Looking for a saddle on a budget?

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Haz:)

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Hi, I recently acquired a 16hh TB (ex p2p). I'm getting around to actually buying a saddle for him only now, as he has been being ridden in my other ponies saddle, which fits okay, but, I need them to have saddles of their own. The saddle fits my pony better than my TB however.

I have a tight budget (I appreciate that it's not the best) of £200, I literally can't afford to go over. I'm open to second hand, I'm not into all the made in India cr*p hanging around these days. Have a feeling many of you will agree with that too!

Here's a bit about my preferences and the horse:
-he is a TB, but he isn't extremely high withered. He's probably medium height wither, that said, it is higher than most!
-I prefer jumping saddles, but GP is fine too. Probably better considering I want to do a lot of mixed schooling and hacking, possibly hunting next season.
-I do plan to show a little in this saddle. He's being retrained to make an event horse, and I'm aiming to take him as high as possible. He certainly is talented /scopey enough. Obviously, when that time comes, he'll get decked out in some better competition suitable tack.
-Colour is not an issue, Black / Brown / Tan.
-I prefer real leather, but I have no quarms with a well made synthetic saddle, it's just the cheap ones that get to me.
-I love adjustable gullet if it's possible, but he's a medium to medium wide, and I'm 16-17.5" at a push.
-Must be in good condition!

These are just preferences and background knowledge! I'm really open, just can't spend more than £200 ):
If anyone knows anything that they could recommend, I'd love to hear.

I've looked into the Kincade AP Redi Ride, really like the sound of it. Anyone got one?

http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/...general-purpose/kincade-redi-ride-saddle.html

Also been on www.helpmyhorses.co.uk, but heard they are just India made saddles, and have a lot wrong with them, and that they fall apart.

I've been looking for a while now, all over. Especially at second hand ones, but haven't found one that I like or meets the sizing requirements, or isn't really too beat up.

Thanks for reading my essay and listening to my struggles/rant. :-)
 
to be honest it looks cheap and very uncomfortable and i am betting it wont fit any sort of horse very well, I would rather buy a second hand leather saddle you should get one for £200 okay it will be old but it will be a much better fit and last longer, I have bought a gfs saddle and an ideal for that money and sold them for a profit so they are out there you may just have to wait until the right thing comes along.
 
How much do you think it's going to cost you to enter one showing show or one event with this horse? Perhaps hold off that and get a decent second hand saddle. You might get lucky but £200 to get something that fits well is probably unlikely. You could be £100 just in fitting/adjusting it.
 
If you don't mind synthetic, why not get a secondhand Wintec? I got mine for £90 last year, though that was a very good price. They're always on eBay and you can sell it on without making (much of) a loss if you don't like it.
 
FfionWinnie said:
How much do you think it's going to cost you to enter one showing show or one event with this horse? Perhaps hold off that and get a decent second hand saddle. You might get lucky but £200 to get something that fits well is probably unlikely. You could be £100 just in fitting/adjusting it.
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Yeah I can't see you managing to get a decent one for that money. I did buy an ideal saddle off of saddles direct for £150 I think but it didn't fit the horse and never would his shoulders are too big. But then you have to pay the fitter and it will cost more than £50 for that usually to be done right.

You would get synthetic saddles but most people don't seem to like them. Dunno if you would or not.
 
It's difficult enough trying to get a saddle to fit the horse let alone with a tiny budget!

I've got a GFS Monarch which is adjustable, comfortable and pretty good quality. You might find one in eBay or Preloved going cheap.
 
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thorogood-black-T8-Jumping-saddle-/262432287562?nav=SEARCH

That would be a good buy for someone.
Couldn't guarentee it would fit your horse, but should be easy to get your money back if it doesn't - I have a T8 jump sat in the tack room as a spare / breaking saddle, it's very useful.

I would be inclined to think though it might be a better investment to expand your budget though for long term gain - the cost of fixing problems by a bad saddle can mount up!
 
Thank you everyone, and I appreciate all your interest!
I think everyone has good points and I think a second hand one is the way forward.
I did like these saddles:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322109665989

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322109678451

But I'm wary since I've never heard of this saddler before, but they each look lovely and well made. I asked for buy it now price, and it was £200.

If not, that Thorogood jumping saddle ihatework is really tempting, and if the others are just duds, I'll probably get that one if I can.

I have a Hi-Lite slung in my cellar somewhere. Disgusting thing, it was a breaking saddle for the pony I spoke of earlier. Good job as well, because he kicked it in once after he bucked and it came off. I'd of been pretty upset if that was my Jeffries. :-0

Thankyou cremedemonthe, I was unaware! If it's anything like Hi-Lite I'd be pretty annoyed.
 
I would think they are imported leather and I would not entertain either of them, look for a second hand well known brand and maybe wait a month or two and save a bit more money, honestly don't waste your money there is a reason why those saddles are so cheap they are rubbish and it's not worth putting it on your horses back.
 
I've bought 4 older Jefferies saddles recently, a dressage one from my local saddler which was £250, and 3 GP's from ebay which were £200, £200 and £60. They are all really nice proper leather saddles. I was lucky enough to try one first though so I knew they would fit my horses!

Haz, if you are anywhere near me I can recommend a saddler who has a large stock of saddles and probably some within your budget :)
 
Thank you. I've enquired about that Thorogood, hopefully they can ship at an extra cost.

Anyone else got experience with those saddles!

Edit, sychnant you posted just before me haha. I'm sorry, I don't think I am! I'm in Lincs, close ish to the border of Cambs.

Lucky! I love Jeffries. My pony's is a Jeffries falcon saddle. :-)
 
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Pony's saddle is too small though for me. ): it's 15", and I'm afraid my bum just doesn't fit in it anymore! Don't want to change the pony's saddle anyway as he really likes it, and I'm going to be riding him in it once a week hacking anyway, and hopefully soon the younger sister will pluck up the courage to get on my little beastie (he's sharp at the best of times!) haha, and she'll fit just fine.

Shame I'm not closer :/ I've been looking on eBay and Gumtree a lot but not so much preloved, although I probably should because I still have membership from buying the horse haha! :)
 
Haz:) said:
Thank you everyone, and I appreciate all your interest!
I think everyone has good points and I think a second hand one is the way forward.
I did like these saddles:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322109665989

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322109678451

But I'm wary since I've never heard of this saddler before, but they each look lovely and well made. I asked for buy it now price, and it was £200.

If not, that Thorogood jumping saddle ihatework is really tempting, and if the others are just duds, I'll probably get that one if I can.

I have a Hi-Lite slung in my cellar somewhere. Disgusting thing, it was a breaking saddle for the pony I spoke of earlier. Good job as well, because he kicked it in once after he bucked and it came off. I'd of been pretty upset if that was my Jeffries. :-0

Thankyou cremedemonthe, I was unaware! If it's anything like Hi-Lite I'd be pretty annoyed.
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Welcome, hi lite are massed produced for equestrian wholesalers over here like Shires, then the Indian manufacturers simply rebadge them with different brand names for any other retailers or wholesalers who buy them off them, like the Kincade brand for instance but effectively they are all the same saddle, seen hundreds over the years and fed up working on them!
Oz (Saddler since 1988)
 
I started looking for a second-hand saddle with a budget of £400. For what I need, I'm going to have to more than double that to get a saddle that fits.

I'd say that £200 is impossibly optimistic.
 
I would definitely look for a decent second hand one, in fact I prefer them to new, as the leather is nicely worn in. You can find decent brands like ideal for around your budget, maybe a bit more. Something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ideal-Saddle-17-5-/252386619161?hash=item3ac36a2f19:g:z3wAAOSwYmZXM5EI

But if you do buy from Ebay bear in mind you might have to buy and resell a few times to get one that fits - so you could end up spending some money on postage.
 
I would go with Ideal or Thorowgood, but best find a good saddle fitter who sells second hand saddles (cheaper than buying stuff that isn't suitable).
 
I'd look for something well made and older secondhand - they are out there at that price, I've bought and sold GFS for £200, had a close contact for less than that (DR), also sold an adjustable GFS genesis (have a TB ex racer). Older model albions and stubben can be found reasonably. Might be worth spending a call out for a saddle for ideas of saddles that might fit rather than trying to guess!
 
You need to keep an eye on the auctions on eBay, I would definitely avoid hi lite and kincade ready ride, a friend of mine was looking at these recently when we went to a tack shop and have to say they were awful (I'm not against synthetics, I have two T8's myself and love them!). The old adage is correct "buy cheap, buy twice". You need to be concentrating on branded second hand leather saddles.

I'm sure you will find something but you will have to be prepared to wait and possibly resell until you get something to fit. Personally I would be concentrating on ground work and try to save up a little more money, just even getting into the £300-£350 bracket will give you a better chance of getting something half decent.
 
If you can make your way to a tack auction (Reading or similar), it's not uncommon to get a good saddle for under £50, and certainly under £100. You have to be capable of checking it, and know what you're looking at, and you need a reasonable idea of what is likely to fit your horse. Be prepared to repeat the process a couple of times (sell on ebay) if what you come home with doesn't fit.

£200 will buy a decent second hand saddle from a reputable retailer such as Calcutts.
In either case , buy a good old one, rather than a cheaply made new one or (yuck) synthetic. Synthetic saddles are like nylon knickers!
 
Agree with everyone else keep an eye on ebay. If you know anyone who has some saddles you could try so you know what to look for that would be good too. I got a lightly used, but oldish pessoa off ebay for £250 last month
 
I'll agree I'm not a fan of synthetics and love my leather saddle, and how it always comes up rich and looking fabulous.

I'm talking with the ebayer for the T8 someone linked me too (thank you) and it seems like a good option since its able to be altered gullet wise by a saddler.

Someone has also PMed me so I'm also very interested in that, sounds pretty perfect :-)

Thank you everyone. I'm definitely going second hand methinks, just because I think for safety reasons as much as any other reasons.

I plan to call out a saddler to come and reflock one of my saddles and fix a tear, so I'll do this after I've bought one so he can check the fit at the same time. Ha, kill two birds with one stone! :-) Saves two call out fees.
 
Just to update, I picked up an imamaculate older style Wintec (love this style!!) for £95, only used a couple of times. It's brown, the colour I preferred too, and is on the correct gullet even though I had the option to change it to another as the lady had them all.
Left me with extra monies to go get new half pad, stirrups and leathers. :D

Literally just had to wait for the right one to come along. :)
 
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