Hi everyone,
I had a major revelation this weekend! (this is a little long-winded, and to the experienced people, I am sorry if I am stating the obvious!).
We are new riders (riding for almost 1 yr now). We had someone... an "expert" life-long horseman (and I use that term loosely)... purchase western saddles for us last summer. Now, we knew they were not of the best quality - we paid $800CDN per saddle (brand new), but we had no idea that they were so terribly poor. We saw them retail for approx. $400CDN each. We found out that they were made in Mexico and are of the mass-produced type. I am sure that some good quality saddles come out of Mexico, but ours were not. We were ripped off. Very disappointing, as we trusted this person, but we blame ourselves too for not shopping around first. We were fools.
Anyways, we went to a reputable saddle maker this weekend and were thoroughly educated on saddles. I would strongly recommend that EVERYONE do this. We had our saddles with us and he pointed out some of the flaws, poor workmanship, stirrup rigging position, etc.
We ended up buying 2 used saddles that are of excellent quality. The saddle maker came over to make sure they fit our horses. We saddled up and rode with them, he also rode them as well. WOW, WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! It was like night and day, immediately!
This is just a "heads up" for all the new riders out there:
*Invest in a good saddle-it makes a WORLD of difference in your riding.
*Educate yourself on saddle quality and fit before you buy. Visit a good saddle maker.
*Try out several different saddles on your horse before buying so that you can compare them.
*Be careful who you trust, make sure you know what you YOURSELF are looking at before purchasing tack - check out prices (wish we would have)!!
Oh well, we are out some cash, but at least we have good saddles now and do not have to worry about it anymore. Live and learn! (Learned the hard way this time!)
I had a major revelation this weekend! (this is a little long-winded, and to the experienced people, I am sorry if I am stating the obvious!).
We are new riders (riding for almost 1 yr now). We had someone... an "expert" life-long horseman (and I use that term loosely)... purchase western saddles for us last summer. Now, we knew they were not of the best quality - we paid $800CDN per saddle (brand new), but we had no idea that they were so terribly poor. We saw them retail for approx. $400CDN each. We found out that they were made in Mexico and are of the mass-produced type. I am sure that some good quality saddles come out of Mexico, but ours were not. We were ripped off. Very disappointing, as we trusted this person, but we blame ourselves too for not shopping around first. We were fools.
Anyways, we went to a reputable saddle maker this weekend and were thoroughly educated on saddles. I would strongly recommend that EVERYONE do this. We had our saddles with us and he pointed out some of the flaws, poor workmanship, stirrup rigging position, etc.
We ended up buying 2 used saddles that are of excellent quality. The saddle maker came over to make sure they fit our horses. We saddled up and rode with them, he also rode them as well. WOW, WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!
It was like night and day, immediately! This is just a "heads up" for all the new riders out there:
*Invest in a good saddle-it makes a WORLD of difference in your riding.
*Educate yourself on saddle quality and fit before you buy. Visit a good saddle maker.
*Try out several different saddles on your horse before buying so that you can compare them.
*Be careful who you trust, make sure you know what you YOURSELF are looking at before purchasing tack - check out prices (wish we would have)!!
Oh well, we are out some cash, but at least we have good saddles now and do not have to worry about it anymore. Live and learn! (Learned the hard way this time!)
