Saddle Search - Part I

There is a 1/8" to 1/4" of ice coating all of outdoorland right now so there will be no driving to the barn. Instead, I'm working on my saddle search. There are previous musings about this HERE and HERE and in other random posts.

Mission: to replace 2 Western Saddles of very different styles with ONE saddle that can be used for small local open shows, cowboy challenges, and trail riding. Must fit HIM, of course first and foremost, which also means the skirt probably has to measure less than 29" front to back, as the awesome Chiro pointed out my training saddle is too long for his conformation. I want a low horn, moderately deep seat. Not too fancy, but not too plain. Not too expensive, but not a cheapo one. Suede seat and/or fenders preferred. I think the medium to darkish oil will look best on Junior, even though that's not "in" right now. I do have a budget and can't buy anything new until the old ones are sold. I've found that Reining saddles are the closest I'm finding to what I want both visually and in functionality. They are more workmanlike in appearance which I like, but they are close to the equitation seat of the current show saddles.

Right now I have this:

And this:

Which is listed, as of this morning on Ebay because I found a similar but not as fancy saddle without the matching tack that sold for $1,300 and had 22 bids on it, so onto Ebay mine went. If Craigslist isn't helping maybe Ebay will. I sold a saddle on there once and miscalculated the shipping costs so I made very little $ off of the transaction after paying for the box and packing materials. I was avoiding the Ebay for that reason, but if I can get it sold then it's done with, and I am more informed this time.

I initially thought having two saddles would be a huge benefit but after a few years of it I have changed my mind. I don't like showing in a saddle that feels differently than when I'm riding at home - but you don't want to ding up a show saddle so you have to be careful. The show saddle is stiff and wide compared to the work saddle. And I never really fell in love with it. I don't really love the super-fancy contemporary show saddles you see now, either. They look like machines or medieval furniture or something. Example 1, Example 2. I used to drool over them, but now they look COLD and hard to me, I guess.

Here are some of the prospects I've mulled over:

This one is at a local tack store called Keith's, and as much as it has almost the perfect look I want, the skirt's too long and too expensive. It's a Billy Cook 16" reiner. Even with the trade-in they'd give me on my show saddle I'd still be over budget. It's a nice saddle. Good color, good amount of silver and tooling, very pretty and not too masculine for me, but not too feminine either.

This one is at the same store in their small Used section.

I think it's sort of hideous. It's a used Rockin' R Reining saddle and it's a 15". I sat in it and it felt kind of small but my 16" show saddle feels too big. Maybe I really do need a 15.5, but they are all different between brands. This one has a 26" skirt. It has about the right amount of silver but it's too light, basket weave and I am not a fan. I hope this does not end up to be my best option.

This one is at Rod's, but I haven't yet gotten over there to ask if they do trade-ins and to measure the skirt. It's also a Rockin' R brand. I've heard very good things about the brand for the price range. I actually like the look of it. There is a very similar one HERE that has the addition of some floral tooling accents. I even like that one better. The one at Rod's might be a teense too masculine, but at least it's not barbed-wire tooling like THIS ONE.



They also carry this one. It's a lot like the ugly Rockin R with more silver. The only thing about it I like is that it's a Silver Royal, the same manufacturer as my training saddle which I find comfortable, but this one is 27" in the skirt. It IS a show saddle, but it's still pretty basic and I like that it has rough out seat, jockey and fenders. This one is quite affordable if I order it from somewhere rather than buying it at Rods. I WOULD like higher quality than this.
I was looking at other ones of this manufacturer since I don't dislike my Royal King. Other than the above, the only thing they have that is close to what I want is also FUGLY and probably too big:

How can a company that makes such a contemporary looking training saddle NOT make the same style for pleasure/reining and instead make something that looks like THAT!?!?

I know the best option is always to get a good quality used saddle instead of buying new, but with something as pricey as a saddle I'd hate to get screwed on Ebay - yet here I am trying to be an honest seller of my own saddle on there!

I don't know where all the used saddles go in this town. There were only a small handful at Keith's, and I only have seen one or two at Rods.

Anyway, that's where I am now. The search continues...

Anybody want to buy a saddle? Or two? :)