Could you horse people check out this saddle?

[Remudamom]

I want to find a saddle for our two ponies that are somewhere between 12-13 hands. One of them is a tad.......pudgy. If I have the right link I think this one is semi quarter horse bars. Do you see anything glaringly off here?

http://http://cgi.ebay.com/Western-Youth-Saddle-14_W0QQitemZ250213704675QQihZ015QQcategoryZ47293QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If it helps any, the ponies are on my site, I'll try to find a pic and put it near the top. I'm lousy at saddle fit.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Not a horse person, but just and FYI: the link didn't work! I like horses, but know diddly squat about them!

[Remudamom]

I can't get it to work. Something about intranet vs internet???
Anyhow, it's Ebay item # 250213704675.

Sorry!

[Ottakee]

OK, first of all, how does your CA saddle fit them? Is it too wide? Too long? sit down too low on the withers?

The pudgy pony looks more like a full quarter horse bar pony to me---just so you don't have the pinching in the shoulders that a narrower saddle would cause.

The thinner pony looks like the youth saddle might fit well.

Again, this is JUST going by pictures and my VERY limited experience. Now, if you want to fly me down to where you are (and where the windchills are NOT 30 BELOW) I would be happy to assist you more in person.:D

[Remudamom]

The CA saddles fit Chubbo pretty well, but I want another pony saddle. And since Chubs really isn't ours, and I hope she'll be returning to her own little girl one day, I'm really buying for the thinner pony.

Hey guess what? I think I sold Cotton, our last broodmare. It's not a done deal yet, but it looks good. She was going to be harder to sell, because 1) she's a Quarter horse, and there are tons of them around here and 2) she's only greenbroke.

A grown up kid came to look at her, and he and his buddy tried her out in the round pen. She had not been ridden for three years, and only had a few rides on her all those years ago, but she was great for them. Since it was cold and icy they did not take her out in the pasture. He said he was looking for one that was already started but not finished. He wants her, he's just got to raise the money.

We're going to try and work some today. I foolishly began major cabinet cleaning yesterday, and I've got stuff all over the house, but what the hey? It'll be cold again tomorrow.

[Ottakee]

Then for that price, I would buy it. After all, you can NEVER had too many saddles, right?

Between my friend and I we have:
custom haflinger pony aussie saddle
full quarter horse big horn
gaited big horn,
another full quarter horse big horn
yet another full quarter horse big horn
a wide tree ABetta
an aussie
3 English saddles of unknown type
a semi QH fabrton
a 17" flex tree fabtron
A youth big horn with full quarter horse bars

I think that is it for now. I own 6 saddles right now and NO horses---just the one we are leasing.

Are you sure I don't need a plane ticket to come help you with saddle fit? It is supposed to be near zero here tomorrow with 40-50 mph winds, windhills of 30 or more below and snow.

[Remudamom]

You've got all the saddles and no horses, and I've got the horses needing them. I've got a couple of CAs and a Sasser, a pony saddle and an Aussie. I sold my extra Aussie, and there are a couple of old junkers up in the tack building. I'd really like to get an Exmoor Endurance but I don't know why. If I get another big pony saddle I'll be pretty well set.

Google "Little Joe bareback saddles" and look at them. Everyone seems to love them. What do you think?

[Mekanamom]

I can't help, because I get all nervous about saddle fit. It looks like a nice saddle...

What about a treeless for the ponies? I guess you couldn't use the horn for any ranch work with one of those, though.

[Remudamom]

so we don't need horns. When we work cattle with the horses it's usually just rounding them up or keeping them moving. Dh can call them from the feed truck and we just follow behind. Sometimes I even cheat and follow in the mini van. Works for me when it's freezing cold.

[Mekanamom]

Google "Little Joe bareback saddles" and look at them. Everyone seems to love them. What do you think?

I googled and couldn't get a page with a decent picture of one! :o

As far as bareback saddles go... my three kids ride in the Cashel Soft Saddles (http://www.valleyvet.com/trail-saddles/Soft-Saddle) with the western to english girth converter and double elastic english girths. That way, they can cinch up tight enough to prevent major saddle rolls yet still give the horses plenty of room to breathe!

The soft saddle does still slip a little bit when my oldest dd gets on from the ground.

The good points:
they'll fit nearly any horse
they are very lightweight, so youngish kids can tack up without help once they know how to do it correctly
they are easy to keep clean and don't even require a separate saddle blanket/pad
they are very comfortable
they help the rider develop good balance


Our horses all have even sweat patterns and no sore spots after a ride.

The one negative is that they aren't as secure as a traditional saddle. Yes, you learn balance. But sometimes you learn it the hard way!

[Mekanamom]

so we don't need horns. When we work cattle with the horses it's usually just rounding them up or keeping them moving. Dh can call them from the feed truck and we just follow behind. Sometimes I even cheat and follow in the mini van. Works for me when it's freezing cold.

LOL! Well, there are so many treeless saddles out there these days... and they all claim to be the best things ever! You'll see the review I gave on the Cashel Soft Saddle above... the only one I have personal experience with. The Hilason saddles on ebay get good reviews, but I haven't tried one myself.

I just like the idea that one saddle can fit a whole bunch of different horses!