Western Pleasure Saddle
Western pleasure saddles are not the rough tough type of saddles as you will not be doing any serious labour in them. The basic requirement for your saddle is that it fits your horse well and that it provides a secure seat for you.
Western pleasure riding is a pretty strict discipline that requires you to show excellent control of your horse and look good whilst you are doing it.
For a western pleasure saddle to show you off in the best light it must be scrupiously clean and decoration should be highly polished. It is perfectly acceptable for most of us to use a synthetc saddle as it will be seen on the move and most judges won’t be able to spot the difference at a distance, however for the ambitious competitor a top quality leather saddle needs to be considered. Unfortunately these are expensive but they will last for years with the proper care.
Decide on your budget for a western pleasure saddle and then go looking, it is pointless and disappointing to look at a $3000 saddle if you can only spend $1500.
Look around the tack shops and any places that they sell saddles, and don’t forget yard sales if you live in an area where thee are a lot of horse riders. A secret which I will share and has served me well is pawnshops, again if you have lots of horses in your town.
The best place though is going to be eBay purely for the choice that it gives you. Buying a western pleasure saddle is going to cost you a chunk of cash so why not check out the auctions and see what western pleasure saddle you can get for your money.
