Finally! Some visual proof for those who do not believe the price reflects quality!

 

Ya get what ya pay for! That's what my Dad always told me. It's one of the few useful things he taught me... I'm glad I learned. We've always bought older used saddles (15+ years). They've been good for us.
One thing we learned though, the cheap pads are just as bad as the cheap saddles. Oh, and the cheap headstalls.
Quality is so important! Your and your horse's life may depend on it.
For example, my dad was riding beside a highway, his horse spooked, bolted and when Dad was pulling back on the reins the snap that was attaching the bit to headstall let go of the bit (not sure how that worked, but it happened). If Dad had dropped his reins the bit would have been around the still hyper horse's neck.

 

Wow - who would have designed and built that? It looks like something I would have done when I was a five year old and was just completely clueless about detail and pride in workmanship.

 

Oh wow I knew they were horrible, but I NEVER imagined they were that bad. I actually am embarrassed that I considered buying one just last fall. I hadn't really seen them up close. Then I actually touched one and saw it sit on a horse(about a week after I made a thread asking about them) and I was disgusted.

Since having my eyes opened to how bad they are I truly honestly believe its abuse to put one on a horse. Which is another reason I hate the "mass production" riding schools.

Now that I have seen what they look like inside. I firmly stand behind my belief of it being abused. This is shocking and disgusting. Never will any horse in my care have one of these pieces of crud on their back.

 

.

The Western Saddle Packages under 400.00 are about the same, inferior components, leather is Water Buffalo hide tanned with urine.

.

 

My best friend and I were in the only local saddle shop we have that actually makes it's own tack. There was a lady there trying to sell them her western saddle. It was light oil with a turquoise seat and turquoise cutouts. Even from a distance we could tell it was one of those cheap saddles you see online. The owner of the shop asked her how much she wanted for it and she said $500, since it'd only been on her horse once. The owner told her that he wouldn't take that POS saddle if she offered it to him for free and there was no way on God's green earth he'd put it on even a horse he hated. She kept insisting she'd paid $1000 for it and it was a wonderful saddle. After she left in a huff, the owner told us that the tree on that saddle was so warped, it wouldn't even sit on a saddle stand straight. It was made of that buffalo hide tanned in urine and would never break in like a good quality saddle.

I bought one of those cheap bridles GallopingGuitarist warned about. Not on purpose, but I needed a draft-size English bridle and was on a VERY tight budget. When I took it in to get the browband replaced after my dog ate it off (took it to the same shop we were at when we saw that lady and her saddle), the owner of the shop laughed at it and literally called it a POS. I couldn't do anything but sheepishly agree with him. I've oiled that thing a dozen or more times and it's still stiff as cardboard.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Wow, now I wish someone had picture proof of a western saddle like that.

 

Here is a Tree from one of those 500.00 Imports, it is Hollow Fiberglass, the Cracks are shown with Circles, the purple looking stuff on the edges shown with arrows is what the Cheap Makers call a Rawhide Wrapped Tree.

PS, Saddle was never dropped and Horse did not roll on it :wink:
Think it was ridden twice. The Tree weighs about 3lbs. A Real Tree weighs 8-12lbs.

.

 

Heck next time I'm at an auction, I'll get one and sacrafice it for ya.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Wow, that is SCARY!

 

I knew someone on here had a picture of a cheap western tree! I just couldn't remember who. Thanks, Southern, for finding this thread!

 

I had been sent two english saddles in which the tree had broken in both. One was a high end, the other like the above. I had obtained these for the sole purpose of dismantling them. The low end looked much like the one in the pics Golden Horse posted. I usually refer to that type of flocking as mouse nesting. This was a hunt saddle so I even checked into the suede knee rolls. Fine shavings in there along with two pebbles. Both saddles had broken in approx. the same place but the high end was over 50 years old and had seen a lot of jumping. The quality in the hardware was top-notch and not a speck of rust. The leather was incredible, so pliable. Unfortunately, my camera was film and on the fritz so no pics. Now I keep two cameras, digitals of course.

 

I had a saddle come in for consignment, something I won't do with such a low quality saddle but I was curious about the tree. Every effort was made to conceal it so I grabbed a big honkin screwdriver and slipped it between the skirt and the tree in the air channel. Using the screwdriver like a pry bar I was able, with the help of a flashlight, see the tree. I've never seen anything like that wood in my like. All that came to mind was worm wood as it had a bazillion tiny holes in it. I set it on the rack and sat on it and for the life of me couldn't find the stirrup that was right there. I had to lean over and turn the stirrup for my foot.

 

To just answer the question in the thread name: no, I don't want to buy a "saddle package"! :lol:

 

Are you sure about that?

 

The last two photos posted by the OP look like road-kill after two weeks.

Sort of makes one's hair stand on end, doesn't it?

 

Does anyone have pictures of a quality dismantled saddle that we could compare to the junk one?

I find this really interesting.

 

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn441/jaysusH/20120717_175851_zps9b091bb0.jpg

Looks like something my cat threw up on the living room rug.

 

When I first saw that, I thought it was a dead cat!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Can we sticky this?
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Thats awful :/ I have never really looked at those kind of saddles and wow... am I glad. I cant imagine what that would do to a horses back
(Now I also feel better about splurging on a prestige saddle)
Posted via Mobile Device

 

You can see the main problems with this tree are the thinness of the front gullet plate (the headplate, which fits above it and which can't be seen, is probably similar) and the small size and poor quality of the rivets which join them together, through the wood of the tree, to make the front arch rigid.

A combination of these faults allows the arch to flex, loosening the rivets (you can see the heads have lifted on some) and allowing the arch to stretch. Eventually it would have failed completely.

At least in this example the girth webs run over the top of the tree. Some examples I've seen have them tacked on underneath (scary!)

Great pictures!

PS. The bits of half-round section wire are tails from the head nails and fall-down staples. You'll find those, and tacks, if you dismantle a quality saddle, though the head nail shafts are more commonly square-section and heavier gauge.

 

I'm not familiar with metals by name but the it is brittle in the cheapies, no strength to it whereas in the high end it's spring steel. Any tack used in an english saddle is blued so it doesn't rust or react with the chemicals involved in tanning leather. In the cheapies the staples rust which deteriorates both the staple and the leather which results in the staples either falling apart or falling out. What scares me is people use these for jumping. In 2001 I received and email and pics of a gal who'd bo't a pretty saddle off ebay for around $125. Of course the pretties had appealed. On her first trail ride the horn broke away from the tree and was hanging on by a flap of leather. Before she got home the tree snapped and she had to walk. Could I fix her saddle? No. I have a pic somewhere of another a gal had stripped down and sent pics. Cracks in the hollow fiberglass tree. The cinching was their version of a sam stagge rigging badly done. Cinch pressure had caused it to break. That saddle lasted only a couple of leisurely rides.

 

I'm not familiar with metals by name...

Just for info, in decent quality saddles the gullet and head plates are steel, tempered so they retain their shape. Stirrup bars are forged steel, not pressed.

 

Today I saw a silverfox saddle at the tack shop.. the "leather" right where your leg sits had been worn down to show what was beneath. It was a colorful arrangement of paper like "leather" and cardboard. Where the leathers attach On the left side (I know almost nothing about english saddles, lol) had been ripped off. From looking at the billets the saddle looked like it had barely been used. Ill buy it next time I stop by since it was only 30 dollars

 

That's all I have to say!

 

Double !

 

worth reviving so people can see what is inside.

 

Look at these pics Horse Problems and Solutions: Cheap saddles - Made in India - WARNING