I have a little Abetta saddle..it probably weighs about 15 or 20 pounds.. All I know..is that its easy to throw over my horse..it fits her and me..and while it won't last forever ..its good for us..and I am not sore from trying to lift something too heavy and my horse probably likes not having to carry a 40 pound saddle either.. Shadow

My favorite Saddle was a Ralph Shimon rough out on an Association tree. I broke a lot of horses growing up and it took a pretty rank horse to get me out of that one and I could trail ride it all day and never notice a pain. I have a Brigham Rancher by Herford now and it does everything I want it to and more while looking good to boot. I would recomend it to anyone who wants a long lasting and solid built saddle. My Dad has a Herford calf roping saddle that is 54 years old and he still rides it, that is how a saddle is supposed to last. Stan

horseandpony, If we had emoticons to use here I'd have 5 or 6 of them rolling on the floor with laughter..."leather looks like a piece of beef jerky with pretty tooling" That is priceles!!! Mind if I use it sometime? Anne

I ride a Tucker Endurance saddle. Years ago I was testing riding a TWH mare, couldn't tell you anything about the horse but I fell in love with Tucker the saddle. Now own two. The Tucker western trail was the ex's & hasn't been used much. My endurance is now 7 years old & still going strong. The gel seat is wonderful for the hours I put on it and it weighs 27 lbs, which is great considering my horse is 16h..LOL Interesting post... ~Spots~

My favorite saddle ever is my Carl Ammerman barrel racing saddle. Had it a couple of years, and am in it about 5 times a week. I don't even barrel race, just trail ride and team sort, but can ride in it for hours and we're completely comfortable! I use a Saddle Rite pad. I had a Crates trail saddle that was comfortable for me, but it didn't fit my horse well.. so sold it on eBay. I also have a very very old Tex Tan Herford that is comfy and fits both horses well.. even though it looks like a piece of beef jerky with pretty tooling! My Courbette Husar all purpose/dressage is from my "English phase" I got it about 18 years ago.. it's extremely comfortable!

Hey, y'all, I ride a couple of great saddles...my all-time fav is an old Potts Longhorn that has "Sikes Special" on the silver horn cap. It is wonderful, although heavy. My second fav is my old Cleburne. It is a low association tree and both are real comfortable and let you ride all day. They have never hurt my horse's back, either. I use the most expensive pads I can get that I like-a 5 Star think wool and/or a Professeional's Choice Air Ride. That always helps. Keeping your horse nice and round and not bony also helps. Keeping your horse's back muscled by not riding on the forehand also helps-a hollow backed, high headed horse is gonna have back trouble. And please, while I am preaching, DO NOT GO TO THE SALE AND BUY A $250 MEXICAN OR INDIAN SADDLE. THEY ARE CRAP and will ruin a good horse's way of going. I recently bought a new, lightweight Bighorn trail saddle. (I did not like my CircleY Flex-tree AT ALL. The stirrups were set way forward and it floated all over my horse's back. My friend's Circly Y Flex-tree about went over her horse's head one day. We both got rid of them and got the BigHorn that fits much better.) It has a memory foam seat and is already broken in like the Circle Y. I admit I am a purist and I feel like I am riding polyester instead of 500 count cotton when I am in the Bighorn, but it is a very comfortable saddle for both horse and rider and when I go on long rides, I use it to make it easier on my horse. My dressage saddle is a Niedersuess (sp) and it is really very comfortable and soft as well. It does not have large knee rolls, but I don't need that. I have a big son of Cinemax, APHA, a foundation AQHA and a 17.2 hand Warmblood that I ride English and Western here in beautiful South Carolina and beyond. God Bless Everyone, especially the horses, SCCowgirl

My daughters have won many saddles over the years so we have tried almost every brand and style. Finally we learned that if you have a good horse and you want the best for both your horse and yourself, it is best to have a saddle made to fit your horse. Find a place where saddles are made and get that one special tree that fits your horse's back and withers perfectly. Then get someone to build the saddle of your choice that fits you onto the tree that fits your horse. This way your horse and yourself will be more comfortable while riding. So many saddles that we have won do not even come close to fitting our horse's back correctly as every horse has a different kind of back. This results in your horse having a sore back and not wanting to be ridden. Carl Ammermann in Yoakum Texas builds all our saddles. He can advise you where to locate a tree to fit your horse.

I ride in a Circle_Y park and trail flex tree saddle. Have had it for seven years, bought it out of Country Supply catalog for $900 after trying the same model at a local tack and hardware for $1400. I love the ride in the seat, it fits a wide variety of animals, It ways about 22 pounds. I am disappointed in how the leather is wearing, two thin layers stiched together is how they make it light . Stirrup leathers are not holding up. I am a trail rider, I do log a lot of hours of saddle time. This saddle replaced a much older Circle-Y of about the same type, no flex tree back than, still my backup for friends to use .

sold my 43 pound roping saddle----cannot seem to replace it. it was getting hard to lift it to the 15.2-16H back and it swallowed my little short backed blondy. i do know it is hard to come by a newer saddle(even name popular brands)that is built anywhere as solid as the older ones. right now i have more saddles than horses and still cannot get comfortable. had a hereford from yrs ago that i got talked out of--everything has a price!!!LOL:):):)!

Those who have been to our place know we have a good sized collection of saddles. Lots up stairs, in the barn and traier tack room. The older I get the more leather I want under me. If you noticed the one I rode Rika the Mustang on, you will get the idea. That saddle probably weights close to 50 lbs, but you dang sure know you have support and strength where its needed.