Pony Western Saddles (Treeless?)

[gypsygold]

My daughter desperately wants a western saddle (so do I but thats a whole other story and a very long thread somewhere else:rolleyes: ).

Anyway her pony is 12.2hh. He uses a 15" saddle and is around a M/W fit depending on time of year and fitness level. He was measured for a western saddle and wont be able to carry much more than a 12" western but the standard 'pony width' western saddles available dont fit him and from what I can find western pony saddles (in the UK) seem to come in one width fitting - pony!

Well she has saved a long time for a saddle and now we have started looking and cant find a western saddle to suit (shes gutted) so I started thinking treeless:rolleyes: . However trying to convince an eight year old girl who has her heart set on a very traditional western saddle finding one she likes is not easy. Tonight she decided she likes the Barefoot Arizona which you can get in a size 0 luckily.

As this is completely new to me I wondered if anyone could help with the following questions......

Is a barefoot saddle going to fit her pony? (ok I know you cant say for def. but your opinions on the saddle could help.)
Are there any similar saddles to the Barefoot Arizona that might be a better option?

I will try to post a pic of her on her pony, so you can get an idea of his build/type.

[gypsygold]

Here he is so you can see his general conformation.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/kathjune1/Paddyinfield-Summer2006.jpg

One of her riding him last year, shes just a little taller now.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/kathjune1/NZ6K2455.jpg

[No_Angel]

oh hes lovely:D they make a great pair!

I have 2 treeless western saddles, a Barefoot arizona, and a Hilason western.

Hilasons are like the Bob marshall sports saddles, but they are very expensive and with import on them they are even more expensive, hilasons are nice (I love mine) and actually well made, I got mine thinking it would be awful, with import they are alot cheaper than the bob marshalls. The hilasons are also very high pommel and cantle wise, so if you want to keep your little girl in the saddle they might be worth looking into:D Ive had some very near misses with mine and its kept me in when I should have come off.

The arizona has less pommel and cantle, ive only ridden in it a couple of times, and its too big for me, but to me it isnt anything special.
theres also the nevada saddle from barefoot.

Startrekk do a western saddle thats nice aswell, I am edging for one of these to try as I think they look nice, I have the dressage saddle startrekk and its a very nice saddle.

hilason saddle
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0012-3.jpg

dont think I have one of the arizona on a horse
but the link to the startrekk saddles http://www.thesaddlesite.com/

[gypsygold]

Thanks No Angel.

She really isnt keen on the Hilason one at all, and I dont know know how much it is but we are looking (hopefully) at around the price of the barefoots. Personally I like the Nevada but she prefers the Arizona.

Keeping her in the saddle sounds a good idea but to be honest she does pretty well at staying on. She goes everywhere and does everything on this pony and basically there a great pair, hes pure gold and she's just a natural. I think I would worry with the high pommel and cantle that she might get caught up when I would rather she actually fell off if you see what I'm saying:rolleyes:

Will go and check out the others you recomend and see if they do them in pony sizes. Thanks again.

[No_Angel]

the startrekk comes in a shorty version, which might work, I have the standard size startrekk dressage on my welsh section a, but as shes a mare she has a slightly longer back anyway.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0002-7.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0004-8.jpg

if your looking around the barefoot price, the startrekk might be a bit expensive.

the hilasons are about £250, and then import costs on top.

[gypsygold]

Having looked at the Hilason website my daughter has decided she does actually quite like some of the saddles, she has a great aversion to the seat being a very different colour to the rest of the saddle for some reason? Ithink the only one I have shown her before was a picture of yours so because of this she didnt like it. sorry:o . They certainly have a very wide range of saddles.

She likes this one -

http://www.hilason.com/LIGHT-TAN-HARNESS-TAN-SUEDE-SEAT-ROUND-SKIRT-CARVING-16-pid-499.asp

I cant find any info on the sizing - just that it goes from 13 to 20??????
Also would like to know more about the way they are made. Is the stirrup weight dispersed across the back? Is there some sort of gullet or do you have to rely completely on pad for this? Oh and how much did it cost to import?

Thanks for your help, the Bob Marshall and Startrekk are a bit much £ for a pony she will of probably outgrown in a couple of years.

[No_Angel]

oh well, each to their own, i love my saddle, I think its pretty:D

I didint actually import my saddle, it was already in this country when I bought it, but I *think* its around the £100 mark to import it.

There are also some saddles on ebay, from hilason, im not sure which would be the better way to go.

sizing is one size up from a treed western saddle size, my hilason is a 15inch, so its the equivalent of a 14inch western treed saddle.
Im not sure how the stirrup rings are attached to the saddle, they hand below the skirt, it seems to be one piece of webbing around teh ring and one side goes to the front and one goes to the back, not sure how far up they go, but im not butchering my saddle to find out:D the flank strap ring is just sewn onto the skirt with screw things to keep it on place.
It doesnt have a gullet, so a pad is needed, the pommel and cantle are wood i think, but they are secure, not like on the barefoot, you can actually hold onto it, i have actually wrapped my reins around it to try and stop my horse.

it fits a variety of horses
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0041-1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0024.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0014-1.jpg
Also fits my idxtb, but cant get a pic off the video:rolleyes:

[gypsygold]

Thanks again.

She is very fussy! No offence intended - I like your saddle too:D . I think we will decide between the Hilason and the Barefoot Arizona. With the import costs on the Hilason I think there is probably not a lot of difference pricewise.

I will do some further research on both.

Thanks again.

[notpoodle]

my 12.3 pony has a barefoot cheyenne in size 1, so undoubtedly a size 0 would fit your daughter's (very cute!) pony. a word of caution though ... the barefoot arizona is western saddle only as far as looks are concerned. you cannot hold onto the 'horn' as it's not a proper one and only there for effect ie you cannot drag yourself onto the horse with it, it is not sturdy (barefoot web site warns of this as well btw), it's basically a Cheyenne model that's made up to look 'western' :D
Julia
x

[gypsygold]

thanks not poodle.

I had read the info about the horn but as long as it looks western thats what matters to her.

Do you have any pictures of your 12.3hh in a size 1 saddle. If a size 1 would fit him that would be great as obviously the saddle would last her a lot longer and her brother could maybe use it on his 14.2hh pony (with the wider pommel in) if she would let him;) .