First western saddle!!!

Hey all,

Well I have decided to go western I think....... Pretty positive anyway :)
So iv started looking around for western saddles and bridles.
Can anyone help me with fitting as there are NO saddlers around here and I want to know myself so I can continually check.


Also, are abettas good saddle for horse/rider comfort and durability as Im mostly bothered about the weight. Or are there any other makes that make good synthetic saddles or lightweight but good quality leather saddles! Iv heard maybe BIGHORN saddles make synthetics but im probably wrong...

Does colour matter? Anyone know any way of getting good but cheapish western saddles in the UK as Im on a budget but I don't want a cheap, rubbish quality one.

Are certain western bridles better than others(i.e. Standard browbands,one ear, two ear).
I LOVE the 2 ear ones but are they stable or are they easy to pull off?

I know everyones like 'oh don't go western without proffessional help' as I have only ever ridden western and im breaking in my 4 year old but I have found a guy who's willing to HELP me break my horse western (i.e. Train us both but let me do the actual work with the horse) so if he's good and I can afford it then I may be moving my horse onto his yard for the help...
If not then im considering riding western anyway but having regular lessons.

Let me know what everyone thinks of this and what saddle they think is best and feel free to post pics of your horses in their tack :)

Thanks in advance

Hello again! Lol
There are actually a couple different brands, including Abetta, Cordura, Wintec & American Saddlery also has some. They're usually no more then 20 lbs. I have a black & purple Abetta (with all the matching accessories finally lol because im a match freak!)
The difference in western & english seat sizes is about 2 inches (15 inch western-17 inch english) & that's pretty much all you have to measure for yourself.
As for the horse, the thing I love about my Abetta is that so far it's fit almost all the horses i've put it on from my pony (pic 1), to my 16.3hh TBXPercheron (pic 2), my new mare (pic 3) as well as my arabian & my friend's gelding. They're also easy to clean/maintain & tend not to rub (as some leather do because leather's stiffer).
The disadvantages of the synthetics is that they're not good for showing, if they get wet in the rain you can't just wipe the water off, & although their type of tree does tend to fit more horses, a well-fitted leather is better all-around for your horse as it would be less likely to slip off lol.
Also, if you don't want to make a huge change from english to western, you can always try an Austrailian. They're just like an english saddle only they come with a higher swell/pommel & a horn. ;)
Second Hand Saddles UK - Wintec Saddles

Australian saddles DO NOT come with a horn.

Any stock saddle with a horn is a hybrid between a western and stock and is designed to appeal to the US market who are used to having horns.

Not one professional campdrafter or ASH show rider (All done in mainly stock saddles) will ride in a stock saddle with a horn.

A stock saddle is different from both english and western. It has knee rolls or 'poleys'. You can buy fender saddles which are more western oriented but still have the knee rolls.

Hello again lilruffian :P Sorry I keep making new threads to ask new questions and end up repeating myself. I do like the abetta ones actually and no one really seems to have anything bad to say about it.

Okay so my horse is a wide gullet english so someone said he should be full quarter horse bars(?) maybe and his english saddle is 17" so 15" and round skirt I think I need because he has quite a short back and someone said this is better.
Could you please point me in the right direction (i.e. Link ;)) of the right abetta saddle to match the above description ^^ :) or any other lightweight leather saddles.
Also, the abetta saddles seem to be black and id like it in black but can you get bridles in black? If you could point me in the right direction again please I'd like a 2 eared one....

You are very helpful I must say ;) Your saddle looks absolutely tiny on some of your horses-pic 2 and sort of 1 but very good in the last pic :) Beautiful horses...

Wild_Spot- doesnt really matter as I am after a western saddle not a stock..

I was simply correcting some mis-information in the above post. I am passionate about my countries horse heritage and try whenever I can to give people correct information regarding true stock saddles.

Wasn't reccomending them to anybody :]

Bighorn DOES make lightweight saddles!!!! I just bought a used baby blue one the other day! It took so cleaning as it wasn't lightly used but it looks great now. I'll have to get some pictures for you, all i've ever used is lightweight saddles they are more comfortable to me than the heavier ones. And believe me i've been through at least 4 saddles to find the one I liked and it was a lightweight., I just bought the bighorn lightweight saddle last friday and have only gotten to ride in it twice since then and I love it. I'll definitely get pictures next time!

I don't know how this site works, but you could take a look
western bridles - Shopadilly.co.uk
I know you can definitely get bridles in black, it just might take some looking. I have a new/used tack dealer just down the road from me so it's easy to get him to order in anything I need. Same goes for our local tack store.
Try seaching the internet (google, yahoo, etc) for western tack store sites that ship to the UK or are UK based. I know there are quite a few (i've posted some lol).
As for the saddle, I know that when I bought my Abetta there was no option to have it in full or regular bars. There was just one fit.
I'm not sure about the other brands, but that's how it seems for Abetta.
Personally, I love the look of the "eared" bridles, however the only disadvantage is that if it doesnt come with a chin/throat strap it's possible for the horse to rub it off.

I knew that! I knew that! Lol sorry. I always forget they're different here. I meant that an austrailian cross-type stock saddle wouldn't be a bad idea either. The way you sit in them & the way the girth is done up is closer to an english if she were looking for maybe something in between that had the option for a horn as well.

Thats fair enough wild spot :)

Thanks lilkitty- If you could get pics that would be a great help I have seen some of them and they do look great.

Lilruffian-I have looked at most of the UK shops and they are okay but nowhere near as diverse range as I thought they would have and NO black bridles :( I don't mind brown but most synthetic saddles seem to be black and I would like a match :P

I am hopefully going to meet my local western trainer next week (who I had no idea existed) and he said to cut costs(Im not rolling in money :L) he could come to my yard and do sessions with me and my horse then an hour a week later on and give me 'homework' so I can break my baby in western but do it mostly myself (with a pro's help)..

What does everyone think of this idea?

Just adding my two cents :). About 2 years back I went shopping for a new saddle and I wanting about the same thing as you-a lightweight saddle that was affordable and easy to manage. I tested out my friends abetta saddle, almost identical to the one posted above, that she was in love with and I didn't like it. I don't know some people swear by abetta saddle and some people find the uncomfortable like me.

I ended up buying a lami cell barrel racing saddle


And I absolutely love it! Its a barrel saddle so it hugs your butt, its duraleather so its easy to clean, the tree fits every horse i've put it on so far, it only weighs 22 pounds, its nice enough that you could show with it, and it was only $350! Plus its a honey color that's really easy to match with bridles, breast collars, etc. And after 2 years of rough use it still looks brand new. I still see them for sell in places, but I have no idea where you could buy one in europe :/.