I am getting into showing, but can only afford one saddle for the time being as I am still in high school and have to support my horse habit by myself. I am not exclusively showing, I still do riding around my farm (however if i am roping or anything like that I use my Dad’s saddle) and I am wondering if it is ok to be showing in a reining saddle? They are local shows I should mention. I am currently looking at two saddles, one is a reining saddle, and one is a show saddle. They are the same price, and are both high quality. The saddles both have minimal but still some silver (i’m not a huge fan of a tonne of silver). I’m more leaning towards the reining saddle, but wanted opinions.
I am not clear on what classes you will be entered in and what organization is putting on the shows (AQHA, 4-H, local riding club, etc)?
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I forgot to mention that! 4h, local shows and fairs. Western pleasure, equitation, and trail.
I’d go for whatever saddle you are most comfortable in, and if you are using it as a work saddle too, whichever saddle will hold up the best.
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Nothing wrong with a reining saddle. But make sure it doesn’t put you in a chair seat or tip you forward. Other than that get the one that fits you and your horse the best
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You bet - my first Morgan breed show, I did pretty much everything in my reining saddle. It’s pretty, but no silver. In fact, I sold my show saddle since I didn’t see the point in keeping it for one western pleasure class a year.
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Thank you!
For a local 4H show, you are perfectly fine to show all the events in a reining saddle.
I show locally myself, and do so in my barrel racing saddle. And we still place well in the showing events.
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