Any western saddle experts out there?

Btomkins

Btomkins

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Hi, I have just been offered a western saddle from my very non horsey friend for what seems like a very good price.

Apparently her father had it imported from America years back and it's never been used, just sat in a garage.

I would love to have it but not really sure what its worth - I can pm you details and photos are attached and would really appreciate some help as only have until tomorrow to let her know!

Just want opinions really if its a decent saddle, unfortunately she can't find a makers mark anywhere which doesn't look too good.....

Thanks in advance :)

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Sorry to be negative but it dosent look like a quality or nice saddle to me ...... but bare in mind a decent second hand western saddle will be £500 up and new £1000 up..
 
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I can't really see the pictures as indepth as I'd like as they are too small, but there's a few things about it that makes it look like a Mexican saddle rather than a US saddle to me. What is the seat measurement on the tape? You don't measure western saddles from front of horn to cantle, you measure them from the hole to the cantle and it looks like the measurements work out to being 13" if taking out the excess from the tape where it goes to the horn. If that is the case then the saddle is only a 15" in English size, therefore a youth size, not an adults size.
 
perfect11s said:
Sorry to be negative but it dosent look like a quality or nice saddle to me ...... but bare in mind a decent second hand western saddle will be £500 up and new £1000 up..
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Hmm this is what I was thinking but may be worth a chance as have been offered it for a very minimal price.....even if it won't be suitable for my horses may still be able to sell it on and break even at least....

Just strange that she tells me that it was imported from America - why go to all that cost and effort if it wasn't very good?
 
Spring Feather said:
I can't really see the pictures as indepth as I'd like as they are too small, but there's a few things about it that makes it look like a Mexican saddle rather than a US saddle to me. What is the seat measurement on the tape? You don't measure western saddles from front of horn to cantle, you measure them from the hole to the cantle and it looks like the measurements work out to being 13" if taking out the excess from the tape where it goes to the horn. If that is the case then the saddle is only a 15" in English size, therefore a youth size, not an adults size.
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Yes, unfortunately these are the only pics I have :/ as you can see from the measurements they really don't have a clue! As far as I can see the tape measure is 18" from horn to cantle....not sure if this helps!
 
Btomkins said:
Hmm this is what I was thinking but may be worth a chance as have been offered it for a very minimal price.....even if it won't be suitable for my horses may still be able to sell it on and break even at least....

Just strange that she tells me that it was imported from America - why go to all that cost and effort if it wasn't very good?
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Why do people buy a lot of things??? I guess it
was like a lot of other tat that gets bought by people on holiday so why not a crummy saddle....must have seemed a good idea at the time...
 
I don't know if it helps at all, but she also has this one for sale which I didn't particularly like -

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Make is 'hilason'

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I'm now thinking from these comments I may be steering well clear..... But thanks for the advice :)
 
Btomkins said:
Yes, unfortunately these are the only pics I have :/ as you can see from the measurements they really don't have a clue! As far as I can see the tape measure is 18" from horn to cantle....not sure if this helps!
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Sorry, I posted a response but H&H went down just as I hit send so it's lost in cyberspace now. Anyhow the gist of it was, it looks like the number is 17" on the tape to the inside of the rear of the seat, regardless, even if it is 18", if you minus the 4 inches to the horn at the front then you are still left with a youths saddle size of either 13" or 14" which equates to a 15" or a 16" English saddle size. That size of western saddle is usually used by kids of around 12 - 14 years old. The closer I look at the saddle, and even though we can't see exactly how it hangs, there's enough clues there to say that I'm more than fairly convinced it is a Mexican saddle and not a US one. In which case, I wouldn't even take that saddle for free and I sure as heck wouldn't put it on a horse. Sorry.
 
Sorry, I'm going to be uncomplimentary, too. I know western saddles are not common here but, on the other side, anyone who rides western seriously will likely want a "good" saddle they can ride properly in. You might find you really struggle to resell it at any price.

And, as above, while western saddles are a bit more forgiving, it certainly is not "one size fits all", nor can you expect to toss any one on any horse and ride off into the sunset. If you don't mind being stuck with it, give it a shot, but if you want a proper western saddle, even a midrange quality one, I don't think that's it, sorry.
 
Actually, I take a different view. It could well be a child's saddle, but it is very ornate & well-tooled, western saddles are often valued for this over fit, which is much less critical for western riding. A good Mexican saddle is often better value & their leatherwork is often top-notch.
Having said that, no point in owning a western saddle if you are not going to use it.
Suggest to owner that he sell it on eBay.
 
jaquelin said:
Actually, I take a different view. It could well be a child's saddle, but it is very ornate & well-tooled, western saddles are often valued for this over fit, which is much less critical for western riding. A good Mexican saddle is often better value & their leatherwork is often top-notch.
Having said that, no point in owning a western saddle if you are not going to use it.
Suggest to owner that he sell it on eBay.
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Oh no I'm in two minds again now! I would use it myself it it fit mine, but I have no way of telling until its delivered and then I'm stuck with it :/

The price really is quite minimal so will have to have a long hard think overnight....
 
I have quite a bit of experience with western saddles and neither look great to be honest, the first one looks like a better quality out of the two but it's more of a parade type saddle.

There are usually western saddles on ebay frequently you could compare it to, but unless they are the well known brands you will be lucky to get anything for it, there are alot of saddles I have seen on ebay for less which are not actually leather, they are more cardboard thats been compressed! So the saddle you were thinking about buying looks better than those ones do.

The the seat measures less than 15 inches it's not an adults saddle.
 
It's always good to take differing views providing they are considered :)

OP this is what I see, make of it as you will. This saddle is a childs saddle. The tooling does not look good workmanship to me and I definitely wouldn't say the saddle is ornate, sorry, but of course I realize we are all going by tiny pictures. The big white stitching is often, but not always, a dead giveaway that a saddle is Mexican. Mexican saddles often have bad stitchwork, their trees are very unsafe (often made from styrofoam), the layers of 'leather' are often not all made of leather; some of the layers are actually made of paper. The d-ring looks to be made of nickel, again that's a huge giveaway that it is a low grade saddle. The placement of the fenders again is typical of a low quality Mexican saddle. The conchos look tacky, the rear cinch strap is not folded through, it has a piece of latigo running through holes. The seat, front to back is seriously biased and those are only the things I can see off the bat from your piccies, in real life I think I'd have a field day with this saddle and probably find more problems that we aren't able to see in the pictures. IF (which I highly doubt) it was made by a good craftsman (US or Mexican) then there would definitely be a makers tag on the saddle. There isn't one. I could rattle off some very good saddle makers from over here and you can probably buy them over in England too. Most of them make saddles to fit various budgets so if you are looking for a western saddle but don't want to spend so much then there must be some western outfitters in England that you could browse to search for the style and budget you have? Or maybe have a look on ebay.com and see if you can find a used one from over here, I've no idea what the shipping would be though.
 
Also the sheepskin underneath doesn't look like the type you get on good quality saddles, it's not normally as thick as on this saddle and it looks virtually new so perhaps the saddle has been reconditioned.
 
Hilason are cheap and cheerful - look at the website. My first thought was that it might be treeless? The pommel and cantle would be rigid, but no tree in between. Not great treeless western saddles anyway if that is the case.
 
FfionWinnie said:
It's on eBay for 80 at the moment (first one). Eta they both are but second one has no bids.
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Yes, this is why I need to let them know by tomorrow as the bidding ends then and have been offered it at a separate price.....was trying to keep it quiet that its on Ebay but I guess the secrets out lol - not that it sounds like anyone's going to touch it with a barge pole ;)
 
Btomkins said:
I don't know if it helps at all, but she also has this one for sale which I didn't particularly like -

f965a7e6005ea3fb0b3a15bada35c96c.jpg


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Make is 'hilason'

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I'm now thinking from these comments I may be steering well clear..... But thanks for the advice :)
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check under the fenders there should be a silver plaque which says made in wyoming. like this
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looks like a robinsons one to me the fenders should be attached under the seat like gloves on a child go through the arms to the other side





.
 
FfionWinnie said:
It's on eBay for 80 at the moment (first one). Eta they both are but second one has no bids.
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Her poor late father must have had strange body shapes bless him if he could fit into all of those saddles. And perhaps prosthetic limbs?

Btomkins said:
Yes, this is why I need to let them know by tomorrow as the bidding ends then and have been offered it at a separate price.....was trying to keep it quiet that its on Ebay but I guess the secrets out lol - not that it sounds like anyone's going to touch it with a barge pole ;)
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Oh don't be so sure. There are plenty of foolish and inexperienced people out there who don't care what tack they put on their horse :(
 
FfionWinnie said:
Is reinsman a good make SF?
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Sorry Ffion I was trying to reply to you but those frickin pictures above have completely distorted the page and I couldn't find the Reply Box lol

Reinsman are a kind of budgety type saddle, but they have a very good name in the mid end saddle range. I know someone who has one and I've ridden in it (I've ridden in most makes of western saddles) and it was by no means awful. It was fine, a little bit uncomfy as I rode in it for 2 or 3 hours and was on a strange horse but it certainly wasn't bad. I'm trying to think if they are maybe made by another well known company (like Stubben used to make CTDs or whatever the initials were)??
 
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Ok thanks. I see them on eBay some times, I don't intend to be roping calves but I am going to start moving my cows around with my mare in the spring. What sort of saddle would you go for in my situation (poor shepherd!). Cattle are extremely fast light weight natives who will put up a fight (running) then give in but we will have to out manoeuvre them before they will give in I reckon. I saw an Australian stock saddle which looked interesting too.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Ok thanks. I see them on eBay some times, I don't intend to be roping calves but I am going to start moving my cows around with my mare in the spring. What sort of saddle would you go for in my situation (poor shepherd!). Cattle are extremely fast light weight natives who will put up a fight (running) then give in but we will have to out manoeuvre them before they will give in I reckon. I saw an Australian stock saddle which looked interesting too.
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Was that the stock saddle that went earlier today? I saw one that went for £46 earlier and tbh it looked pretty good :O but then i really dont know XD
 
FfionWinnie said:
Ok thanks. I see them on eBay some times, I don't intend to be roping calves but I am going to start moving my cows around with my mare in the spring. What sort of saddle would you go for in my situation (poor shepherd!). Cattle are extremely fast light weight natives who will put up a fight (running) then give in but we will have to out manoeuvre them before they will give in I reckon. I saw an Australian stock saddle which looked interesting too.
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What sort of prices do you see Reinsmans on ebay for over there? I'm thinking they're in about the $1,000/$1,500 range here for a non-specific type saddle. Australian stock saddles are very comfy and pretty nice saddles to ride in although I can't admit to riding in one for much longer than a couple of hours. I'd imagine it is the same with Aus stock saddles as with western, there's probably a load of junk makes/copies out there so you'd have to research the makes. If I was you and looking to do what you are planning to do then can't give advice on what type of Aus saddle to get as I don't know enough about them, but I'd go for a roping saddle. I predominantly ride in roping saddles. I do have some pleasure saddles and trail saddles and they're fine but I'm so used to the roping saddles and they 'fit' how I ride and what I ride to :)
 
I LOVE and ADORE my Reinsman saddle:o

I saw one and sat in it in a local store, but couldn't afford it at the time, but eventually managed to get enough money together and found a great online deal. That was probably the scariest online deal that I had done, so hoping it was going to be the right thing when it got here. Well it was fine, chucked it on my boy and rode, and it was like it was made for me. Love the quality, for the price, just really happy.

I also loved the fact that their customer service people were totally awesome with me. They knew that I was buying second hand, but happily checked several serial numbers for saddles I saw, and also checked the wither tracings for my guy to make sure that the model I was looking for was going to fit. That sort of service means a HUGE amount to me.
 
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