The dreaded english saddle package...

So I am saddle cruising right now. I am only leasing the horse I have right now and there is a chance she will sell before I am ready to buy her. That said she is NOT in shape at all so I know she is going to change and therefor her saddle fit will change.

I don't have lots of extra coin kicking around and the first priority is fixing the horrible shoeing job she has. The saddles they have at the barn(no horse has any assigned saddle which I hate) are horrible fits for her.

Sooooo.... I am considering coughing up the coin for one of those super cheap saddle packages on ebay. I am well aware that they are poorly made and have no quality to them at all. That is fine. I just want something to tie her over until she fits up or I buy her, whichever comes first. Am I crazy? Just how bad are these saddles? I know they are far from ideal but would it be okay enough to get miles on her and getting her fit?

If you're trying to get her in shape, why would you want to put a crappy set of tack on her?

It's not just that they won't hold up, they'll hurt the horse in the process because they won't fit her properly.

See that's what I wanted to know. Is if they are crappy for the horses back. I've never used one before so I didn't know about the fit. I figured if they had a good gullet width and cleared the right areas it wouldn't be to bad. But like I said, I don't know how they fit which is why I am asking. I thought they were cheap because they didn't hold up well and the dye would run when wet, that kind of deal.

I have always been lucky enough to find nice saddles at a good bargin. Sadly I can't seem to stumble across a nice bargin saddle in my price range. There is one and the girl is willing to take payments. But I kind of wanted something now as the ones the barn provide are a horrible fit for her as they are meant for little school ponies. So they sit tight on her. And yes, this is what they have been using on her the whole time. I just went to this barn for the first time last night and tried her out and am taking her on a lease. My saddle was stolen from me so I have nothing to use other then theirs.

I bought a new one of those 'DIY fitted saddles (against my better judgement) when we bought our gypsy as she was only 3 and we knew she would mature to be a lot stockier. She wore it twice, we could never get any of the things that were supposed to adjust it to work properly and its sat in the mechanicals area of our basement ever since. Total waste of money
I found a really good second hand leather saddle that a good saddler was able to re-flock to sit well on her and as she grew we were able to have it adjusted to make room for extra 'her'. 7 years on its still in good condition and I can't profess to being that enthusiastic about tack cleaning.
I have friends who own them and swear by them but they also seem to be constantly fiddling with them and have all sorts of pads and risers underneath them.
I would always buy from a real saddler who will come out to you and 'fit the saddle and make changes if needed not unseen off the internet

Okay so I made this thread then went back to ebay... and I don't know why but for whatever reason there is 10 more pages of saddles then there was when I looked earlier. There are actually decent ones on there that are in my price range. So I can rule out those nasty packages!!

I don't know what I did wrong earlier lol.

As for getting a saddler... there is only Schleese in my area and she only comes once a year. I can not fork out $1000+ for a Scleese right now as much as I would love to. I don't even own the horse, that is just not happening. Even though they can be adjusted but its a year wait until she comes back.

Anyway ignore my craptastic thread now

I wouldn't touch them with a 10 ft pole. My advice would be to buy a used average-quality saddle that fits and sell it to buy another one when it no longer fits.

What's the general consensus on the cheapie saddle packages sold by Stateline Tack?

For what it's worth, I've been riding in a cheapie eBay treeless saddle for over a year and a half with zero problems.
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I purchased a beginner English saddle package from Action for my daughter (was 8...now 10) two years ago. We went for the $150 package because Kitten wasn't sure which discipline she wanted to focus on and the barn we board at only had Western saddles (English students provided their own).

Other than needing a riser and a better girth, the saddle has worked well for us. Kitten rides in it 3 days each week and we also show once a month. The saddle has held up pretty well. It has also been used on 4 different horses without any problems with fit.

Now that she's settled on English as her discipline and we own her horse, we plan to buy a better quality saddle for her.
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Without wishing to sound over-critical, this really means the saddle is a poor fit...

...and unless they were all identical siblings, this can't be true either, if you think about it - like saying a particular brand of kid's shoe fits all feet the same age.

I always try to see the horse's point of view, because he can't see mine - Me

Criticize all you want, but considering none of the horses showed any signs of discomfort or saddle sores, I don't think they were harmed by us using this saddle on them. The riser was requested by our trainer not due to fit, but because she wanted Kitten to sit a little more forward due to the shape of the seat. Once again, not perfect, but it worked for us.

Honestly, expecting people to purchase a new saddle specific to each horse is unreasonable and unrealistic. If every horse needs his/her own saddle, than all horses sold should come with their own tack.
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