Synthetic Western Saddles

[belle]

Are synthetic western saddles any good?

My horse will need a new saddle when I bring her back into work, as she is bound to change shape with the work, and she sometimes throws herself about a bit, I wondered if the synthetics are any good.

Before her injury she had a Thorowgood dressage, which was quite good.

belle

[No_Angel]

ive ridden in a synthetic western saddle, it was a wintec, it felt ok, but was still pretty hard on the bum.
ive just got a treeless western saddle and its really nice
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0014-1.jpg

[cvb]

Are synthetic western saddles any good?

My horse will need a new saddle when I bring her back into work, as she is bound to change shape with the work, and she sometimes throws herself about a bit, I wondered if the synthetics are any good.

Before her injury she had a Thorowgood dressage, which was quite good.

belle

define "any good" ? I know Galadriel has commented on them before, so a search may be worthwhile (of previous posts). But I think one of the main things to look out for is the tree they are built on.

(fitting a western saddle is as important as with an english saddle. I've ended up with a custom made one)

I had a circle Y synthetic which I thought was great - but there was no way it was going to fit my appy mare (she is wiiiiide). The tree the Circle Y is built on tends to come up small...

The synthetics also tend to have smaller skirt area.

Not sure what rigging they are designed with either ?

[belle]

Thanks for the replies!:D

My horse is a very round Arabian, I have struggled in the past to get an english saddle to fit. She also has a short back, but as I am small we usually go for a little seat.

Our last saddle was a 15" Thorowgood griffin dressage, its definetely not wide enough for her now.

By 'any good' I meant things like in general are they likely to fit a horse, are they made well, do they squeak? etc.

I just didnt want to spend out too much until a) I see if her back keeps up to the work and b) I dont want her to annihilate it!

Also surely the synthetics weigh less?

Thanks again,

belle:)

[BeachRiding]

I have tried 3 synthetic western saddles, and I found that the stirrups were positioned too far forward on 2 and too far back on another, resulting in a total loss of position. I hated them and they made me ride terribly.
I have never had a problem like that in a leather western.

[BeachRiding]

Belle- Yes, synthetics weigh less, but so can leathers. I have one endurance western and one saddle King show saddle and the both weigh around the same as an english saddle!

[Shadowlark]

There is no syn on the market that I can think of that will truly fit an arab. Arabs are a challenge to begin with due to thier shape - as you have already learned. And frankly, i have yet to see a western syn that I have liked.. lol or that has fit any horse (In my experience I am SURE there has got to be horses that fit them) in the ones I have seen, I feel english synthetic is way ahead of western synthetic.

No Angel and I both have Hilason Treeless western saddles. For the money, mine has worked out excellently, I can use it on all of my horses without an issue. I have run barrles, chased cattle, done pole bending, reining and general trails in it and been very pleased with it. It is lightweight as there is no tree.. and that is no small part of the weight of a western saddle.

[Jessey]

In my opinion don't touch a wintec with a barge pole - almost every horse I have seen them on has had damage done from the points of the tree - the tree is synthetic (synthetic trees are not as good as wooden as they are often an odd shape and not big enough) and doesn't fit most horses. I have an anglo arab who is a medium-wide fit english and the wintec pinched on him terribly.
Arabs are very hard to fit but many of the saddle companies are now making arab trees which are made wider through the gullet to allow for the big wide back but are also shorter in length for the short backs, they would definatly be worth looking at.
If you are interested I can dig out a web page that you can print templates off of so you can get an idea of what width (gullet) and bar (shoulder angle) you would need to be looking for.
As your horse has had a back injury I would think saddle fit will be very important and it really is crutial to get a western saddled really well fitted - unfortunatly there are a lack of fitter in the uk but Galadriel's book is great to get you on the right track.
I have a leather reining saddle (not little) which is on a wooden tree but it is not too heavy (compared to some of the big chunky roping saddles) but you can't really compare it to the weight of an english saddle as although heavier it disperses weight far more, its the lbs per square inch you need to look at and as the bearing surface is so much bigger (in a good western tree) the extra weight is spread further etc.

Best of luck

J x

[galadriel]

If the synthetic saddle is built on a wooden tree, it can be quite a nice saddle. However, the synthetic Western trees are painfully bad. Not all Western wooden trees are good, but it seems every Western synthetic tree is poorly designed. They have:
* short, narrow bars, meaning that they dig into the horse's back;
* bars that are too straight, making them bridge and dig in more at the front and back;
* an underside with inadequate flare, making the edges of the bars gouge the horse's back as it moves;
* a moulded-in seat that dips so low it's likely to bottom out on the horse's spine (but with skirting across the back, you can't actually see it from the outside).

~ ~ ~

If your horse is likely to change shape quickly, I recommend against a Western saddle--unless you plan to buy 3 or 4 saddles in quick succession. They can't be adjusted to fit as your horse changes shape.

[belle]

Thanks for all of your replies!

Jessey, a template webpage would be brilliant!

I dont think she will change shape loads, she is always round, she is just round and a bit overweight at the moment.:o

It is the fact that the weight gets distributed more evenly that attracted me to a western saddle, and the fact that I think she would be good at it! Obviously I want it to fit well, I do know someone who is quite good at saddle fitting, I think I would have to buy one, get it checked, and if it didnt fit, off to ebay!

I dont mind a leather saddle as long as I could actually lift it! (I'm quite petite!), but I dont have thousands to spend.

Interestingly, I could never get an english wintec wide enough to fit my mare, their wide is not very wide at all!

[Gutter_Doll]

I personally REALLY don't like them at all.
I ahve an old imported ranch leather saddle which has never given me grieif - Even on 7 hour rides droving etc.
I don't know what brand it is though. I think it must have been specificaly made befcause it has initials on it, and I haven't seen another saddle just like it.
(pic)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m85/DAZStudio/IMAG1951.jpg

Then I have a Wintec western. It's not TO bad on a high withered horse, but on a plump, muscled horse I've found it to throw me off balance A LOT.
(pic)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m85/DAZStudio/IMAG1044.jpg

I hope I helped some =)

[cvb]

Obviously I want it to fit well, I do know someone who is quite good at saddle fitting, I think I would have to buy one, get it checked, and if it didnt fit, off to ebay!


most english fitters won't be able to help much with western as the tree is quite different

[belle]

This saddle fitting stuff is tricky!

I am now looking at getting a Barefoot Nevada saddle, it seems as though it should do the job, although I will need to save up a bit before I can afford it.

Does anyone have one of these?

[Shadowlark]

There are several, the only thing I don't like about that saddle is the horn is completly fake.. just there for decoration. My biggest concern with that is.. god fobid you are in a wreck - the first thing you will grab for is the horn.. and the last thing you want is for it to come off in your hand!

[¶¤Lil Cowgirl¤¶]

I had bought a westren wintec for my mare quite a few years ago (she's a paint/QH) and it just fit her terribly. It wasn't even really because she was too wide I just found that the square edges poked into her flanks.

Eventually I decided to sell it and ride her english for the time being and I had the worst time ever finding someone to buy it because no one could get it to fit their horses.

And then on the comfort note - I've rode in one of them a few times on another horse and I don't know if it's just me and my build but it absoloutley killed my pelvis.

[Jessey]

OK sorry for the delay, here is the web page that you can get saddle/tree templates from :D
http://www.dailyequine.com/Expert/askexpert.asp

[Roheryn]

I love my Big Horn synthetic western. It's cordura with a suede seat and jockeys, has one cinch, and weighs less than some dressage saddles I've tried (i.e., about 15 pounds). I need a saddle I can lift from the rack, to say nothing of being able to hoist it up onto the horse's back. Big Horn makes several synthetic models, mine is the 502.

Big Horn makes at least one Arabian western:
http://www.horsesaddleshop.com/arabian-cordura-saddle.html

but I don't know enough to know if it is really a good fit for an Arabian.

I have never heard one good thing about the fit of Wintec western saddles, altho' their English saddles seem really nice.

Gutter_Doll, that leather western saddle of yours is really good-looking! I rode in one that looked a lot like that (not identical, just similar) 'til I bought my Big Horn.