how much does your saddle weigh.........

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hollyandivy123

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on reading the "rider too heavy" thread i realised that we have the perfect opportunity to find out how heavy different brands and styles are.

so if you are up for the game

how heavy is your saddle, can you write make, style and tree size and weight, if you have one of the answers just like the response. this the naked saddle no girth or stirrups
 
Solution treeless original Jumper size 4 (equates roughly to a 17.5"), not sure on the weight but it is considerably lighter than any treed saddle. I love that I can fit it to the horse and to me to make it perfect for both of us. Someone posted on FB recently claiming to be an amazing saddle fitter based in NI, and banged on about how he concentrates on the fit to the horse and doesn't care about the comfort of the rider - crazy! If the rider isn't comfortable and able to sit quietly and correctly, the horse has no chance.
 
There’s a few of us that might fail on this one. ?

If my memory serves me correct, mine is 9.5kgs (with engraved metal stirrups attached). It’s a Crates Reining saddle (Western) and is a 15.5 inch (equates to 17.5 in English I believe).

Ive been so tempted to go to a barefoot saddle but they’re not easy to get hold of a decent second hand one here. I see some good ones on EBay in the UK frequently).
 
About 12kg, a Circle Y trail western saddle and the same for a Crates Lady Reiner. They are both ‘lightweight’ saddles bought as I am old & feeble and I can swing that weight up onto the horses. Some old fashioned roping saddles weigh nearly twice that. Though to be fair western saddles do spread the weight more evenly on the horses back and we use thicker pads.
 
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Don't have any way of weighing my saddles but i have a Kieffer from my last horse that has one of those heat adjustable trees and it is incredibly light compared to the others.
 
It's a synthetic Total Contact Saddle so the 'naked' weight is negligible, but it would be hard for me to weigh it exactly due to the shape and how light it is
 
If you've got a set of bathroom scales, you can work out the weight of your saddle.

Weigh yourself holding the saddle, then put the saddle down and note your weight again. The saddle weight is the difference between the two readings :).

I'm going to do that later with an Equipe jump, a Fairfax classic GPD and my heavy old traditional Ideal Event.
 
Tiddlypom said:
If you've got a set of bathroom scales, you can work out the weight of your saddle.

Weigh yourself holding the saddle, then put the saddle down and note your weight again. The saddle weight is the difference between the two readings :).

I'm going to do that later with an Equipe jump, a Fairfax classic GPD and my heavy old traditional Ideal Event.
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I did try that, but it's so light (and my scales are so cheap) that I can't see a perceptible difference in me alone v.s. me holding it - so "negligible" it is!
 
cauda equina said:
It's useful to know the weight of you + saddle anyway because that's what the 20% is/should be, not just you/one
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I guess the 20% rule changes slightly when it's a saddle with a larger weight bearing/load dispersing area like a western?

Those saddles are heavier but were originally designed for all day use by men
 
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Ok, I have 3 saddles, and they are all about 5.5KG
1. Strada St Christopher
2. Saddle Company
3. Barefoot Cheyenne

Edited to add - all chosen for my 13hh Exmoor ponies so lightweight and about 16.5 seat
 
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TPO said:
I guess the 20% rule changes slightly when it's a saddle with a larger weight bearing/load dispersing area like a western?

Those saddles are heavier but were originally designed for all day use by men
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I wouldn't say so. It's all weight. It's a better weight distribution so less likely to damage skin, but it still counts to joint wear and fatigue.

I'd like to see the longevity of small western horses carrying big men.
.
 
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hollyandivy123 said:
like the replies........10kg for a wow........i new they were heavy but when emailed wow to ask they didn't reply.
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It depends which version.

1 weighs a ton.

2 is lighter but still very heavy.

3 is heavy but came in at least 6kg less than a version 1.

It also depends on the seat type as some are much less bulky than others.
.
 
ycbm said:
I'd like to see the longevity of small western horses carrying big men.
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All antidotal but generally speaking QHs are pretty hardy and most leisure or work horses don't do much in the way of fast work.

Like everything it's the competition element that causes most of the damage. Also in the US (& sadly here, for no reason at all) they start them young. There are 2yr old futurities for big money (no such "incentive" here yet they still do it) and they have access to a lot more drugs so... I think when reining was brought under FEI there was some figures floating about that the reining horses didn't last long past 8. Tarrsteps was the informed poster but I think there was a struggle to find sound, age appropriate horses for WEG. I don't know off the top of my head what the age rules are for FEI/WEG but apparently there was a panic/struggle to find good older horses ??‍♀️ maybe @Alibear knows or there was an Irish team reining rider posting on here a wee while ago but his name escapes me.

I don't know too much about other sports like cutting, reined cowhorse, roping etc reining was just prominent because it got into WEG
 
TPO said:
I guess the 20% rule changes slightly when it's a saddle with a larger weight bearing/load dispersing area like a western?

Those saddles are heavier but were originally designed for all day use by men
Click to expand...
I don't know but I'd agree with ycbm that weight is weight; I wouldn't have thought that a greater area would reduce the impact on the spine or limbs
 
cauda equina said:
I don't know but I'd agree with ycbm that weight is weight; I wouldn't have thought that a greater area would reduce the impact on the spine or limbs
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Proobaly being dense but doesn't what I said/questioned tie in with ycbm earlier post? Western saddles have a far greater weight bearing area than any english saddles so doesn't that fit with the pressure/weight per square inch?
 
cauda equina said:
Yes but even if weight is spread out the overall downward force will still be the same on the skeleton
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Yeah but...(no, but) isn't not about how the weight is distributed? Like how humans should be properly fitted for backpacks rather than having something sitting in the wrong position or over one figure

So if someone ws 10st + English saddle they don't need to be 9st to ride in western saddle
 
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TPO said:
Yeah but...(no, but) isn't not about how the weight is distributed? Like how humans should be properly fitted for backpacks rather than having something sitting in the wrong position or over one figure

So if someone ws 10st + English saddle they don't need to be 9st to ride in western saddle
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If you're carrying a weight of 10kg there will be an extra downwards force of 10kg acting on your knees; it doesn't matter whether the 10kg is in a backpack or something you're holding in your hands
So I agree that for the horse's back a larger load-bearing area is good but I can't see that affecting the forces on his limbs
 
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