Your favorite & least favorite saddle

My favorite saddle at the moment, is my Ovation jumping saddle. It's very comfortable and for the price, i feel it has nice leather. Unfortunately its too small so it throws off my position.

I too dislike synthetic saddles. I love the feel of leather and I actually enjoy oiling/cleaning it.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. There are some saddles that are cheaply made but very inexpensive (I saw some for sale for under $90 new)

I feel with saddles, you get what you pay for. If you get a cheap saddle, you're getting exactly that, a cheap saddle. However, if you can find a good name brand saddle used, its better to buy that.

I didnt say that buying cheaper saddles is a good idea ; i was stating that some saddles can be purchased for under $500 and be really great like most of my saddles. All of my saddles have cost way under $400 and have lasted me 10 years and still look brand new and work absolutely fine.

:)

honestly, I've only ever owned a billy cook, but have obviously ridden other saddles (ranch and roping saddles) and love my Billy Cook. It's pretty much an all around saddle. Can be used for roping, pleasure riding, etc. Looks great and hardly looks used. I LOVE IT. My wife barrel races and uses a Bob Marshal treeless saddle and says she will NEVER go back to a treed saddle again. I have sat in it and they are VERY comfortable with big swells so you are DEFINITELY not coming out of it.

i have a blue ridge barrel saddle not the top end of saddles but it fits my barrel racing horse and its so light which makes hnim happier before that i had a circle Y all around saddle which was beautiful but was heavy and didnt fit my younger gelding and was heavy and made riding him misrable .. so im happy with my barrel saddle

I love my prestige. and sooooo many ppl are going to kill me for this, but vegas hurt my booty so much they are so hard.

Favorite: English Stubben

Least: Cut back knock-off made of cheap indian leather. Thankfully it was cheap.

My favorite saddle is the one I am in now. It is an off brand(Circle W, I believe), but works just as well as the top brand saddles, and it completely safe and sturdy, not to mention, the tooling on it is AWESOME. But, brand speaking, my favorite is Tex Tan. My last saddle was a Tex Tan barrel saddle and lasted me forever, but I outgrew it and I bought the Circle W.

My least favorite is Wintec Western saddles. I can't think of ONE good thing about them, other then they are CHEAP. Seems to me like they are cheaply made too. I wish their western saddles had as much quality as their English saddles.

My favorite saddle is my new saddle, Tucker Gen II endurance with western fenders. Has a flex tree with gel by the withers for my horses comfort. Good quality leather, though it is light weight, 21 or 22 lbs. Plenty of rings to hook on to for my gear and latigo straps too. Memory foam seat sooooo very compfy for me and trail stirrups also very compfy for me. Fits me and fits my horse for many hours of compfy trail riding.

Wouldn't hesitate to purchase another Tucker and am acually looking at different styles for my hubby or friend to ride in. Hopefully will find a good used one as they are a bit pricey.

My fave saddle right now is my Simco-Longhorn roping saddle. Very reasonably priced about 6 years ago at $745 with roping flank set and tooled breast collar included. It has fit all the horses I have ridden (except the perch) and is very comfortable. VERY well made and incredibly sturdy, it took a percheron to hurt it even a little bit and even then, it was an easy fix.

The only saddle that I really don't like is my Dad's custom made Billy Cook from the '70s. The seat is so wide and flat that it feels like I'm sitting on a board and I have zero security in that saddle.

I've had a few saddles over the years....it's hard to find a really good one.
My favortire would be my most recent purchase, a Nevada Reiner by Continental Saddlery. it was a bit higher on the price rand (approx US $2000) but they threw in a nice free breastcollar and free shipping. If my bum could smile, it would in this saddle. I'll never ride in anything again. It is super comfy for trails, lessons, and racing (I've not tried roping as of yet, too pregnant!) My only complaint is that it is very heavy (35 pounds)
Worst saddle purchase was a cheap draft saddle for my clyde mare. The horn snapped off the first use! I've learned you get what you pay for, don't buy cheap and expect amazing quality :(