What is a good Trail riding saddle?

There are a few things about the description that you need to consider. Fiberglass trees are cheap, 28 lb is a light saddle - not stout, and the term "Quality Leather" really doesn't say a lot- who would say "leather like cardboard".

$150 is very inexpensive but it just may work for you for a while and you should be able to resell it for what you paid when the time comes. Just be sure it fits you and your horse or it isn't worth anything.

I'm not trying to sound discouraging but just point you in the right direction. Never buy a saddle because the price is right, buy because it's a good saddle and it fits.

Thanks for all your help I may consider this saddle but I am still looking for now I need one pretty quik but I can wait alittle longer.Thanks for the info.What is a good tree made of ?

I was able to find an inexpensive Simco on our local Craig's list. The guy didn't know the name brand and the picture made it look horrible. It's not a bad little saddle. Perfect size for me and pretty to boot! Have you looked at your classifieds? What about something like Tradin' Post, your newspaper, or something similar?

A good tree is made of hardwood and covered in either rawhide or fiberglass (that means covered in fiberglass not made of it) and should weigh about 35 to 40 lb. For a stout saddle, stay away from a product called Ralide which is a molded plastic.

I would go with a used saddle, aussies are comfy, if you want a western, look around at local tack stores, but if its used, then its kinda like a broken in pair of jeans, it'll already be broken into... :) also smaller local tack stores my do trade ins for old leather, so you might be able to get out of payin a hefty price for a good saddle if you have old leather that you could trade in to offset the price of the saddle, just some advice, good luck on findin what you need :)

I took a gander and found a few close to your price range that are good saddles. Names like Crates, Herford/Textan, Simco, Billy Cook, etc should help you find a good saddle for the money. These are all 16" seats, didn't know what size you needed so I just picked one.

crates
Herford/textan
billy cook

I didn't look too far thru here.. You can do a more specific search for your size and the tree size you need.

Consider what you are doing with the saddle. You would never rope steers with a 25lb saddle. And a treeless or a saddle built on a light weight tree would not hold up to the stress of steer hitting the end of the rope. But for a trail saddle they will do the job. I have a "Specialized Saddle" that weighs 28lbs. It has pads and shims made of rubber that are very easy to change to fit what ever horse I put it on. It has held up great for 10 years of use and my daughters love to use it since it's so light to lift up and put on the horse. But it's a lousy saddle for me to throw a saddle pannier over the top and try to pack anything.

If you are roping you want something that's easy to get out of. When they get the calf roped those cowboys want to hit the dirt running to get it tied up. As a trail rider, I like a little more security. I want the saddle to hold me in, if the horse I'm riding spooks and jumps away from what ever spooked him. A saddle with a little higher cantle and pomel will help hold you in. If you are breaking young horses that have a tendency to buck, then you really want a bear trap of a saddle to keep you in place.

Do you plan to carry a lot of stuff with you on trail rides? A bigger skirt helps to support and spread the weight of saddle bags. If you rarely carry much weight while on a trail ride, the smaller rounded skirts give the horse more freedom of movement. Is your horse gaited. Some of the gaited breeds need more shoulder movement than the stock breed horses do. The gaited horse saddles usually cut the front skirt back some to allow more shoulder movement.

Do you want a padded seat or a slick seat? I prefer a slick seat, but there are a lot of folks who want to sit on a soft padded seat.

Tucker Saddles are probably best known as a trail saddle, Look at their website and see what features they stress for their trail saddles and use that as a guideline for what you consider. New quality built american saddles will sell for $1400 to $2000 with custom saddles going for more than that. I see Mexican saddles at the tack auctions going for $300 new. You know that their is something missing if they can sell them that cheap. The quality saddles have chrome tanned leather, the mexican saddles have who know what kind of tanning in the leather. The thickness of the leather is half as thick in the mexican built. The quality of the tooling, how many stitches per inch and the type of thread used on the sewing. A good quality saddle will last your lifetime, a cheap saddle will last 2-3 years.

You can find quality saddles selling as used saddles and would be better off than buying a cheap new saddle. As mentioned Crates, Colorado Saddlery, Heford are production saddles built in mass quanities that use good materials and will last a long time.

And understand that not every saddle will fit every horse. Saddles come with Quarter horse bars, Semi Quarter horse bars, Arab bars etc. Buying the wrong saddle can make you horse very sore. I would be hesiteant to buy a saddle mail order and just expect it to fit my horse. I like to set the saddle on the horse and see how it fits his back. I've been known to buy a good saddle in a pawn shop at a great price and when I got home and set it on the horses back, saw that it wouldn't fit and that saddle has often sat in my tack room waiting for a horse whose back it would fit.

All I can say is "aussie, aussie, aussie". If you want a good trail riding saddle, that is what they are meant for: a day in the brush. They have the pollys on the front that keep you in (they are similar to the bucking rolls) and it has a seat that you can ride in ALL day and not get sore. Just my two cents I would own no other trail saddle. Plus, it comes with or without a horn...

I'll second the Aussie vote! No sore knees or bum, for me, after a five hour ride. Beware of the cheapie ones, but mine is a cheapie and it's great! You can probably find better used ones for a decent price. CHek out Down Under saddles.

Glad to know that are some other Aussie fans out there! Lol Yeah, I like my Aussie (its not a cheapie and doesnt have the western stirrups; it has the traditional ones) They are just comfy period...and they fit my mare good. The only thing is is that you have to have really good balence riding in a Aussie, they can be tipsy if you don't balence your weight right. Other then that, go for one!