Western Riders - help me find a saddle!!

[Blue Eyed Tovero]

So I'm in the market for a western saddle for my giant Paint, Obee, so Mr. BET could do some riding but I have no idea what I'm looking at. Full bars, Quarter Horse bars, ??? Obee is a legit. 16.3hh, loooooong(84" blanket), wide, and NO withers. The only english saddle that I've found that fits him perfectly is a Wintec Wide with the 2nd widest gullet. Saddle fits like a dream, doesn't shift or slide, and keeps him nice and comfy. Is there any western brand out there that I should try, or is Mr. BET destined to have to deal with my english saddle?

[AmandaandTuff]

Try on different saddles if you can. Any tack places in the area? Dealers? Friends? I'd try a FQHB to start, you may have to find a draft tree if those are too narrow. Circle Y is a nice brand to look at for stockier horses. I do barrel racing and my horses are wide with withers, so I'm not much help.

[Blue Eyed Tovero]

So what's the difference between full and QH bars? Is QH wider?

[BayRoan]

You probably want full QH bars, which is a wider tree/flatter angle to the bars than a semi-QH tree.

If he is really a tank with no withers, you might be best off looking for an older saddle in good condition. By older, I mean 1980s or before. Good brands-- the old Circle Y, Longhorn, Hereford. Stock horses used to be a lot rounder with less wither. Our performance horses now have a different back structure and the saddle makers have adapted to it, so you're more likely to find a saddle that fits right in the oldie, but goody, market. Make sure to check that the saddle is sound, tree and all. An internet search can turn up all sorts of hints for buying used western saddles.

As far as new saddles that might fit a mutton withered tank of a horse, you might try Tucker or Martin Saddlery or look for a newer, but used, Bobs Custom, Jim Taylor or Blue Ribbon. Look for full QH bars and a wide gullet. You could probably also benefit from some time on the phone with someone familiar with lots of brands of new and used saddles and fitting them to horses. Google Teskey's Saddle Shop and Cow Dog Saddles. Both handle a lot of used saddles and can probably help you out quite a bit. Who knows, they might even have what you need. Good luck!

[classicsporthorses]

Keep in mind that there are really no standards of SemiQHB and FQHB. The more cheaply made saddles will 'skimp" on the measurements. Go with the good brand names.

You can get some really well made saddles, lightly used, and will be much happier overall.

[rabicon]

Have you tried the wintec western saddles? I say also the old circle Y's are great.

[CoopsZippo]

Wintec western saddles are absolute junk. Run far far away from one.

I agree with what others have said and I would try to find a good used name brand saddle from the 80's.

[PaintedBones]

FQH bars, and also look for dropped rigging. The dropped rigging is good for holding saddles on horses with no withers. Helps the saddle "hug" the horse better so it doesn't roll from side to side.
The only saddles I've had luck with on my paint (built just like yours) is Tucker and Circle Y. Love my Tucker. I have one of the new GEN2 models with a flex tree. It fits my smaller paints, my big fattie, and when he was around, my 18.2 Belgian. The dropped rigging is good for holding saddles on horses with no withers. Helps the saddle "hug" the horse better so it doesn't roll from side to side.

Bones

[Wayside]

You probably want full QH bars, which is a wider tree/flatter angle to the bars than a semi-QH tree.

If he is really a tank with no withers, you might be best off looking for an older saddle in good condition. By older, I mean 1980s or before. Good brands-- the old Circle Y, Longhorn, Hereford. Stock horses used to be a lot rounder with less wither. Our performance horses now have a different back structure and the saddle makers have adapted to it, so you're more likely to find a saddle that fits right in the oldie, but goody, market.

:yes:

I have an old Hereford Roping saddle, and it is WIDE. I haven't ridden western in ages, and I don't have a horse that it fits at the moment, but it's such a fantastic saddle that I'm not about to let it go. Solid, well-built, and weighs a TON. It lives in a spare bedroom and I dust it and oil it every couple of years :lol:

[Blue Eyed Tovero]

Thanks for the advice - it will help me out. At least now I have a starting place.

[ddashaq]

My 17 year old circle Y with full QH bars is REALLY wide. It has actually been too wide for most QHs that I have tried it on. I bought it 10 years ago for $650 so you might be able to pick one up even cheaper. I don't think that you have to go back quite as far as the 80s to get good saddles- Circle Y, Hereford, Longhorn, etc. were still making nice ones in the mid-90s. It was in about '97 that the quality of the new ones started to go down hill and by 2000 they were absolute crap. (I worked in a tack store part time from 97-2005 and got to witness the decline first hand!)

Your biggest problem will be that people with the good quality saddles don't tend to sell them.

[monstrpony]

Also check out Colorado Saddlery (dot com). They have some wonderful information on tree measurements and fittings, including their saddles sitting on horses of various shapes with pictures of the bare backs to compare to your horse. They also have a really nice looking draft horse saddle. They are very helpful over the phone or by email, as well.

[Kota]

horsesaddleshop.com is also a great source of info.