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| http://www.statelinetack.com/item/equiroyal-event-saddle-package/SLT901313/ Making it clear, I do not show english at the moment, my trainer has started me and my horse for english pleasure ect. The only jumping I am doing in shows is at fair, but I'm having once a week jumping lessons. I've been borrowing my trainers saddle and its time for me to get one, so would this make an okay lesson/fair saddle?
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| I wouldnt. If you enlarge the photo then zoom in to see detail you will see what I am talking about. There is puckering along the outside lower half at the back of hte saddle in the leather. And the leather looks like it is cardboard. Both are indicators of poor quality leather nd workmanship on the saddle itself. It was most likely made in one of hte Stans, india, or argenetina. None of which make decient saddles. It remindes me of one that was bought from a diffrent place I think it was package the buyer could afford the package.. They get it and there is a tag on it that states not for heavy riding. The buyer called whom ever they bought it from and heavy riding ment jumping of any height, and riding in it more than 1 or 2x's a mth.. Noramally whe you see a pacage deal it is usually of low or no quality items. You may for example get decient irons but hte leathers and saddle are generally crap. You may get a decient girth but the rest would be better being put int o the nearest dumpster. If it were me I'd rather hold on to my money and save it to buy a used good quality saddle for perhaps a bit more than the package price over buying cheap now and having to put the $$$ out gain in short time.. ..
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i agree with horseless that those package deals are nothing but cheap cardboard molded into shapes resembling tack. if you cant afford a saddle above that price, continue to use your trainers until you can.
also, a point to think about. if you buy a nice used saddle for (i got my first saddle, which was a very nice crosby that was 15 years old but super well cared for for only 200 dollars) 200 dollars, youll most likely be able to sell if for that price a few years down the road when you want a nicer one. works with any price really, buy a 900 used saddle, you wont be losing that much money when you sell it. on the other hand, if you buy that cheapo saddle, most tack stores probably wont even take it on consignment at all and youll be selling it on craigslist for 50 bucks max. so in the long run, youll lose money by trying to buy the cheapest thing possible.
the bridle would probably suck too, but you can buy these used as well, and if you want a new one, you can get decent ones for 40 bucks. stirrups are cheap too, and a synthetic girth will cost no more then 20 dollars.
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I agree with the above. Personally, I wouldn't get the saddle.
But I completely understand where you're coming from. I myself am on an extremely tight budget. I just bought my 4th saddle (don't own four saddles, lol, sold one) and I've found the cheapest way to get the best quality saddle you can in a tight budget is to get a nice used, synthetic saddle. Synthetic saddles from good brands (Wintec, for example) are pretty much Bates saddles (upwards of $1200 new, I believe), just not with real leather. Buy them slightly used, and if you buff it up with a wet rag, they can look almost new (I've even rubbed scratches out of mine). And, if you clean up a synthetic, and it is a natural color (not green or anything lol), most of the time the judge can't even tell the difference.
I would recommend looking at bulletin boards, and websites like tacktrader.com, so see if there are any used, good-quality synthetics in your area (Abetta and Wintec are considered good-quality synthetic brands, I've also had luck with Sedona before). Good luck, keep us updated!
Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble. ~Isaiah 63:13
But ask the animals, and they will teach you ~Job 12:7a
"You don't throw a whole life away, just 'cause it's beat up a little" ~ Tom Smith, Seabiscuit's trainer
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ok cool, thanks!
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Swingaway - I think that you gave some excellent advice, but I do have to disagree with you on one point - judges CAN tell when you're in synthetic tack. I mean, I can tell a saddle's make, model, and approximate age from the rail of the show ring the same way my dad can tell the make, model, and year of a car from across a parking lot. If a judge is at all educated about tack (which I would hope to be the case), they will know. In lower-level showing (fair, 4-H, schooling shows, etc) then the judge shouldn't care because style conventions aren't as prevalent. Once you get into recognized or rated shows, or breed shows, that's a whole 'nother ball game and some judges will take exception to you, as it's believed by some that synthetic tack shows a lack of commitment to the sport. Generally, I disagree with that sentiment; people choose synthetic tack for all sorts of very good reasons.
My current personal saddles are an Otto Schumacher Profi Exclusiv, a 20 year old Simco, a 30 year old Circle Y Arabian saddle, and an early 90's Circle Y equitation show saddle. But half of my lesson kids' lesson saddles are synthetics. They're lightweight, sturdy, and don't require all the cleaning and oiling that my leather saddles do - they're a great, lower-cost option for what I do, and I honestly think that synthetics are a good choice for many people. But a synthetic saddle looks and feels synthetic, and there's really no getting around that.
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"It's better to ride even if you get thrown, then to wind up just wishing you had."
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^^^I was meaning that on a high-quality synthetic, the judge probably can't tell the difference between that and real leather. But I agree that hopefully the judge should be able to tell the make of the saddle!
I was just trying to make the point that synthetics can feel just like leather. Once I closed my eyes, and touched a synthetic saddle and leather saddle at the same time, and I couldn't tell which was which. I think alot of people are "scared" of buying synthetic saddles because they think they would look or feel very strange. But some synthetics (the higher quality ones) feel and look nearly like leather.
Sorry to rant, I just love synthetics.
Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble. ~Isaiah 63:13
But ask the animals, and they will teach you ~Job 12:7a
"You don't throw a whole life away, just 'cause it's beat up a little" ~ Tom Smith, Seabiscuit's trainer
Please join the Thoroughbred Owners and Enthusiasts Club if you love Thoroughbreds! www.thoroughbredtalk.webs.com
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High quality synthetic or not, it's not going to look the same as leather. It doesn't feel the same either. I find leather to be softer, with more padding and give.
IMO, synthetic has no place in the show ring over the basic schooling show level.
Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born. ~Garrett Hardin
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I find it pretty much impossible that you can't feel the difference between leather and synthetic material. I've got some one of the new Wintecs for my lesson string and I've sat in one of the new Bate's synthetic saddles - aside from the differences in the design elements (difference in shape and bulk of flaps, shape of seat, contours of seat, twist, and pommel) the material is very different from good quality leather. Good leather is butter soft and has a deep full grain, is smooth and has a degree of flexibility simply not found in a synthetic material. Also, how a synthetic saddle positions you and how your cues to the horse are transferred through the saddle are different. Again, there isn't a knowledgeable judge on the planet who can't tell the difference between leather and synthetic material from 100 feet.
"Quick fixes, by their nature, fix nothing; that's why they're repetitive."
-Dr. Laura
"It's better to ride even if you get thrown, then to wind up just wishing you had."
- Chris LeDoux
My Blog: http://equinesolutions.blogspot.com/
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/woodrowsmommy
For help on posting: http://board.horsechannel.com/Topic188135-4-1.aspx
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Well maybe I just have a really bad sense of touch or something. Sorry to start an argument.
Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble. ~Isaiah 63:13
But ask the animals, and they will teach you ~Job 12:7a
"You don't throw a whole life away, just 'cause it's beat up a little" ~ Tom Smith, Seabiscuit's trainer
Please join the Thoroughbred Owners and Enthusiasts Club if you love Thoroughbreds! www.thoroughbredtalk.webs.com
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