Saddles

I know, I know.  But it was free.

The cumulative worth of my saddles is maybe $800.

I saved my Western saddle from a collapsing barn.  Yes, that is right.  When I heard that there was a potentially salvageable saddle in the barn, I crawled through debris and underneath sagging beams while my father watched out for my death from the outside.  Surprisingly, the saddle only needed a few repairs despite living in a barn untouched for maybe 20 - 30 years.  It is 65+ years old and flashy as all get out.  I'm not entirely convinced that it fits Walker, but in fitting Western saddles, you only really have three size choices: full quarter horse bars, semi-quarter horse bars, or quarter horse bars (which I didn't know existed but which the saddle maker tells me my saddle is).  There isn't even a standard measurement for quarter horse bars.  Each saddle maker has his own.  So, frankly, it's probably a good thing that I haven't ridden Western in a while.

My English saddle is brand new but c-h-e-a-p.  It's actually an HDR, but I got it for maybe $300 brand new, if that's any indication.  Despite being black synthetic with a suede seat, it's actually surprisingly more comfortable and better made than some leather saddles I have tried before.  I like it because it does the job and I'm never too worried about it's safety.  I bought it because I have long legs and the lesson saddles at my barn are built for children.  They were giving me bruises on the insides of my thighs which once caused my mother to ask how I could get bruises on the insides of my legs - to which she quickly sputtered: "Never mind!  I don't want to know."  I'm not entirely convinced that saddle fits either, which is why I bought Walker a rockin' memory foam half pad to use underneath it until I can scrape together some money.

I love to saddle shop, or at least window saddle shop since I neither have fitters nor many choices to even look at saddles in my area.  People around here often have to fit the saddles themselves.  I am constantly in the market for a cheaper Western saddle since, although my saddle may not be the best, it does look kind of sharp in the show ring (and apparently black is becoming popular in the WP world).  With regards to English saddles, I definitely need a nice one of those, preferably leather (although I stick to my suede seat like glue) and it's a toss up whether I'd get a jumping saddle or a dressage saddle.  I currently have an All Purpose, and it seems counter productive to buy a second All Purpose saddle when I can have something else.  Obviously, jumping will be more useful, but the one time I ever rode in a dressage saddle, all I could think about was how comfortable it was.  That's it.  I guess I'll just have to buy both!

County Despri

I am pretty sure I have written this post before, but I had really hoped to be able to save up the money for a new saddle over next year.  Every so often, when life's little financial difficulties smack me in the face, I like to go off into never-never land and dream about saddles.

First of all, can I just say that there are some pretty neat saddles out there.  Take the County Drespri, for instance, you can actually change the flap so that you get a multi-purpose saddle that can be everything from a dressage saddle to a jumping saddle.  I'm not saying I'd want one or anything, just how cool that is!

While stumbling upon a used Stubben dressage saddle the other day for a semi-decent price, I ended up going on the Stubben website and finding this rather informative video about saddle fitting.  I have read articles about saddle fitting before, but I'm a visual person and I think this video is particularly helpful in demonstrating when a saddle doesn't fit.

I have also followed a lot of bloggers' troubles finding a saddle that worked for them.  What brand and type of saddle do you have?  Do you have more than one? With Walker on the mend, I have a lot of time on my hands, which has only translated into me reading everything I can get my hands on and window shopping for every useless piece of tack I can possibly imagine buying when I win the lotto.  You know what they say about idle hands...

My two black saddles just chillaxing beside eachother.
I'm going to bring black back :P