Tack for a new horse owner

What are some good brands of tack that is reasonably priced? (headstalls, reins, saddle, etc...)

Are sythetic saddles good, or should we just spend the extra money and get a leather saddle?

Where online should we look for tack?

Sorry for all the questions, we've always ridden friend's horses but never had our own! Now that we do, we need to get some tack!

Thanks!

Nothing wrong with synthetic tack . provided you stick to a brand ( mostly wintec ).

On the leather side of things just remember that you get what you pay for, you don't have to pay thousands but if you are buying ' cheap ' tack that's what you'll get.

Bridles etc don't really register on most peoples importance list, but bear in mind that unless you have a specially trained horse your bridle is your life, if your bridle is cheap and breaks / falls off your horses head you're in trouble - I mean how much steering or brakes would you have if your reins gave way.

Also a good fitting bridle will be more comfey for your horse.

Sometimes, synthetic is just a good as leather.

Some quality, affordable brands that are synthetic are Wintec and Abetta.

And my personal favorite leather saddle brand(that is also very affordable) is American Saddlery.

We've had 2 Wintecs for a long time and they still look almost new and have never had a problem with them.
There are a lot of good online places. We always start at Jeffers for most horsey stuff...they have great service and prices.

We've ordered from Jeffers before for some goat stuff. Good pricing and fast shipping.

Any opinions on one of the forum sponsor: www.saddleonline.com? They carry synthetics as well as some nice looking leather saddles.

For a few dollars more you can get High Quality American Saddles and Tack instead of the Imported Junk they sell.

Or you can get some Good American Used Stuff too.



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Any recommendations on a website to buy some good tack?

Here are some you can find some decently priced, good quality ones on:
www.statelinetack.com
www.chicksaddlery.com

and SouthernTrailsGA's has some nice, reasonably priced saddles himself.

Anyone know about chick's saddlery leather tack? They seem SO LOW in price, which really makes me hesitant to purchase from them. I don't want to end up with an Asian import... already made that mistake

Some of the brands there ARE cheap Asian imports. BUT, they do have some greatly priced good brands for sale.

Just let us know which ones you are referring to, and we will tell you whether they are cheap-o or not.