Let's just say that up until now, I've had the mentality "it's a saddle, put it on," without any thought to the comfort of the horse.  Now that I'm trying harder to improve my level of horsemanship, and because my good saddles are starting to fall apart, I'm in the market for another saddle.  Ideally, this saddle will be under $1,000; not a high price range, but I can't afford the professional quality saddles.  I would like help with knowing what to look for in a quality saddle; how to fit the saddle to the horse; what kind of tree to look for, etc.  I need something that I can use everyday for training my reiners, but that, if I take good care of it, I can turn it around and use it at a local, low-level show.  I'd prefer not to buy off the Internet, because I can't see the saddle in person, so I'd prefer information for what to look for rather than references to different saddles.

 Thanks in advance!!

Different shaped horses fit different tree types.  Unfortunately there isn’t really a go-to saddle for fitting every horse.  Even if you spend $8,000 on a saddle it isn’t a guarantee to fit well.  If you are trying to fit multiple horses try and fit the majority.  For example, I ride a lot of young colts and Mustangs so I look for a saddle with short skirts, a slightly narrower tree, and a tree without a lot of rock in the bars (straighter tree) since most Mustangs are built a bit more like a gaited horse.  If you ride a lot of big shouldered stocky horses you might look for a saddle with a “shoulder free” type tree (like the jim taylor tree).  I have also been really happy with the Continental Saddlery Reiners so you might look into one of those, but you will have to save a bit more most likely.  If you are really wanting to get into Reining I would recommend it highly.  Spend more now and you won’t have to worry about so many saddle problems down the road.  Also invest in A LOT of different type saddle pads.  There are a few I always like to have on hand and those are the Cashel Reverse Wedge, The Classic Equine Biofit, and the Professionals Choice Orthoflex.  After that I like to have a 1+” thick pad, a 3/4” pad, and a 1/2” pad on hand.

You can get a good quality saddle buying used... how many different horses do you ride? Are they more or less built the same? Not all saddle trees are equal - and one QH Bar saddle will fit differently from another depending on the tree. I've heard the Contintentals are nice saddles... Martin's are nice as well - and you may be able to find an older used Martin in your range. A while back I saw a really nice Piland reining saddle that went CHEAP (like 700)... Some of the reining saddles have loooong skirts though - and when riding young horses that's something to keep in mind as the longer skirts and the square skirts can get into their hips a bit especially when they round up to stop or turn.

 

My current only riding horse is a 14.2h QH, and he isn't excessively stocky (i.e, he's built more like a lean cow horse than the typical halter horse).  In a couple of years I'll have another QH.  He's just a baby now, but he should end up stocky.  If the saddle I buy now, though, doesn't fit him, I can always buy another.  Then I ride various horses that I get in to break.  The most recent ones were a POA with really wide withers and a Mustang with decent withers......most of the time I get wide-withered horses.

 So basically, I just do research on how to measure a saddle and find one that fits me and my horse well, made of quality leather?