What is the best type of saddle for me?

Question

I am a hunter-jumper. I am not a dead beginner, but I am not so advanced. I have mastered my walk, trott, canter. Anyone can walk really but, I am doing jumping now. I have been doing it for about a month now. I have all the gear. I want to know what type of saddle would be best for me. I know it would be better to be fitted. Any suggestions? I am 13. About 100 pounds. About 5,6. Preferably brown, any shade. Lastly, does anyone have any buying tips? Used or new?

Links please! (opptional)

I know its alot but, I'd appreciate it thanks!

Answer 1

Close Contact saddles are what most hunter and eq (equitation) riders use. I used to have a Crosby XL. It was comfy, but it didn't hold my position well since it was so slippery. If I were you, I would look into Pessoa's or if your really looking for a GREAT saddle that is pretty expensive but will last you forever, I would look at Bevels. They hover around $2,000. www.beval.com.

For your first saddle, I would look into used, they are broken in and it is REALLY a pain to break in a new saddle. There is a link on the Beval site to their used saddles. Check it out!!

Answer 2

you sould get an all purpose saddle. GreenHawk has good equipment. dont get it online and make sure that you can return it if you dont like it

Answer 3

Well thats personal choice really.. I do pretty much every thing from dressage, jumping, polocrosse, campdraft and sporting all in a dressage saddle..

Answer 4

yeah i agree....just get an all purpose saddle.

Answer 5

You left out probably the most important piece of info: your price-range.  Personally, I think the best kind of saddle around is the Pessoa, but it's also really expensive.  For your riding, the GenX or the A/O would probably be a good saddle for you if you go with a Pessoa.

I recently bought my first saddle... it's a close contact Crosby XL... it's well made and very comfortable.  I like it a lot.  It's very comparable to the Pessoa models that I mentioned.

As you are 13 and probably don't have a lot of money, you could look at the Collegiate brand as well as Toulousse or even Wintec.  I rode in a couple Wintec saddles at my horse show this weekend... personally I really don't like them... I'm not really sure why... they're comfortable enough... but it's something about the material... I find that I slide around a lot more in the wintec saddles... I just don't like them very much.  I've ridden in Collegiate saddles and they're very nice... well made and comfortable... not quite as good as Pessoas, but still ok.  My friend has a Toulousse... she seems happy with it... it's a less expensive alternative to getting a fancy hunt seat saddle.

I'm not sure about your size... if you can, you should at least go to the tack shop and try sitting in some saddles to see what you like and what fits you.  You sound very thin, so I'd imagine maybe a 16 or 16.5 seat would fit.  When you sit in the saddle, you should be able to fit 3 fingers behind you.

Once you know what kind of saddle and what size, I strongly recommend finding a lightly used saddle on websites like ebay or the classifieds at equine.com or something like that.  There's many people out there who have outgrown their saddle or stopped riding or the saddle doesn't fit their horse or whatever... there's many used saddles in very good condition.  Look for a used saddle because you're likely to get a very good deal.  I got my saddle for $300 and it's in fine shape.

Here's Dover Saddle on Ebay... Dover is a good saddle maker too... this particular saddle is in fair condition... it has obvious wear from the stirrup leathers rubbing against the saddle flaps and there's also holes opening on the top where the seams are coming apart.  Nevertheless, the saddle has many years of riding left, especially if you're just looking for a comfortable saddle to use for lessons... if you want to show, you'll probably need a newer saddle, but this one will be perfectly fine for ordinary beginner-intermediate lessons for the next few years... and this saddle is a great price... there's 3 days left in the auction so it will likely go up, but the current price is only $52!  Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Dover-Circuit-Close-...

Here's a very nice new Pessoa with a current price of $500.  http://cgi.ebay.com/Pessoa-16-All-Purpos...  the "buy it now" price is $875 so you're unlikely to win this saddle unless you have a pretty high bid... probably $750 or above.

good luck on your saddle search!

Answer 6

from recent experience think long term, what field are you likely to compete in.

It may work out more reasonable in the long term to buy good quality first time. I recently had to upgrade and it seems I've wasted money on gear that wasn't good enough and now I have the hassle of selling it.

Answer 7

get an all purpose saddle - probably size 16 ( i would think )  you don't want to invest in an expensive saddle yet, you will just outgrow it.  try visiting State Line Tack's website

Answer 8

A general purpose would be fine but remember, the saddle should be primarily for your horse not you!

Answer 9

You should get an all purpose saddle... wintec do a nice brown synthetic one... an all purpose will allow you to follow most english persuites... and when you get good and want to compete in jumping you can get a jumping saddle then... a good second hand all purpose would be fine or new... here is the wintec website... they sell alot of these on ebay... just type in all purpose saddle...

good luck and you should post in -pets-horses for more responses...

http://www.wintec.net.au/products/allPur...

As for tips for buying second hand... never by sight unseen... all ways look at the saddle in person or have a tonn of photos.. make sure the tree is in good order and that there are no rips in the syntetic or leather as these are very hard to replace... make sure the gullet will fit your horse... dont buy one because it looks good... it must be comfortable for your horse too... un mounted will be cheaper to buy and cheap mounts are usually acceptable for training... so that is a good option...

Answer 10

Australian Stock Saddle.  Best for beginners in any category.

Answer 11

okay, well you said you are 350 pounds, so i'd go with one that fits your buttox shape. also the size bra you wear is important too. i think at Kmart you can steal one off of the my little ponies. they're purple rhyymes with flurple!! then after you shampoo rinse and repeat you should have enough brownies to make a nice batch of salsa. bon appetite!!!