Western saddle help, seat size?

[Smoocher]

Hi! I am an English rider over 35 years. I recently broke my ankle in a farm truck accident. I'm in my late 40s and want to get back to riding. I decided in my advanced years, I would start out with a western saddle until my leg gets a bit stronger.

I went to my local tack store and was shown a Cordova Endurance Western Saddle. It has no horn, actually good if I want to pop over a log on the trail. It has a lot of seat padding, nice, and is light weight like an English saddle...but how do I know that the seat is the correct size for me.

In English, we are supposed to put a hand behind us on the canter. This saddle I'm pushed back against the cantle. The seat feels a smidge small to me but the tack store said that because of all the seat padding, it would feel slightly small like that. I am able to get a hand in front of the saddle. (Hand meaning sideways hand between pommel/horn and my seat.) And, again, my butt is against the cantle. I tried a 17 inch at the tack store. I rode in a 19 inch in my English saddle. (I guess Western sizing is smaller than English, makes me feel like I immediately lost weight.)

Please give me some fit tips I can do while in the saddle to make sure the fit is right for me. Thank you!

[Smoocher]

PS: Tack store is coming to our barn to fit the horse with several different saddles to make sure it fits the horse as well as me.

[mustangtrailrider]

What are your measurements? Generally, western is two inches smaller than english. I ride 16 western. I can ride 17 or 17.5 english, but I prefer 18. I am 5'10" and around 155# at most. If you ride 19 english, 17 western may be right...but that is a big saddle. I swim in it. My hubby rides 17".

Good luck.

[mypaintwattie]

I have had an Abetta endurance saddle for years, it has been a great trail saddle when I needed a little more saddle under me. The semi-quarter horse bars have fit many different size horses. I am 5'4", 100# and ride english in a 16.5 saddle. My endurance saddle is a 15, and it fits well. The western saddles fit an inch to two inches smaller than english saddles, but it depends on the type of saddle (like in english- c.c., dressage, deep seat, ect.). Barrel saddles fit differently than trail saddles. Try a few different sizes if possible, and see what fits well. Make sure you have enough room to post in it if you need to.

[jeano]

I am 5'8", weigh 185-190 stripped, have a BIG ass and thighs and use a 16 inch Western. Becasue I tend to ride with a really long leg I would do even better in the elusive 15 1/2 inch seat. I have tailbone issues and use a cashel tush cush with the doubled foam at the cantle, which takes up a half inch of seat easy, which makes the fit about perfect. The seat should hold you but not squeeze you.

Whatever you do, dont try to ride Western with a bum ankle UNLESS you get stirrup straights or similar turners to keep the stirrups in postion. Trust me. Your ankles and knees will thank me for this tip.

[ToiRider]

Whatever you do, dont try to ride Western with a bum ankle UNLESS you get stirrup straights or similar turners to keep the stirrups in postion. Trust me. Your ankles and knees will thank me for this tip.

Another suggestion along this line is to get fenders on your saddle that stop short of the stirrup and attack to the stirrup leather above the stirrup. The stirrup leather is narrower, like an English saddle, and therefore turn easily. My Tucker Endurance Saddle has this feature (which Tucker calls the Trail Fender). A western type saddle with no horn as you describe is probably an endurance saddle. Also, check out E-Z Ride Stirrups. They are 5" wide from side to side and 4" deep from toe to heel, allowing for the weight distribution throughout the foot. They have a thick, closed-cell foam pad which provides comfort for the knees and back and helps prevent overall fatigue. They are great and very popular with endurance riders.

[CatOnLap]

I am 5'7" and about 170 lbs and ride in a 15 1/2 inch barrel racing saddle ( lightweight) that is probably older than I am. I ride in a 17 1/2 inch dressage saddle in the ring. I have plenty of room behind my butt in the dressage saddle, and plenty of room in front of my fork in the western saddle.
I have blown both knees in the past and my right ankle has been sprinaed so many times I can't count. I use a broomstick to keep my stirrups on the western saddle turned correctly. Thats the nice thing about real leather, well broken in. Those western fenders do just what I need them to- keep the thorns away from my legs and hold my legs in the right position.

[Huntertwo]

I'm 16 inch in my Western saddle and 18 inch in my C/C saddle.

Obviously I haven't tried every saddle out there..:) but do different saddles fit different?

Only you can decide what feels best for you. Maybe go up 1/2 inch and see how that feels? Nothing feels worse than being squished in a saddle.

Although if you have ankle problems, you might find an English saddle easier on your ankles. Until a Western saddle is welllll broken in, you may feel more sore.

Have you tried the angled pads for your English irons?

[gabz]

If you are between 5'2" and 5'10", and between 100 and 200 pounds, a 16 inch western saddle should do the trick.

I have a rod in my lower right leg bone. and some plates and screws. The first time I tried a friend's saddle, with the cordura fenders that flexed easily, I was SOLD on that over full leather fenders.

I am VERY pleased with my Fabtron Endurance saddle. I have one that uses the Ralide "B" tree - width and lots of flare. The upper part of Fabtron saddles are all leather (seat, pommel, cantle, and girth attachments); only the skirt and fenders are cordura.

I still love my Crates western, but the other is much easier on my leg.

[katarine]

slimmer peeps with smaller tushes would be fine in a 15. More average sized or so (12/14 ladies size) 16 would be fine. Seriously built up seats/bucket seats like those found in equitation saddles, or swept back cantles (like roping saddles) or high/upright cantles (barrel saddle) will make subtle differences in what suits you...

Full leather western stirrup leathers can be trained with broomsticks run through them, and oil :) I hate stirrup-straight products...the stirrup leather doesn't lay against my leg like I'm used to and it's just ODD feeling to me. I do like the EZ Rider stirrups, definitely recommend them for recreational riding, they are wonderful tools.

[gabz]

slimmer peeps with smaller tushes would be fine in a 15. More average sized or so (12/14 ladies size) 16 would be fine. Seriously built up seats/bucket seats like those found in equitation saddles, or swept back cantles (like roping saddles) or high/upright cantles (barrel saddle) will make subtle differences in what suits you...

Full leather western stirrup leathers can be trained with broomsticks run through them, and oil :) I hate stirrup-straight products...the stirrup leather doesn't lay against my leg like I'm used to and it's just ODD feeling to me. I do like the EZ Rider stirrups, definitely recommend them for recreational riding, they are wonderful tools.

I understand the nuances... I was trying to "generalize".

Yes, stirrup fenders can be "trained" - in fact, the CRATES saddles have "Preturned Stirrups"
...but if you have never had a serious, permanent injury to your leg, you just don't know how tiring it is. In my case, when they reassembled my leg, they put my foot on wrong. Yup. Instead of putting it so that it faced directly forward, like my other foot, they angled it so that it points a bit outward, like other peoples. So, since I was used to placing my leg on my horse in a certain manner, and my toe pointed straight ahead... but now, my toe points outward and so when I need to turn my ankle, it's "more harder" to do and after a few hours of riding, my foot gets numb.

Since the OP is recovering from an ankle injury, I am sure that it is still uncomfortable and awkward. And, she said this might be a temporary arrangement. So.. I was encouraging her to not AVOID synthetic saddles.

I am wondering if the saddle she is trying is an Aussie-type - in which case, the sizing is NOT the same as western and NOT the same as English either. She said she tried a 17" seat but it felt tight. !!!

[katarine]

gabz I didn't even read your post, not sure of why you're quoting me? FQIW I like the Fabtron synthetics while we're at it, LOL... I just happen to think a well trained western stirrup leather feels/acts more stable than any stirrup straight product does. Just my experience and I offered the EZ ride stirrups as a nice roomy option for wonky feet/post op legs. JMO.

no way a 17" was tight - something's not right about that report, agreed.

[spurgirl]

OP,I was always taught that you can fit that same sideways hand in back of your butt to the cantle top,and that would be the right size.If your rear feels and looks squished AGAINST the curve of the cantle,I'd say the saddle is too small.It's hard to describe,but in a Western saddle,I feel very lightly positioned into place-but comfortably.I don't feel like I'm sliding about,or jammed in the saddle.I have a Monte Forman saddle by Bob's Custom Saddles,it rides like a dream-nice gel seat built right in;)The other posters mentoned stirrup positioning-I got Stirrup Rotators from Country Supply this spring,they work great!You can let them turn and swivel freely,or lock them into a comfortable position.The pressure from the thick leather fenders was hurting my bad knee,but with these,all pressure is off.Have fun going Western-it's been a blast for me!

[Guilherme]

Smoocher, the size of the Western saddle is just one consideration. The reason the "hand the between the butt and the cantle" works is that most English saddles sit flat on the back and you sit centered in the saddle. Some jumping saddles put you in a "forward" seat but a GP saddle will generally give you an "equitation" position.

Western saddles are all over the map on how they will ride on the back, where the stirrups will be hung, how the seat will be adjusted, etc. Very often they are biased such that the pommel is higher than the cantle and/or the stirrups are hung to encourage a "chair seat." This is NOT universal, but just real common. Consider, also that what works for a barrel racer will not work for a bulldogger, roper, reiner, cutter, etc. Even GP Western saddles designed for trail riding will often show their lineage from some specific discipline.

So sit in the saddle on a "fiberglass horse" and see you you like it. You don't mention which English disciplines you might have ridden. If they were the more aggressive (eventing, show jumping, riding to the hounds) you'll likely have a different preference than if you're mostly a flat rider (like dressage). But the saddle has to be right for YOU and the horse. If you don't like the stirrup position (for example, lots of Western saddles put your legs forward and this will put your butt against the cantle) then note this and either ask if the stirrups can be adjusted (in the better quality saddles they often can be) or pass that one by and find one with a more comfortable position.

Again, Western saddles have as many "sub-types" as M&Ms have colors. :lol:

Find the one that's right for you and the horse.

Good luck in your search.

G.