Saddle ideas?

I'm kinda looking into getting Lacey a saddle. She really needs one that actually fits her and since Christmas is right around the corner (basically means I'll be rolling in the dough, haha) I figure I should start kinda looking.

Basically I need a cheaper saddle, just for messing around in. I'd prefer English and I think there's probably a higher probability of finding an cheaper saddle to fit my needs if I look into English saddles. However I am not opposed to a Western saddle since Lacey seems to like them better and since when I do summer camps with her she's going to need a western saddle that fits (I do have access to one that kinda mostly fits though).

Basically our issues are that she has high wide withers, and a little bit of a swayback. Every saddle that I have access to (reg. quarter horse bars in the western saddle and I'm pretty sure just average/normal, maybe even wide, I dunno, width of the english saddles) fits fine on her back then is too narrow (english saddles) or a smidge too wide (western saddle) on her withers.

Is there a size in between the two of those, reg. english saddle and qh bars western saddle that I'm totally missing? I can measure the exact widths in inches tomorrow but yeah...

Is there a brand that I should kinda look for or is it just basically try a bunch and deal with it/get a saddle fitter?

for a saddle you never want to go cheap. With all saddles, you pay for what you get. If a brand new saddle costs $200 I wouldn't even put it on any of my horse's backs. Tack in general is no place to try to save a penny because you can end up hurting the back and doing alot of damage to the horse. Just thought I'd mention that

What is your price limit?

My favorite decent cost saddles (English) are Wintecs (I perfer the older models though, the ones without the easy change gullet) and Duetts. Remember that you can get a pretty good priced used saddle. I've seen expensive saddles sell for half their price when they were barely used. Check ebay!

Western wise, I would not recommend any of them less than $1000. I have tried many cheaper western sadddles when I was younger and my poor old pony got severely sore and stiff and the vet said it was from the saddle (yes it fit him correctly). Stay away from the Wintec Westerns for they are not worth even a penny in my book. I've heard too many horrible stories about them to even bother looking at them. I love the McCall saddles but you are looking at about $2000 there for a new one.

Good luck on your search! Saddle shopping can be fun, but annoying at the same time!

I would agree with the above post with the exception of Corriente Saddles. They are advertised in the Western Horseman magazine and are very high quality saddles for the price. I don't have the magazine here with me but they run about $650 or a little less. I own one and I have put alot of miles on a lot of different horses and I am very happy with it.

If a western saddle is fitting too loose over the withers you may be able to make up the difference by using a different pad or two pads under the saddle. If I remember correctly your horse is quite old so buying a saddle that is fitted only to her may not be a good idea as your next horse might not be built the same.

I should have explained better what I meant by cheap (don't you hate that when you know what you mean and then you realize that what you said means something completely different to someone else? haha), I mean cheap as in I can find it used on ebay for $100ish. Haha I definitely am going to shy away from anything brand new that's $100ish. I know $100 is super cheap but I've seen some what I assume (since I've heard the brand names before) to be ok saddle brands on there for $50 so I'm hopeful.

I'll look into Wintecs. I suppose it's probably smartest to look for one of the interchangable gullet ones so I can use it on a variety of horses even after Lacey?

Kevin- I wish I had $650 to spend on a saddle! That would make my day. Haha Hopefully one day...
Yeah, Lacey is older, that's kinda why I'm being so cheap. However, I want her to be comfortable in her saddle since she most likely has atleast 6 (she's 24 right now), if not more, (she's aging super well) rideable years left.


Thanks for the suggestions!

Wintecs aren't that inexpensive, either.

Gone are the days when you could pick up a Wintec saddle for less than $300.00.

I paid close to $800.00 for my Wintec 2000 AP. Of course, you're talking Western, and those go for less than the English saddles.

Wintec Western saddles don't offer the interchangeable gullet systems; they're only on the English saddles.

You can try ebay, but also look at tack shops that have consignment sections.

I picked up a Circle Y saddle for $250.00 several years back.