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Saddle Equestrian
Ok, it's my last year of buying a cheap saddle. I'm banking on my horse do be done growing/toning by the end of this year (she'll be six in the spring) so I'll finally put the money in to have a saddle made, but in the mean time, I want a decent saddle, preferably under $500.00.
I have no generalizations in which I ride but either this year or next year I want to start English lessons. I've ridden western for most of my equestrian life with the desire to turn English once my horse hit 16HH and me being a weakling and not wanting to have to hurdle the saddle onto her back.
So I'm thinking the Wintec for the time being. It's decently priced but I haven't tried to the English version of a Wintec other than sitting in one to find out what seat size I need.
Are there any other suggestions of a decent English/Western saddle in the price range? Doesn't have to be classy it just needs to be comfortable.
How exciting your baby girl is finally going to be a woman! Ha ha ha! Anyway. I have a few recommendations (one English, one western)
Western:
I have always had good luck with Abetta saddles, and so far they fit both me and my horse pretty well. Especially for how little money I have spent on them! Plus, they are that terrific cordurra fabric which is weather proof (and that is great for muddy trails and winter riding!!!). My trainer has several of these saddles for lessons and trail riding. Another plus is that they are super light (especially for a western saddle) and tend to hold up well for a synthetic saddle. Now, depending on your taste, you may or may not love some of the wacky patterns the cordura comes in, like this camo one: http://www.buytack.com/products/saddles/act/20519.htm or this one: http://www.buytack.com/products/saddles/act/20509-colors.htm but I don't mind getting a little creative with my trail and training saddles, and my husband LOVES the cammo patterns for hunting! Plus they do have some leather and more tame selections too. I have also heard good things about the wintec synthetic western saddle. One of my friends at the barn uses one for trail riding, and she has had good luck so far. Although, the simulated leather is a little bit cheesy looking, it has held up pretty well and she says it's comfy.
English:
I LOVE my wintec saddle! I currently own the close contact model just like this one: http://www.doversaddlery.com/wintec-close-contact-saddle/p/X1-15022/cn/1705/ and it has been great! It fits both me and my horse really well and the saddle has held up really well. Keep in mind that the changeable gullet does not change the tree size, and if you have a wide backed horse you should look into the wintec wide, as the gullet only changes the width of the gullet, not the tree. I have also ridden several other wintec models since I was a kid, and have loved all of them. They have always fit me and the horse well, been comfy for both of us and held up to a lot of abuse! Plus the ease of the wintec webbers (stirrup leathers) is amazing! They are so convenient and easy to use. They also resist stretching better than many other leathers I have used. Just an all around great line. I would NEVER recommend a throrgood saddle. I tossed the one I owned after only a few rides because it broke down and became unsafe and un-rideable after only a few rides (we are talking in less than 2 months). Now, that was a few years ago, and they may have improved the line, but I had such a bad experience with throgood I will not buy another one.
Well, I hope this info helps. Congrats again, and I hope the saddle you are going to have made is just beautiful, and fits like a glove! Happy shopping.
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Does anybody know where I can find a halfway decent quality saddle for like under $200? I am currently using my college's saddles for my horse (which I love- he is in a Medium 17 1/2 County Connection for dressage and a County jumping saddle- I forget which kind). I have a synthetic jumping saddle (Dover Saddlery) right now and it is a medium, but it doesn't fit him anywhere near as well as the County's. A saddle that fits really well is a high priority because he has some issues at the moment that need to be worked through and tends to "buck/rear" with a saddle that fits him like it was made for him. Is that a really inexpensive saddle that will fit like a high quality saddle? I'm thinking that a wide tree saddle will probably be better for him since he has some muscling up to do and will pad it with a matess pad until he is more fit. Here's a picture of him- No Limits Dreamer. Thanks!
http://www.houghton.edu/equestrian/meet_horses.htm
I forgot to mention that the seat size needs to be a 17.5 or an 18 because of the length of his back. He also has skidrow pannels on his current saddle because of gaps behind his shoulders. If someone can find or knows of a saddle that is a medium but fits like a M/W that would be fine too.
Thanks. Yeah, he is very hard to fit and this is a hard transition for me to make. I am used to riding in really nice, high quality saddles that are made to fit each horse so this is a hard transition to make and to have a very small budget that is really only big enough to accomodate junky saddles. If I can get a Wintec to fit him that is probably what I am going to end up with, even though I wish I could find an inexpensive used County or Albion someone wants to sell- I just love them- they are so comfortable. I'm going to miss having one! Thanks everyone!
I have a few suggestions for you. First, if you can find a used Wintec, this would give you the most options for fit. Another option is try to TRY used saddles from a local saddler, or from two stores I've been to that have used saddles you can try by mail. Rick's Heritage Saddlery in PA and Pelham Saddlery in MA.
I do not recommend you purchase a saddle off of ebay or a saddle you can't return if it doesn't fit. You have a very hard horse to fit and a low budget, so this is not easy! I also have a horse with a long back and huge dents on both sides of his high withers. A wide cut back saddle fit in many ways, but left hands sized holes in those shoulder dents, which were from a previous owner's poor fitting saddle. I tried so many saddles on him! I finally bought a Barefoot treeless saddle (barefootsaddle.com) which allowed for his withers, and had room to muscle up. A year later and he's muscled up and the dents are filling in. You might be able to find a similar treeless saddle (mine is a dressage model) used or you can at least try one new from the company and return it if it's not comfortable.
Special padding might make a wider saddle if the horse until he fills in, but padding up around these atrophied muscles will put more pressure on them and they may not come back easily. It will be a challenge to find a balanced saddle that will fit. Even a used leather saddle will likely need reflocked to fit a new horse and that's about $100 there. Stay away from saddles with cheap foam stuffed panels or Argentine and Indian leather. Used junk is still junk!GL
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I am looking to get a new saddle and I found two that I was looking at, my parents want to get the Regent Saddle, but when I looked it up online even though it was cheap a lot of people said it was a terrible saddle.
Here are the links for both of the saddles i am looking at, the other saddle is a Wintec all purpose:
This is the Wintec one- it is the 250 all purpose http://equestrian.doversaddlery.com/search?p=Q&lbc=doversaddlery&uid=55326597&ts=closeouts&ref=closeouts&w=*&af=catsub:saddles%20cat:horsetack&method=and&view=grid&isort=globalpop&cnt=300
This is the Regent one, Ansbach I think it is the first one in the list:
http://www.saddleshop.com/sale/salebarnset.htm
I was wondering if you had some pros and cons, or if you could help me out with my saddle problem,
i am not showing but i take lessons and jump: i was looking for a good all-purpose saddle. i was also wondering what saddle you have? My price limit is probably $250-$300.
yeah, i guess i am asking
-DO you have any personal experience with either of those saddles?
-What saaddle do you have?
-What saddle should i get?
(you may have guessed by now I ride english)
Is it a problem that the saddle is black? I cant really find black stirrup leathers? Should my bridle be black also?
I have a Wintec 500 all purpose and it's brilliant. It's not quite as nice looking as a leather saddle (and I am still eyeing ads for secondhand leather saddles) but it is easy to care for and I don't have to worry about it getting wet etc. It's comfy for me and my horse. Mine has cair panels (air filled) and these seem to get a mixed reaction from people, but I like them and I think Rosie does too.
The wintec 250 range doesn't have cair panels. I've never ridden on one but I know they are an older version. Synthetic saddles (including wintec ones) use to get laughed at they were so uncomfortable, I would hope that they had improved their 250 range by now though.
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so someone i medicate for (she never went to the farm, horse has arthritis blah blah) is finally selling her horse and all her tack with too. the tack isn't going with the horse. so, long story short, she has this english saddle. she's trying to get rid of as much stuff as soon as possible, so i'm sure it will be up for pretty cheap. thing is, she owes me quite a bit of money from medicating her horse, so i may be able to swing exchanging all the money she owes for the saddle. if anything, it'll probably cost me like 50 bucks. i already checked and it fits my horse perfect.
alright, so my issue. for some reason, the lady owns a close contact saddle when she doesn't jump. i also won't be jumping, other than like trot poles & pvc pipes on milk crates. make-shift jumping lol. and that's rare. this would be mostly for riding around the arena. i know the best thing for me would be an AP saddle, but i just can't afford one unless i buy some piece of shit. this is the only way i'll be able to get an english saddle. i *might* be jumping next year (taking my horse to college, part of the equestrian team jumps), but for now i would just be using this for flat work. i don't know a ton about english, so i'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. is it okay to be using a jumping saddle for flat work? i mean i understand the intention of the jumping saddle isn't really intended for flat work, since most of the time you're jumping you're in a two point...
but should i get it, or is it an awful idea?
oh i have no intention of showing with this saddle. it's mostly just for messing around in the arena.
wait i thought a close contact was the same as a jumping saddle???
sorry about the igorance guys, as you can probably tell, english isn't really my strong point!
actually close contact saddles are made for equitation/flat work and jumping. and in jumping a course (especially in jumpers) you are actually not always in a two point until you get to the jump, really it depends on the situation. i say for you ..Go for it and get it. 
good luck at college
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