Western Saddle Prices

[Jacquie]

I'm looking for a really comfortable Western Saddle to fit TB. He's a 16.2hh Irish thouroghbred with very high withers.
I haven't got a clue what to look for or how to measure for the correct size (do you measure them the same as English saddles)? :rolleyes:
I found this one on eBay and fell in love with it.....untill I saw the price :eek:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/western-saddle-by-double-j-saddlery_W0QQitemZ7179960161QQcategoryZ3178QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Is this the sort of price I'd have to pay for a quality saddle or are there less expensive one's around.
Can anyone give me any advice or information please. :)

[bexj]

That seems like a lot to me :eek:

You could give www.hooves-equestrian.co.uk on 01274 653533 a go - and they will come out and fit saddles too, which is just as important for Western Saddles as it is for English.

[galadriel]

To get a Western seat size, subract 1 1/2" to 2" from your English seat size. I ride in a 17 1/2" - 18" English, and would take about a 16" Western.

Western and English trees are drastically different. Here is some information about trees:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/z-fitting/tree_sizes/

Western saddles can be very hard to fit because they can't be adjusted. Any fit problems are often well-hidden under the skirting, so even if you're decently informed about fitting English saddles it's still hard to tell about a Western saddle. (Incidentally, my book has both English and Western saddle information--see my site for more details: http://lorienstable.com/book/)

If you can find someone who can measure your horse for size, before you buy a saddle, that might save you huge amounts of time and hassle--and likely money too. Incidentally, the company who made that saddle on ebay (http://www.doublejsaddlery.com/) looks like they might be a pretty good one. But I have yet to see a TB who would take full QH bars!

[Jacquie]

Thanks for your advice , you've both been a great help. After reading your links and weighing up the pro's and cons I don't think it would be a good idea to buy an 'of the peg' western saddle for TB because of his high withers.

One more question, would it be possible to get someone out just to measure TB for a western saddle even if I wasn't planning on buying one from them. :)

[michelle c]

hi jacquie, i know what you mean about the prices of western saddles
!!! so just imagine when a friend offers to sell you one (leather) for only£100 brand new and it fits :D only to have it stolen 3 weeks after you buy it!!!!!! :mad: i cant afford to buy one now!!! have you tried robinsons, i think they sell narrow western saddles?!!!!!

[galadriel]

Well, I do measuring without necessarily selling saddles http://www.newrider.com/forum/images/icons/icon11.gif but I have no idea what might be available to you :( However, you could certainly check with the people at the URL that bexj posted--quick call or email, see if they do measuring without sales. And if they don't, they might know someone who does.

From what I'm hearing it's very difficult to find Western saddle fitters over there... (your profile doesn't list your locaion, but the link you posted is ebay UK, so I'm guessing ;))

[jinglejoys]

http://www.west.ways.btinternet.co.uk/ also do a fitting service :)

[bexj]

Jacquie, I will ask the lady who runs Hooves next time I see her - should be today or tomorrow - if you want! Whereabouts in the country are you?

[bexj]

Hi Jacquie

Ok, I asked the question....the answer was, no, because they like to ensure that the saddle chosen is a good fit both for the horse and the rider. She will take a template of the horses shape, across the shoulders (much as you would do with an English saddle), and then take along half a dozen saddles which suit to the fitting. The saddle needs to be fitted so that it doesn't pinch the shoulders and clears the withers both with and without the rider on board. She keeps the original template along with the details of the saddle eventually sold, so that if the horse changes shape down the line, it can be traced back to the original fitting.

She won't sell stuff online for the reasons above. However, she will do fittings virtually anywhere in the country.

If you need any more info, then let me know.

Becky

[Jacquie]

hi jacquie, i know what you mean about the prices of western saddles
!!! so just imagine when a friend offers to sell you one (leather) for only£100 brand new and it fits :D only to have it stolen 3 weeks after you buy it!!!!!! :mad: i cant afford to buy one now!!! have you tried robinsons, i think they sell narrow western saddles?!!!!!

Michelle, I've sent you a PM. :)

[Jacquie]

Jacquie, I will ask the lady who runs Hooves next time I see her - should be today or tomorrow - if you want! Whereabouts in the country are you?

Thanks bexj, I live in Shropshire.

[Jacquie]

Hi Jacquie

Ok, I asked the question....the answer was, no, because they like to ensure that the saddle chosen is a good fit both for the horse and the rider. She will take a template of the horses shape, across the shoulders (much as you would do with an English saddle), and then take along half a dozen saddles which suit to the fitting. The saddle needs to be fitted so that it doesn't pinch the shoulders and clears the withers both with and without the rider on board. She keeps the original template along with the details of the saddle eventually sold, so that if the horse changes shape down the line, it can be traced back to the original fitting.

She won't sell stuff online for the reasons above. However, she will do fittings virtually anywhere in the country.

If you need any more info, then let me know.

Becky

I guess that's sensible really because I had to have TB's english saddle made to measure and (thanks to the replies on this thread) I now realise western saddles are more difficult to fit.

As mentioned above, I live in Shropshire but I guess that would be to far away from Yorkshire for your friend to travel. :(

[bexj]

Not necessarily - she has travelled as far as Northants, and Northumberland recently - both about 2 1/2 hours each way - Shropshire isn't much further than that. She charges 35p per mile outside of a 35 mile radius of the shop, but will refund that if you buy a saddle!

If you give her a call, say you've been talking to me - I stable my horse at the same yard!

[cvb]

Jacquie

What do you want a western saddle FOR ? If its not to compete, then you really don't need a fancy tooled and "chromed" saddle !

I'm going to go through the other side of this shortly, trying to sell my "old" saddle (which didn't fit). And really concerned that if I just bung it on eBay it could end up with someone who thinks every western saddle fits every horse :(

My new saddle is shipped over from US of A, and was fitted based on an extensive templating - see my poor long suffering mare all taped up :p
http://groups.msn.com/NRphotos/cvbfifi.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5503

and the end result
http://groups.msn.com/NRphotos/cvbfifi.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5660
(tho apparently it is placed a tad too far back - according to the guy who made it).

This is the "old" saddle
http://groups.msn.com/NRphotos/cvbfifi.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5543

Believe me the difference in fit is a world apart...(don't have any "before" shoudler shots to illustrate this, so you'll just have to trust me !)

[Jacquie]

Jacquie
What do you want a western saddle FOR ? If its not to compete, then you really don't need a fancy tooled and "chromed" saddle !

Hi cvb

No....I don't compete but I do a lot of long distance pleasure riding and as my bones aren't as young as they once where I'm after a saddle that will provide both comfort and safety.

This is why I'm looking towards a western or maybe australian stock saddle (I believe these have deep knee and thigh rolls).

Thanks for the photo's, I can see you went to great lenghs to make sure you got a good fitting saddle (must admit my eyes turned a tad green with envy when I saw the picture of it) :o

[cvb]

Jacquie

If you've seen my other threads on mine and Montana's saddles, you'll see About The Horse do a very good video on western saddle fitting. My background's non-western so I'd got the basic principles of spreading the laod etc. but didn't know enough about the inside of a western saddle to be able to assess it. The video helped a lot with that.

Galadriel's book is great as well - but I needed to be my own saddle fitter, which is a step on from that....

and even then I had it in slightly the wrong place :rolleyes: