I think I need to clarify. There is what people might call slippery as in the saddle is hard and has no rolls/flaps/padding. I’ve got five of those for lesson saddles and I’m happy as a clam if I have to get on. I ride a few in a racing saddle, it’s delightful. That is opposed to what I call slippery, which is cheap thick leather that somehow hits all the wrong places and then slides you to another, equally wrong spot. Circuit, Collegiate, HDR, Bates, new Pessoas. They’ll all make you feel like you’ve never ridden a horse before. You can call me a snob, but I’ve also ridden in a wintec and it was fine, and half my ladies have old Stubbens, which aren’t my cup of tea because I’m not a deep seat fan, but they don’t make me feel like the extent of my training happened on the Walmart coin pony.
Mine was an old Whitaker. Super slippery, very hard seat, never did me a favor other than being free to me.
ETA; it is black. So it had that going against it too.
I weep every time I think about it. There was nothing like blowing 90 minutes in that joint and then hitting the Copper Kettle for lunch. It was close enough for us to scoot in whenever. Sob
I have an older Pessoa I will hold on until I die. However, the older Pessoas are for very specifically shaped horses (medium wither, flat back).
Prestiges can be found pretty cheap. I got one for $300 recently that is in pretty good shape (and it’s quite comfy).
I’d keep an eye out for ‘off’ brands. Because they aren’t a well known saddle name they are significantly cheaper.
Bates make some nice saddles. The higher end ones all have lovely soft leather. For the basic models often you can get them upgraded to nicer leather (although for the price, you might as well go all in and get one of the fancier models). I found Bates much nicer overall than Collegiate, which felt much cheaper in design and materials. To be fair, it is much cheaper in price too.
I almost bought a new M. Toulouse before I found an older Devoucoux in my price range. I loved it! I have a friend who has had her Toulouse for ages and it has held up really nicely.
I bought a used Thornhill Germania Two Phase several years ago, more of a hoop tree saddle, and was very pleased with it. Very inexpensive. The fit was good for my horse and I for a couple of years. When he outgrew that one, I purchased a Duett. The leather is much nicer and a fair bit stickier on the Duett due to the leather upgrade I ordered. The Thornhill has stiff, thick somewhat slick leather but it was never a problem. My horse is reasonably well behaved and my idea of show jumping is cross rails. I can see how grippier leather might be of greater concern with a more “spirited” horse or larger jumps etc.
I have a Dover Circuit Premier too and a Smith Worthington Stellar Altair which I absolutely love! Both are wool flocked and can be adjusted.
I’m the same way! I have Courbette Husars, a Crosby PDN, a Crosby Sovereign, and an old RD Collegiate Graduate, with all but the Courbettes being plain flap (they are instead more like the Stübben Siegfried). I love all of them! The most expensive one was $400 and I’ve loved all of these and gotten great use out of them. Even the lower budget Collegiate is great (though I much prefer these older RD ones over the current lineup; Ovation is probably the closest modern equivalent quality-wise though the style has changed, as they are made by RD as well).
As long as it’s a good fit for the horse, I pretty much always prefer well maintained older saddles. You can’t beat the price or the quality, and as long as they are a good fit for the rider, they can still be pretty comfortable and secure despite the lack of padding and blocks.
I’ve tried some old Stübbens (the Siegfried and the Wotan) and liked them as well, and I remember liking the Pessoa Legacy XP3 years ago as well.
I very recently went through this same search. I needed a saddle to start a 4yo and was unwilling to spend $$$$. My only criteria were CHEAP (<$1000), wide, and wool flocked. After a lot of research I focused on used Stubbens, Jeffries, Barnsby - those brands seemed to offer the best quality in the price point I was looking at. But I actually ended up with a Thornhill Jorge Canaves that I picked up for $450. It fits the 4yo perfectly (confirmed by saddle fitter) and although I haven’t ridden in it yet, I have no reason to think it won’t be acceptably comfortable. I think it’ll be a nice saddle to have in my arsenal even after the baby moves on from it.
I love my Jeffries JMX with the upgraded, sticky leather. No longer made, but you can pick them up for about $1K. My saddle fitter loves them too.
I have bought multiple used CWDs with minor cosmetic flaws (like a scratched cantle) for under $2k.
If you are patient and can wait for a deal, they can be found.
I love older Collegiates, I got on a lesson horse a while ago and that saddle felt like home. Having said that most of the kids at the barn I’m at are in the Dover Circuit saddles and they put them in a nice position and break in a lot quicker than those old saddles, especially for the light weight kiddos.
You can often find deals on less known Euro brans like Bates or Berney Bros that are really nice saddles but not popular in the US. You can also order a new Berney Bros for less than $2k easily if you know what model etc you want.
I have an old Ashland that I really like. It’s basic, but puts me in a nice position. I’d still be riding in it if it fit my horse. At this point, I’m just holding on to it because you never know when you might need a well balanced saddle.
I did have a Toulouse that was super balanced and nice, but sold it after my horse died. I bought it used and sold it for what I bought it for. I tried a few and this one was nice, but some weren’t. Proceed with caution. Case by case basis.
I’d recommend a used stubben as well depending on your price point.
Those were such great saddles. A little narrow for my horse’s use case, but they wore like iron. Has Northrun closed?
My favorite saddle in all the world was the original Beval World Cup.
There’s a lot of used Bevals floating around for $1k or less, that would be my first call if I was shopping in that budget.
This. You can find a variety of French brands that still have a lot of life left in them for <$2K.
Personally, I’d always rather go with a reliable brand used rather than a bargain brand new. You can usually get more durable, better quality leather. And bonus points: it’s broken in and darkened already. If you know the shape you need, there are a lot of folks on this forum who can help with deciphering company codes and helping you find what you’re looking for. And when you buy used, you can usually sell them again for close to what you paid for. While the cheap brands lose value fast.
Yes, I believe they closed around 2017, unfortunately. I don’t have one of their saddles, but have a bridle of theirs that is beautiful, and it’s a shame they are no longer in business!
So they are a little hard to find in the US, and I will die on this hill, but Passier makes some of the best saddles ever. They are balanced, fit a variety of horses, and they wear like iron. I am currently riding in (2) different Passiers that are probably as old as I am (and that is old enough), and they are literally the only saddles that make my horse happy. And I’ve never had a horse go poorly in a Passier that generally fit them.
You can get them nearly new for $2k, and I’ve seen a few available for $1K and under.
I’ve had both an Ashland and a Beval Natural, and quite liked both of them. Maybe not quite as padded as is popular now, but well-made, well-balanced saddles with a pretty generic fit.
For a little more, if you want wool flocked you can probably find a slightly older County Stabilizer, or some of the Stubben models too, right around the $1k-1500 price range used.
