Saddle advice please!

OK, I'm just going to put this out there and see what comes in. Boyfriend and I are planning a ride through South America, starting in Chile and ending up in Venezuela. Two horses under saddle, two packing; camping; off-road trails; mostly if not exclusively at the walk while travelling; regular periods dismounted; estimate 10-15kms per day at the beginning and working up to an average of 25kms per day after that; regular off-days and off-weeks.

I am looking for saddle advice, bearing in mind that these saddles are for all-day every-day riding. Our saddle horses are the ones pictured below: the bay has highish withers and a normal-but-on-the-long-side back, will have a 200lb rider plus saddle weight but no extra items; the smoky brownskin (thanks, horse colours and genetics forum for telling me what that colour actually is!) has flatter withers and back, will have a 140lb rider plus saddle weight and light saddlebags. Both horses will drop weight and muscle up as we travel but the basic morphology will stay the same. Sorry about the not-that-useful photos but you can at least get an idea of their toplines and general shape from them.

We have been using classic Chilean saddles up till now. Problems are that the saddle pad is directly on the spine and the saddles themselves are v high and put the rider in a chair position. OK for the cow-work they're meant for but not for long-distance riding. You can see a photo here: On Horseback in Chile - Chilean Saddle and Tack as used on our Trailrides in the Andes, Patagonia, Chile - look at the last one on the page.

I won't put in our thoughts so far because I want to hear your ideas - all of them! - and the reasoning: but I will say that the idea of a suspended seat is interesting. Ditto a saddle which could conceivably be used for both the bay and another horse, but for the same rider. Budget is up to around $1000 per saddle, not including blankets etc.

If you've got other questions, comments, then fire away, but am really looking forward to getting ideas from your collective experience!

Thanks

PS - Oh yes. Key point. The bay won't be pregnant any more...

I've little experience of long distance saddles so don't feel qualified to comment. However, I have an acquaintance who may be able to help - CuChulain O'Reilly of the Long Riders Guild. Their website is

The Long Riders' Guild

Best of luck!

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I'm jealous!

What about an Australian stock saddle? You see a lot of the endurance riders use them. I have one and I find it very comfortable and it fits a range of horses well.

Lots of choices. A decent Aussi stock saddle, either a kimberly trail master or kimberly superior, depending on fit should serve you well. Another good choice would be the leather/ cordura hybrids High horse or Bighorn brand.
I think you are being pretty conservative on your riding. 10-15 k ? That's nothing barely a 2 hour ride. I understand alot of terrain but even with steep terrain. A horse in decent shape can cover alot more ground than that. Figure 5km per hour at a nice easy slow walk.

Thanks for the replies so far. Unclearthur, I know the site and I know of the person - I think I have every page of that site bookmarked separately! I've also been on to your blog to see if there was anything helpful on there re. Cavalry saddle models etc...

Joe, yup, we're being very conservative just for planning purposes. Although it's clear at the very beginning our route is all uphill and so we probably won't be doing mega miles. The 25km/d average is what we reckon for the whole of the trip, including days off and days spent cursing at borders...

Specific model recommendations would be great for the saddles. Off to check out the Kimberlys now...

I'm bumping this because I'm sure there's other people with good ideas - I've been on the 'I'm a trail rider' thread and there's several users on there whose advice I'd appreciate...

The "Long Riders' Guild" has a whole bunch of really good info on tack on their website from people with experience riding very long distances
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