[QUOTE=paulaedwina;7770199]
I am definitely keeping my eye out for a good used saddle. As for disciplines -I ride everything, not just English, not just dressage. I belong to an Eventer/Barrel Racing barn so I have turned barrels and bent poles in my English AP saddle. I am not wedded to any one sport or discipline in any way shape or form. [B]I was hoping a Tucker (now that I know the name of the design I like so much) would be as multi-purpose as my AP; Western Dressage, Western games, competitive trail, trail riding, hacking, etc.
[/B]Tucker isn’t the name of a design, it is a brand. It is brand of saddles that are made for trail riding. Within the brand of Tucker saddles are various designs - some with horns, some endurance style, some with deeper seats, some with flatter seats, some with more skirting, some with less. I’m sure it would be quite comfortable for trail riding. For Western Dressage, it might not be the best choice. I have a dressage saddle that I love for dressage. For trail riding, I don’t love it. I’ve had a saddle that I loved for trail riding. For dressage, it sucked.
Typically what one would call an english all-purpose saddle are really not effective for teaching proper balanced riding and don’t do much to help one have an effective position on a horse for balanced seat riding, which is what you want if you’re interested in dressage of any sort. Can you do it? Yes, of course. Will you fight the saddle for you position? Undoubtedly. Having a saddle with a balanced seat (that encourages proper alignment vs. having your legs out in front of you), however, will serve you well no matter what discipline you choose because you will learn proper balance while riding in it. If you ever jump the big jumps, a proper jumping saddle with appropriate stirrup bar placement would be necessary. If you do barrels or roping, a saddle with an appropriate horn would be necessary. If everybody could ride effectively ride every discipline in just one or two saddles, no specialization would be needed. Since each discipline has its own idiosyncrasies, different saddle types exist.
I appreciate the breakdown of the sizes very much. I’m thinking Fella is Full QH bars since he rides a Wide tree about 8". Rounded skirts is good to know as well because is relatively short-backed. I’ll ask our BO/Trainer what saddle she rode him in when he was in training with her.
Paula[/QUOTE]
There is a lot, a lot, a lot that goes into fitting a horse for a western saddle - moreso, I’d say, than an english saddle. At least in my experience, I find fitting a western saddle so much more difficult. “QH bars” (or whatever other designation) is just a small fraction of fitting. There’s also the rock, the flare, the angle, the type of tree, the type of material, the placement of the rigging, the amount of skirting, the seat shape, the type of horn, the type of cantle, the open-ness of the seat, how the rigging is attached, how the fenders are placed, etc.
What is “a wide tree about 8”?" That really doesn’t tell you much.
Your best bet is to make a map of his back and create a 3-D cardboard shape that you can take to tack stores when looking at saddles. That would at least eliminate some confusion on what might or might not fit by just looking at it.
I will admit that the newest one is cushier.
