Costs of Second Hand Saddle??

[Becks01]

Hello - I know this is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' kind of question, but just wondering what sort of prices people pay for second hand saddles - something like a 19" GP/Dressage, and how much I could hope for my black 18" Wintec GP Cair? I know I can't afford a brand new saddle from my googling, but wondering how many pennies I should start to put away for something second hand....

Thanks for any insights and examples, I know they're all different, but ball park would still be useful!

 

[R_Owen]

I believe a paid about £400 for my second hand GFS GP saddle in fab condition 17.5 inch, my sister paid about £300 from hers but that was about 15 inches I cant remember the make of her saddle. The are both English leather.

 

[dibbin]

I sold a 17.5" Kent & Masters Cob GP for £500 (including another gullet, stirrup leathers and an airflow girth) last year. I had bought it new in 2010 but it had only actually been in use for about a year and a half and stored indoors for the rest of the time, it was in excellent condition.

 

[eggs]

19" saddles aren't so easy to come by. I have a very lightly used 19" Albion GP and was advised by Albion to put it on an American website when I get round to selling it. Might be a useful place for you to look but do factor in shipping costs.

I sold my 17.5" Wintec GP with Cair for about £150 on ebay a couple of years ago.

 

[WandaMare]

I've got a used ideal jessica 18" dressage saddle which I'm going to sell when I get myself organised. I bought it for £350 4 years ago and was thinking of advertising it for £200. I think you're right the costs will vary depending on condition and how quickly people want to sell.

 

[Micropony]

I also think it depends whether you know exactly what you want. I bought a second hand GP once, I think I paid about £900, which included fitting and adjustment. Could have got it cheaper on t'internet, but I bought it from my saddler as I wanted to be able to try different ones before committing, and to have some come back if there turned out to be a problem with it.
My friend bought a slightly newer version of exactly the same saddle for slightly less on eBay. She had to pay separately to get it fitted, so it probably worked out pretty similar.

 

[Cragrat]

Have you had a 19" fitted to the horse? It is an unusually big size, as Eggs said, and if you find and buy one, but then realise it doesn't fit and is hurting your horse, it could be a PITA to try and sell it again.

 

[criso]

I always think roughly half the new price as a starting point if it's in good condition. Then details like condition, colour, popular/unpopular model and size will push it up or down from that. Saddles with adjustable gullets are in demand and seem to make good prices.

A 19" could go either way, difficult to find but also difficult to sell as not popular so may be cheaper than the sizes everyone wants.

 

[Pilib]

I bought a beautiful 18.5 ideal for a whopping £650! X

 

[atropa]

I bought an Ideal Grandee 17.5 inch medium last October for £800. Looking back now it seems a bit on the steep side but tbh I was prepared to pay a LOT more for a new saddle so didn't grudge it. It's in excellent condition, had new girth billets attached by my saddler, is very comfy and apparently had been custom made for the original owner in tqo special kinds of leather with specific knee blocks..I'm not experienced enough with saddlery to know if this is true or not!

 

[Becks01]

Thanks everyone!! I stupidly forgot about 18.5! My saddler said ideally the 'next size up' and my brain just went to 19! I'm hoping he'll change shape a lot this year and muscle up so I don't want to rush into getting him something that might not fit in 6/12 months when what he currently has is adequate for us, just not ideal... where I am really quite long in the leg I seem to struggle with saddles. Thanks for the responses, really helpful.

 

[9tails]

19" is YOUR size, not the horse's size. If your saddler recommended the next size up, I would bet he means width, ie. medium-wide from medium.