Cattle work with an Ausiie saddle??

Hey, so I'd really like to do team penning and cattle work, however I have had saddle fitters out and horse chiropractors and the saddle fitter said my horse has a very short back(which I already knew) and that finding a saddle that would not be to long or pinch somewhere would be hard seeing I needed a 15" seat, and that most skirts would rub somewhere uncomfortable. And the chiropractor looked at my horses back and said she has permanent damage that we can lessen that was from a bad fitting saddle from her previous owner that was to long(which all westerns seem to be on my horse)

I've been riding english all my life, and english saddles are short enough and don't sit past her last rib which is what the westerns do. I tried team penning on a friends horse and I really enjoy it, so my question is would I be able to do cattle work with an Aussie saddle?

Oh also my horse has a wide flat back to Aussie saddles fit wide horses?

P.S I meant 2 ses not 2 ies for aussie in my title...plus if this is in the wrong spot please tell me.

Stock Saddles (The true name for an 'Aussie' saddle) were made for cattle work. They were made for stockmen and drovers who spent the whole day moving and droving cattle.

A stock saddle can fit any horse - It just depends on the individual saddle. Most are made on a standard 'stock horse' tree (I.e. Australian Stock Horse, not QH) but there are many that are made specifically for different shaped horse. Nowadays you can even get some half breed fender saddles made with QH bars.

In case you don't know - There are two types of stock saddle. The traditional stock saddle which has a full skirt and stirrup leathers, and the half breed or fender saddle, which has leather fenders similar to a western saddle but still has the knee rolls and no horn.

The problem with stock saddles in the US is most of them are crap. Badly made and some have a horn tacked on to make them seem more familiar to western riders.

A true stock saddle does NOT have a horn.

To buy a good quality stock saddles in the US you are looking at upwards of $1,000 - And these are the very bottom end of the quality saddles. In Australia, for a quality stock saddle made by a saddler, not a production line, you are looking at upwards of $3,000 - Second hand. They go from $4,000 to $8,000 brand new.

There is a website (James Saddlery? Maybe?) that sells decent quality half breed saddles with more of a 'western' feel to the US - I wouldn't call them true stock saddles but they are fairly good quality and readily available. I beleive that also custom make the saddle for your horse based on wither tracings. There are a few people on here that have bought saddles from them.

Let me know if you have any other questions :]

The Australians do Cattle work in their Aussie Saddles, you have to be careful with many the Aussie Saddles around here, they are knock-offs from India and would not hold up to a real work out.

Maybe someone on here can lead you to a Well Made Aussie Saddle that is available in the US that would work.

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Yeah I did know about the two types and was looking at the half breed kind that has the panels like an english saddle, I am willing to pay for a good quality saddle as I know what bad fitting and bad quality can do.

HAHAH speaking of knock-offs from india The english saddle my trainer told me to buy years ago from lammles was one of those, now I rarely get anything from there.

That's great! It really isn't worth buying one of the cheap saddles already in the US - They are just blegh.

This might be harder to find - Most of the fender saddles have larger panels simialr, but a bit smaller, than a western. The traditionals tend to have the english panels more often.

Here are some examples of different types of stock saddles (Good Quality) - First some traditionals:

Here is my own saddle - A custom made traditional:



A different brand traditional showing the english panels:



And some half breeds:

This is similar to most half breeds with the longer panels.



Here is a fender with the english panels - Very $$$ though. The guy who made my saddle also makes fenders almost the same as this one.

Here is the link to James Saddlery - Personally I wouldn't buy one of these saddles living in Australia, as they seem to be created mostly for the US market - But I have heard they are OK quality and they make them to fit wither tracings and make importing easy for you.

Australian Saddles - Australian Stock Saddles by James Saddlery

Hahaha okay I think I got them confused I definitely like you're traditional better! Whats the brand?

My personal one is made by a guy called Peter Nelson who lives in Sydney. He isn't very big as saddle making isn't his only job - But he has made a ton of saddles for MG riders (Which is what I do and how I got onto him). I took Bundy up to Sydney for the final fitting and got to watch him finishing my saddle and making my breastplate - Was very cool!

If you want a custom made saddle, you would be better off contacting one of the bigger saddlers as they would have better resources for exporting, I would say. However, they are very $$$ and also tend to have waiting lists of a few weeks up to a year long.

You could also try calling companies such as Syd Hill and chatting to them about what would be most likely to fit your horse - Then keep an eye out for second hand ones on ebay and the like. Once you have boguht it you can change the flocking to adjust the fit, so you really only need to make sure the tree will be appropriate.