Does anyone have any feedback on these saddles? I am leaning towards buying a SW Trainer new as for some reason I fell in love with the one that I rode in at my old trainer’s place. I only rode in it once and not on my horse so I was wondering if I was crazy and it isn’t as comfy of a saddle as I thought it was. I will be doing a trial to make sure it fits my guy and me but I was just looking for feedback as $3600 is alot to spend on a saddle that no one in my area has and I have only ridden in once.
They are nice saddles; their headquarters is an hour away from me, and I’ve talked to them many times, and owned several of their saddles. Great people.
That being said…$3600 is a lot to spend on one of their saddles. Not necessarily because the quality isn’t there…it is. But they are relatively unknown so you are never, ever going to get anything close to that price for it, even if you have to sell it a week after you’ve owned it.
If you are absolutely in love with it after your trial period, it fits your horse great, etc, then this may be fine, because you’re going to keep it until someone prys it out of your hands.
But just something to be aware of.
May be worth a quick internet scan to see if you can’t find one used…I regularly see that model going for around $1500 on ebay. (Although of course not now that someone is actually looking for one! :lol:)
I have two Smith Worthingtons. they are great saddles. one is 20 years old this year, the other is basically new. They are beautiful saddles and are wool flocked, so they can be adjusted to fit a wide variety of horses.
I love mine (both Stoneleigh models-- the balance is impeccable). I will say that it is a grain leather saddle, which is exactly what I like because it lasts forever, but it did take a bit to break in. They don’t have that instant softness the calfskin French saddles will have so it might require some break-in period to feel like the one you rode in. they will last four times as long, though, so that is a tradeoff I am willing to make!
GoForGallop - I have seen the Mystic on ebay all the time but not the Trainer and it is the Trainer that I fell in love with. I know that they are not an unknown brand and that is why I am hesitating. It is good to hear from someone that says that they have quality products. I know that if I still love it after the trial I will not care about resale because I won’t ever get rid of it. I think it had something to do with the Buffalo leather but I felt very secure, almost like I had velcro in my seat, it was very secure feeling. I will continue to look on ebay for a used one but after 6 months of looking I am getting frustrated. Maybe I’m missing them
Cripplecreek, I think you are right about that, I have had my original Stoneleigh the entire 20 years (except a brief stint when I was in law school and lent it to a friend to use) and bought the second one when they discontinued the model because I wanted a replacement when the first one dies. Which it hasn’t yet, it is still in great condition. I replaced the billets about ten years ago but other than that, it looks fantastic for its age and use.
I have also found SW very good to work with. They are super helpful and great about fitting saddles remotely when you live in an area with no good saddle fitters like I do. They can walk you through the tracings and then produce a saddle from them that works for your horse, or at least have been able to do that for me, which is a remarkable feat seeing how difficult a time people seem to have getting saddles to fit.
OP, if you feel that strongly about it, get it. Smith Worthington has a fine reputation, and though their saddles are not trendy, you will be getting a quality product. The Trainer is a beautiful saddle. As Fordtraktor indicated above, SW will work with you to make sure the saddle fits you and your horse. Your saddle will last a lifetime. When others see how gorgeous and comfy it is, they may want to get one, too! 
Fortunately I don’t really care about being trendy as I don’t show much anymore, mostly because my main riding horse is a stallion and then I’m bringing a few babies along… Maybe one day with my 2014 baby as she is SUPER nice. It was one of the first saddles that I felt great in on my first ride. It was like I had velcro in my breeches and I was riding one of the most uncomfortable moving horses I have ever ridden (my trainer was trying to make a point about my boy). I know that the Buffalo leather will take longer to break in but it is well worth it to get something that is that secure. I was mostly worried about quality because I didn’t know much about them and a good web developer can make their website look like quality products. I’m glad that this one saddle wasn’t a fluke and that they make quality products and it is always a plus to find a company that is easy to work with. Thank you everyone for the feedback.
Smith Worthington is not a fly-by-night company. They have been making saddles and repairing tack in their Hartford factory for years. A lot of their stock is made overseas (The Trainer is made in England, I believe), but they adjust the saddle to you and your horse themselves. I used to visit their store all the time when I was a kid–I grew up about 20 minutes from them. They were the nicest people, and they did all my tack repair work. This was in the 70s. My trainer back then had them custom-make a saddle for her–I still remember how stunning it was.
I had a trainer and I LOOOVED it!!! I bought it on eBay brand new for $1,200. It came from Hartford so I’m assuming it was a demo or perhaps blemished somehow. It was super comfortable and I loved it for the year that I kept it. I ended up selling it because it was only a 16.5" and it was too small, but I thought I could make it work because the price was so good. I had no problem selling it, people knew the brand and there was a lot of interest. Such a lovely saddle.
I have a stoneleigh that I bought just as they were discontinuing them about 3 years ago. Tough as nails, not going to be like a sofa…but they adjusted the tree to my horse and im pretty sure I will have it the rest of my life. I’m about an hour from the store, and it’s this fabulous old time tack shop. The staff are fabulous. I dream of a cushy French saddle, but have no reason to get one, nor could I ever see another saddle having the same value as my smith worthington. My mare is hard to fit, and they worked really well with my saddle fitter to get it right.
I just sold my SW to another rider at my barn - it was the wrong shape for my new horse, and the flap was too long for me. But man was that saddle comfy and tough. It didn’t need to be babied, didn’t get cleaned nearly as often as it should have, and looked like a million bucks. They did a great job of fitting it via tracings & email to my previous horse.
VTMorgan - I want the 17-1/2" my leg is too long to ever be able to fit in a standard 16.5 flap but I dream of finding one on ebay. I’m beginning to give up on that and think I’m just going to bite the bullet and get one for me and by boy. He isn’t super hard to fit but I know his back is going to change as he gets fitter so having the ability to get it changed down the road by the makers appeals to me. I’m glad to hear that they are so great to work with. I have never bought a brand new saddle and to be honest I am absolutely terrified.
Get it! I’ve had an Avalon for almost 25 years now and you’d never know it was that old. And they’re great people to work with!
OP, look at the Smith-Worthington website! There are a ton of models on discount for WAY less than $3,600 including Stoneleighs.
Yes they do have some as closeouts but not the Trainer which is the specific model that I am looking for. I haven’t seen a Trainer model on the clearance in the past 8 months that I have been looking for one.
Please PM me on Smith Worthington Saddle
I have a Beaufort that was built for a very broad backed TB mare. She was prone to be sore backed, so saddle fit and panel condition was very important. The SW people were super to work with.
After one refit, the panels were perfect, and the saddle remains my very favorite. In spite of the fact it is way too wide for my any of my current horses, I keep it in hopes of being able to use it again.
I sprung for the buffalo. It is thick, soft and grippy from the start-no break in at all.
As I am a shameless tack snob, I hope to be able to order another SW saddle that will fit my current stable of ponies. The HDR is a blow to my hard won reputation.
If you can swing it at all, don’t hesitate to get a Smith Worthington.
I hadn’t seen the buffalo calf models, just went to the website – that looks like a really nice option. The one thing that I didn’t like about my newer saddle is that it took a while to break in because of the full grain. However, I went on a break in mission and oiled and rolled it religiously daily for a couple of weeks and now it is quite soft and lovely. (well, that and my newer one is a “Stoneleigh Jumper” and my original one is a “Stoneleigh AO” – I didn’t like the knee rolls in the jumper model compared to my older one, which is the same saddle without them. So I just cut them out with a seam ripper. that wasn’t SW’s fault, just a personal preference as they didn’t have the AO in my size when I ordered.)
Lesson junkie - You can get the tree re-sized if you want. Call SW, and download the wither tracing templates from their website. It’ll run you @ $200.
GreyDes-a local fitter with lots of experience told me the down sizing would be so extreme that the tree might be damaged. I have two ponies now. Not only are they smaller than the mare the saddle was for originally, they are shaped very differently.
Thanks for the thought, though, and I should probably let the folks at SW make the final decision.
