Unlimited access >

Saddles For The Petite Rider On A Budget

Unfortunately, I have outgrown my beloved CWD monoflap. Our CWD dealer may not have anything used (can’t afford new) and if they don’t we need a plan B. Who can suggest a good saddle for 3k or under? I’m a petite rider (5’, 100-115lbs) and I need a saddle that’d help me sit more down and back, with good support to help me keep my leg forward. Any ideas?

You might want to go back and edit your post. :wink: Many stores will let you test ride used saddles. Others may be able to suggest specific places, but STAY AWAY from Dansforth Fine Used Saddles.

There’s flap length and then there’s also twist and seat width, which can vary greatly depending on personal preference. I’m fairly narrow as well as short, and my favorite is the Albion SLK with the narrow seat option and a short flap. You could probably get it for around $3000, and the Albion Brentina would probably also work. Albions run a bit small in the seat so I have a 17 inch. It’s one of the only saddles I’ve ridden in that solves the wide horse narrow rider problem. My old saddle was a Prestige 16 inch 2000D, and that works well provided your horse is not too wide, since the twist tends to widen a bit as the saddle gets wider. Prestige also does a short flap as a custom option, and their seat size runs big. As far as a real budget option, I just got a Bates Innova size zero, and the flap is quite short, around 15 inches. It’s about a 16 1/2-17. I found a new one for $1000 (normally list is $2700), and they have a few if that’s something you would be interested in. It really lengthens your leg and provides a lot of support, but the twist is slightly wider than the other two.

[QUOTE=DoomPony;7642774]
Unfortunately, I have outgrown my beloved CWD monoflap. Our CWD dealer may not have anything new (can’t afford used) and if they don’t we need a plan B…[/QUOTE]

Do you mean your CWD dealer may not have anything “used” (can’t afford “new”)? A tiny bit confusing but I’m assuming since you mentioned budget that you meant you were looking at used. Most saddle companies offer a short flap as an option, finding one used might be a bit more challenging; however, it’s difficult to suggest a brand since you need to fit your horse also.

haven’t gotten it yet, but I just bought a courbette bernina jr for around $400 on ebay. I knew another saddle was going to be in my future soon, but found out my current one has a twisted tree so I needed something asap. I’m 5’1 on a good day and around 114lbs. You may want to look at a Prestige Lucky, it’s a 16, it’s their jr dressage saddle. Runs $1700 new. That’s where I was headed until I came across the one on ebay. I also saw a stubben juventus on ebay recently as well. That’s stubbens jr dressage saddle, it’s a 17.

You can trial a Lucky from VTO saddlery as far as I know. You didn’t mention what seat or tree size you need? There’s a SUPER nice Albion SL at a tack shop near me - 16.5 seat, wide tree, short flap. My legs found a nice position in it and it felt very stable. I found it REALLY comfortable but it was a tad wide for my horse. She’s asking around $1400-1500 for it. I can give you their info - I don’t know if they do long distance trials (unless you’re in VA?)