me…the paler pipings are going to get dirty. The darker ones dont show that much. And here’s the other thing: given the flexibility in jacket colors, and other clothing items, why bother to get a tiny strip of something on your saddle, that may, in fact, not match your wardrobe?
That said, I’m pretty traditional in these things - in part because its just easier. In part because I’m cheap about the wardrobe part of showing given the $$ I pour into the beast(s). It was a big deal for me to buy a navy tailcoat with a few sparkly things on the collar. I periodically lust - briefly - over a pair of the fancy boots I’ve been seeing at WEC. Also cringed at the sight of rose gold stirrups with matching spurs…
But if it floats your boat, mostly I say “go for it” Ya only live once.
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That’s a good tip about the Vaseline! Appreciate it.
I think rose gold stirrups and spurs sound lovely lol. To each their own!
I do like the crocodile too.
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The thing with the stirrups/spurs is that they were so shiny they caught the light and were fairly distracting. Especially if you are the rider with a less than quite leg. 
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I thought for sure that when I ordered my saddle last year, I’d go with something a little more “blingy” and that I wouldn’t go with patent. Well, I was wrong. I had wanted the cool basketweave stitching on the back of the cantle with some bling, but I didn’t want to spend the extra money on it, so I went with a plain black patent cantle insert instead. No metallic because although it held up OK on my last saddle (for the most part) as others said, there were a few areas where it didn’t hold up as nicely. Not a big deal, but meh…why bother? Instead, I opted for a two-tone saddle with cream piping. I know that cream isn’t a logical choice for piping either, but we’ll see how it holds up. I’ve had the saddle almost a year and so far, so good on that end. The part that probably bothers me the most is how my boots and breeches darken up the lighter brown panels. I just keep telling myself that it isn’t a big deal because you don’t see them when I ride anyway. 
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Hehe!
Fortunately for the eyes of innocent bystanders, I don’t think I’m ready to part with my money for rose gold stirrups yet.
That looks very nice! I imagine it matches a variety of outfits etc. The cream piping looks good!
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