Saddle sizes?

I don't usually ride western but I know once I get my horse this year I'll want to take alot of good trail rides and I use western tack because it is the most comfortable. I am not sure what the sizing means though. Its been a while since I bought a western saddle so I don't know what size I'd be. I'm an average girl not slim but not overweight. Any suggestions?

I've been recently branching into the Wide World of Western too, and I've learned a few things so far:

- Generally your English saddle size minus 2 is your Western saddle size.

- There are a TON of different types of Western Saddles! Equitation, Barrel, Roping, Reining, etc etc. They all fit a little different and you could be a different size in a different type. I sat in about 6 different 15" Western saddles at the tack shop and some fit, some didn't. The height of the horn and the saddle's overall weight made a difference too.

- When you sit in the saddle, there should be 2 finger's width between the front of your thigh and the pommel/swell. As opposed to English's 4 finger's width between your butt and edge of cantle.


I ride in 16 and 16.5" Close Contact english saddles and I seemed most comfortable in 14.5 and 15" Western saddles. I got the impression that 16" Western saddles are the most popular/average size from the salesperson I was working with. She also recommended I visit http://www.western-saddle-guide.com/ to learn more!

Great. Thanks for the information.