Synthetic saddles

From: Diane

Hi Jessica,

I'm a relatively new rider (18 months) and 57 years old! I finally got to a place where I can indulge my passion. I find your newsletter invaluable, since I know so little about horses. Your newsletter is always the first thing I read when my email arrives.

I am split-boarding a beautiful quarterhorse, and the owner has been nice enough to let me use one of his saddles.

But I do want to buy my own saddle. I was thinkng of a synthetic, because of the economy, and the light weight. I can't see putting a 40# saddle on a horse's back if I don't have to. I know the synthetics are about 22 pounds. However, I read in one of your newsletters that it is better to use a heavier saddle that is good, than a lighter synthetic saddle that does not distribute the riders weight well.

My question is, how can I determine whether or not a synthetic saddle distributes my weight well? I was thinking of the combination leather/cordura saddle that Circle Y makes, or a Wintec saddle. Have your heard anything good/bad about the Circle Y synthetics? I do western pleasure riding, mostly trail. Of course, I would like one that would eventually fit a horse of my own, kind of an all-purpose saddle. Can you help me?

Thanks, Diane

The first consideration with ANY saddle is that it should fit your horse comfortably. Then it should fit YOU comfortably - and finally, it should be suitable for its intended use. Any saddle that fits the horse and rider well, and has wide panels or bars that distribute the rider's weight over a larger area, will be a good choice whether it's heavy or light, leather or synthetic. There are some excellent synthetic saddles on the market today - it's the overall quality and fit that matter most, not the materials used.

You'll find a great deal of information on saddles and saddle-fitting in the HORSE-SENSE archives, and I went into more detail in the Storey Country Wisdom bulletin I wrote a year or two ago - these are nice little booklets, small format and very inexpensive; if your local library doesn't have one, you can probably find one at your local tack shop or feed store. The title is "Superior Saddle-Fitting, A Step-by-Step Guide". All I can really add to what I've already written is that given your specific wishes, I think it may be difficult for you to find a saddle to purchase.

If you just wanted a saddle that fits the horse you are part-leasing, that would be relatively easy - you could simply get a saddle exactly like the one the horse's owner uses... provided, of course, that the owner's saddle fits well and that the horse goes happily in it, of course! Alternatively, you could (with the owner's permission), ask your instructor to help you find and try out a suitable synthetic saddle. With the horse's own saddle as (I hope) a baseline for good movement and comfort under saddle, you'd know very quickly whether the new saddle was a "go" or a "no".

However, you are thinking of buying a saddle that you can use on this horse now, and on some other horse or horses later - and that's much more complicated. Buying a saddle NOW for a horse you may acquire sometime in the future is rather like buying a pair of shoes for someone you haven't met. There is almost NO chance that you'll somehow guess the correct size and shape of the foot of an unknown person, and there is similarly almost NO chance that you'll somehow be able to predict the back contours, shoulder movement, and ribcage width of a horse you haven't met yet. ;-)

Even if you are quite sure that the horse you eventually acquire will be a Quarter Horse (for example), you still aren't in a position to predict saddle fit, because there are five distinct physical types of Quarter Horses, each of which would need a different saddle.

Consider this: One reason that a person leasing or part-leasing his horse to you would permit you to use his saddle is that he knows that the horse is comfortable in that saddle, and wants the horse to continue to be comfortable. It's a good idea. Unless you are involved in horse-racing, the actual weight of the saddle doesn't matter very much. To the horse, the difference between a forty-pound saddle and a twenty-two-pound saddle is trivial - but the difference between a comfortable saddle and an uncomfortable saddle is all-important.

My suggestion to you is that as long as you and the horse are both comfortable in the saddle the horse's owner has lent you, go ahead and use that one. A lighter saddle will not necessarily be any more comfortable for the horse - or for you. A good-quality, well-fitting synthetic saddle would be an improvement over a cheap, ill-fitting leather saddle, but those aren't the only choices. Put your money aside and wait until you've found a horse of your own, and THEN start looking for a saddle for that horse, based on your observations of its conformation and movement.

I do understand the urge to own a saddle, believe me! Wintec, Thorowgood, Fabtron, and Circle Y all make saddles that would probably suit you well. Tour the tack stores and learn as much about saddles as you can - but don't be in a hurry to BUY one. As long as the horse you ride is comfortable in his current saddle, there's no need to make a change unless YOU are uncomfortable - and in that case, you need to find a saddle that matches his current one on the underside, and matches YOUR conformation more closely on the topside. ;-) Be patient, and consider this, as well: It's entirely possible that the horse you eventually buy will have a saddle that fits him well, and that you may have the chance to buy the saddle along with the horse. If the saddle fits the horse but the owner doesn't want to part with the saddle, you can at least use that saddle as a template when you look for a saddle of your own. In either case, knowing what sort of saddle is best-suited for a specific horse gives you a much better chance of finding a suitable saddle in a short time.

Good luck, try to be patient, and enjoy your riding! I'm sure that someday you WILL be saddle-shopping for your very own horse.

Jessica

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