saddle - what do you think?

[cob&onion]

Am after a saddle to start backing my cob in, i haven't anything wide enough for her in my collection of saddles (don't ask!!) came across this on ebay, i emailed the seller and she says they are genuine leather, not english from china and are of good quality for the price.....what do you think?? for £100 it seems a steal!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123#ht_1241wt_1321

 

[s4sugar]

C R A P


Look for a secondhand treeless if your youngster is very wide.

 

[SavingGrace]

Bargepole is the first word that comes to mind

 

[cptrayes]

They accept returns and their feedback about the saddles is all "good value for the money" as far as I have read down. Pay by Paypal and you have nothing except the return postage to lose. If you have to send it back, send it recorded and then you can claim off Paypal if you don't get your refund. I'd ask if it's a plastic tree, not wood, and if it is, then it will be a moulding and symmetrical. Of course it's not going to be anything like as pretty as the photo, but I'd give it a go myself.

 

[Geraldine]

It looks very much like an import saddle to me - striking resemblance to either Gallop or STS (can't make my mind up).

 

[cptrayes]

It's in the listing described as an STS

 

[Donkeymad]

Snowhill Trade saddlery. It is Indian

 

[Geraldine]

It's in the listing described as an STS

I didn't bother reading that, I took 1 look at the picture and said import! Definitely not English Leather for that price.

 

[navaho]

A friend of mine bought one of these for her fell, it was pretty pants to be honest. You'd probably be better off looking for a secondhand synthetic saddle than one of these.

 

[cptrayes]

Indian tack can be OK for the price you pay if kept well oiled. But if you look on eBay you can get second hand English for even less, no-one wants them these days.

 

[appylass]

I'd go for a thorowgood cob saddle, you can pick up a second hand one off ebay pretty cheaply.It's what I had for my highland to back him and it did the job really well. They are really good quality and the tree is designed for wide flat backs.

 

[soulfull]

Its not the leather I would be worried about it is WHAT IT IS STUFFED WITH I have seen and heard horror stories of them being stuffed with bits of plastic, metal etc. at the very least it won' t be stuffed with correct stuffing and will wear uneven and possibly worse

Like others have said I would much rather buy a 2nd hand synthetic TG or wintec only thought

 

[cob&onion]

Its not the leather I would be worried about it is WHAT IT IS STUFFED WITH I have seen and heard horror stories of them being stuffed with bits of plastic, metal etc. at the very least it won' t be stuffed with correct stuffing and will wear uneven and possibly worse

Thanks everyone, am going to look for a second hand leather one or like someone else suggested a t4 cob saddle

 

[riding_high]

agree with the majority, i wouldn't touch it myself. if you can't find a good second hand english leather one (or synthetic) then have a look at the treeless saddles, but again be careful of the make as well!

 

[Stacey02]

I agree you will probably would be wasting your money will fall apart in months

plus she will be changing shape ..... why dont you try and find a synthetic with changeable gullet? theyre pretty good for cobs most of the girls on my yard with cobs use them

 

[Vetwrap]

Thanks everyone, am going to look for a second hand leather one or like someone else suggested a t4 cob saddle

Good call. Like Soulfull, I have seen what comes out of some of these saddles. One that was taken apart looked like it had been stuffed with used surgical cloths... That was one of the better ones...

 

[cobgirlie]

After many years of finding saddles to fit cobs...Thorowgood with changable gullets are the only way to go!! Nothing fits them all year round, treeless are usually too long in the back for short backed cobs and expensive to get good quality..so Thorowgood or Wintec if you prefer are the only viable option, until I win the lottery of course!!!