Trail Horse Western
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Western Saddles – A Brief Survey
Trail Saddles
The most popular type of saddle, trail saddles are designed for comfort over rough terrain and many miles. Designed for comfort they are lighter than ranch or roping saddles which are designed for heavier work. New materials and features often appear in trail saddles first due to their popularity. Some features include an easy to hold thin horn, a higher fork for stability, a deeply recessed cantle for comfort, wider stirrups treads and padded seats. Rounded or cut out skirts may also be present to further reduce the weight.
Ranch Saddles
Ranch saddles, also called buckaroo, cowboy or old time are heavy weight saddles designed for heavy work. Made for long hours in the saddle and for functionality around the ranch they may include comfortable deep seats, low swells to be out of the way when working and thick horns. Other features include plate rigging for better strength, a high cantle, double rigging and rope straps.
Roping Saddles
Designed for freedom of movement these saddles are made for heavy duty. Maximum freedom while roping and chasing cows is ensured by the saddle tree design and the strong horn. A wooden saddle tree covered with bull hide, a rounded low fork, double rigging and a deep suede or rough leather covered saddle all contribute to the ease of use while working. High cantles allow easy mounting and dismounting and the stirrups are forward hung to help the balance.
Cutting saddles
For cutting out single cows from the heard, cutting saddles were developed. A cutting saddle needs to endure good balance for the rider during extreme turning, starting and stopping maneuvers. Features include easy gripping with a tall thin horn, long flat seats, slim stirrups, low cantles and forward hanging fenders for extra balance.
Reining Saddles
For reining sporting events a purpose designed reining saddle is ideal. These saddles need very close contact between horse and rider for ease of execution of circling, spinning and sliding stop maneuvers. Subtle communication between horse and rider is ensured by the close contact which, if properly carried out will not be seen by the spectators. Because of the close contact reining saddles are also popular as training saddles.
Endurance Saddles
For competitions involving long rides of up to 100 miles, endurance saddles are needed. They must be light weight and well made to stand up to the long miles of riding. Bulk must be minimised while at the same time maximising close contact. In addition for the long hours in the saddle they must be comfortable for both rider and horse. Because they are designed for comfort they are also becoming popular for trail riding. They feature comfortable padded seats, no horns, lower weight short skirts, deep stirrups and multiple saddle strings for your gear.
Show Saddles
Show saddles, unlike the other types are designed primarily for their looks in the horse show arena. Fashion is important and designs change frequently. Ornate and deep tooling and decorative silver ornamentation are used extensively on show saddles. Designed for good looks rather than work these saddles follow fashions and change accordingly. For show saddles the latest fashion is important! Other features include deep skirts for more decoration turned stirrups with silver trims, and padded seats.
About the Author
For more information and some good deals in new and used saddles check out
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Used Western Saddles
Kid Broke Very nice 15.2 hand 9 year old Gelding Trail Horse For Sale
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NEW 12 YOUTH KIDS WESTERN PONY SMALL HORSE PLEASURE TRAIL LEATHER SADDLE TACK $249.99 |
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New 16 Western Pleasure Trail Hand Carved Horse Western Leather Saddle Tack Set $325.00 |
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16 Ranch Custom Western Pleasure Trail Horse Leather Work Saddle & Tack Set $399.99 |
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New 17 Brown Western Barrel Racing Show Leather Horse Trail Cowboy Saddle Tack $349.99 |
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New 14 Cordura Western Horse Pleasure Trail Saddle Texas Star Free Pad Tack $225.00 |
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18 Black Western Show Trail Silver Leather Horse Saddle & Texas Star Tack Set $199.99 |
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New 17 Cordura Western Horse Pleasure Trail Saddle Texas Star Free Pad Tack $225.00 |
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New 15 Beautiful Light Brown Western Synthetic Horse Pleasure Trail Saddle Tack $190.00 |
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New 18 Brown Leather Western Horse Show Pleasure Trail Saddle Crystals & Tack $349.99 |
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Original Watercolor Portrait Painting Grey Western Pleasure Cowboy Trail Horse $50.00 |
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New 18 Tan Hand Carved Western Pleasure Trail Horse Leather Saddle & Tack Set $399.99 |
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New 17 Western Leather Barrel Trail Hand Carved Horse Pleasure Saddle & Tack Set $325.00 |
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16″ Brown Western Horse Trail Synthetic Saddle light wt $189.00 |
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NEW 13 YOUTH KIDS WESTERN PONY SMALL HORSE PLEASURE TRAIL LEATHER SADDLE TACK $249.99 |
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Tan Hand Carved Western Trail And Pleasure Horse Saddle with Tack 15 $229.99 |
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Lone Black Texas Star Western Trail And Pleasure Horse show Saddle 17 $275.00 |
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17″ BROWN Western PLEASURE Trail Horse Saddle HEAVY SET $325.95 |
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New 15 Cordura Western Horse Pleasure Trail Saddle Texas Star Free Pad Tack $225.00 |
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17 Custom Havana Western Show Saddle Horse Texas Trail $279.99 |
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BROWN Leather Western Show Headstall Bling Horse Trail $43.99 |
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Brown Leather Western Show Headstall Bling Horse Trail $43.99 |
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Brown Leather Western Show Headstall Studs Horse Trail $43.99 |
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New 18 Brown Western Barrel Racing Show Leather Horse Trail Cowboy Saddle Tack $349.99 |
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New 15 Premium Natural Barrel Racing Trail Western Horse Leather Saddle Tack Set $365.00 |
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16″ LITE OIL Western TRAIL ROUGH OUT SHOW horse SADDLE FREE HEADSTALL COLLAR SET $325.98 |
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New 13 Youth Kids Western Trail Leather Brown Pony Small Horse Saddle & Tack $274.99 |
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17″CUSTOM HAVANA WESTERN SHOW SADDLE HORSE TEXAS TRAIL $299.99 |
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New 16 Tan Hand Carved Western Pleasure Trail Horse Leather Saddle & Tack Set $399.99 |
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New 16″ Trail Endurance Western Leather Saddle Horse /w Tack Mahogany $275.00 |
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17 Ranch Custom Western Pleasure Trail Horse Leather Work Saddle & Tack Set $399.99 |
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12″ Lt Oil Kid Western Show Trail Barrel Racer Saddle Double T Horse Pony Tack $284.00 |
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New 16 Cordura Western Horse Pleasure Trail Saddle Texas Star Free Pad Tack $225.00 |
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New 17 Western Pleasure Trail Hand Carved Horse Western Leather Saddle Tack Set $325.00 |
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Horse Training VHS Rodeo Trail Rail Western Showmanship English Richard Shrake $17.50 |
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BLACK 16″ draft horse western trail saddle with 10″ gullet by FrontierEquestrian $549.00 |
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BLACK 17″ draft horse western trail saddle with 10″ gullet by FrontierEquestrian $549.00 |
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Horse Riding Training VHS Trail Rail Western Showmanship English Richard Shrake $17.50 |
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New 17 Premium Natural Barrel Racing Trail Western Horse Leather Saddle Tack Set $365.00 |
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GOOD LOOKING! Double T Western 16″ Horse Barrel Pleasure Trail Saddle Roughout $299.99 |
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New 17″ Trail Endurance Western Leather Saddle Horse /w Tack Mahogany $275.00 |
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Rustic Western HAPPY TRAILS Magnet in Rusted Steel, #M-140 $6.99 This “HAPPY TRAILS” magnet is rusted steel! This “HAPPY TRAILS” is the perfect thing for any western or southwestern motif. A great magnet for your kitchen refrigerator, your den, office, children’s room or barn. This magnet is crafted in the USA from rusted steel and is clear coated for durability. “HAPPY TRAILS” magnet measures 6 1/2″ across and is 4″ in height. See the Wooly Warthog Storefront … |
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Round-Up $10.28 … |
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Monte Walsh / Crossfire Trail $16.98 This is composer Eric Colvin’s rich score and soundtrack to the Old Western-style TNT original movie Monte Walsh, starring Tom Selleck and directed by Simon Wincer (Lonesome Dove, Quigley Down Under). This CD also includes Colvin’s stirring score to another beloved TNT Western Crossfire Trail, also starring Selleck and directed by Wincer. Features an exclusive recording of Cowboy Lullaby from Mont… |
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Hittin the Trail $2.71 … |
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Hopalong Cassidy: Twisted Trails [VHS] $4.50 … |
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Roll On Texas Moon $9.99 The “Director’s Cut” version of ROLL ON TEXAS MOON by Bridgestone Multimedia Group features 13 minutes of additional restored footage added to the standard 54 minute commercial releases usually availalbe of this title. ROLL ON TEXAS MOON was the first of 26 Roy Rogers vehicles directed by fast-action specialist William Witney. The plot concerns a deadly feud between cattle ranchers and sheepherder… |
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Hopalong Cassidy: Ghost Trails, Guns Across The Border and The Feud [VHS] $3.99 … |
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Comanche Moon: The Second Chapter in the Lonesome Dove Saga $5.42 It’s billed as “the second chapter in the Lonesome Dove saga,” but Comanche Moon is actually a prequel to that much-loved 1989 miniseries. And while there’s no doubt that it has some very big boots to fill, this three-part (on two DVDs, including bonus features) production is rarely less than eminently watchable and entertaining. Continuity is a positive factor: Larry McMurtry, who wrote the novel… |
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Broken Trail (Two-disc) $6.30 Set in 1897, a man and his nephew are trying to deliver a herd of horses when they become the reluctant guardians of five abandoned Chinese girls.Genre: TelevisionRating: NRRelease Date: 30-JAN-2007Media Type: DVD… |
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Broken Trail [Blu-ray] $12.72 The lives of two stoic cowboys and five abused Chinese women become intertwined in Walter Hill’s sprawling miniseries Broken Trail. Print Ritter (Academy Award winner Robert Duvall) and his nephew Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways) agree to deliver a herd of 500 horses from Oregon to Wyoming. Along the way, they rescue the young women–most of them still just girls–who’re being transported… |
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King Series Mini Western Trail $204 Miniature western tooled trail saddle with conchos. 8 seat. Designed with the small rider and miniature horse in mind. |
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Western Horse $104.99 Jennifer Pugh Western Horse – Framed Art Print |
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Western Horse Behavior and Training $14.19 Western Horse Behavior and Training |
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King Series Mini Western Trail with Silver $237 Miniature western carved show saddle with silver. 8 seat. Designed with the small rider and miniature horse in mind. |
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The Horse Illustrated Guide to Trail Riding $9.67 The Horse Illustrated Guide to Trail Riding |
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Gift Corral Wastebasket Western Trail $26.95 Wastebasket Western Trail |
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Western Horseman $18 Western Horseman is the leading horse magazine in the nation. Each monthly issue covers horse healthcare, training, equipment, trail riding, ranching, event and competition coverage, new products, art, music, poetry, cowboy fashion and more. |
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Wild Horse on the Appalachian Trail $39.99 Raymond Gehman Wild Horse on the Appalachian Trail – Photographic Print |
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Blazing the Western Trail, 1945 $34.99 Blazing the Western Trail, 1945 – Giclee Print |
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Western Trail, the Rockies $34.99 Albert Bierstadt Western Trail, the Rockies – Giclee Print |
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Horse & Rider $15.95 The premiere magazine for Western riders, every issue of Horse & Rider features articles on training by the country’s leading experts, the latest on equine health care from top veterinarians, trail riding tips from savvy back country riders and much more. |
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Western Justice/Near the Trail’s End $7.33 Western Justice/Near the Trail’s End |
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Saddlesmith Frontier Flex Western Trail Saddle 16I $1299.99 From Saddlesmith of Texas. The Frontier Flex Trail saddle combines the most popular trail features with top saddlemakers craftsmanship. Rich smoothout leathers with soft fenders and seat jockey add comfort and beauty with floral corner tooling. The saddle also has long leather strings and extra tie down rings. Tree: Tex-Flex Trail Gullet: 7″ W Bars: Full quarter horse Horn: 3″ pleasure horn Cantle: 5″ highback with leather binder Rigging: 7/8 In-skirt, stainless C ring with rig cover Stirrups: 3″ bell hand laced Seat: Crazy horse seat leather |
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Saddlesmith Frontier Flex Western Trail Saddle 17I $1329.99 From Saddlesmith of Texas. The Frontier Flex Trail saddle combines the most popular trail features with top saddlemakers craftsmanship. Rich smoothout leathers with soft fenders and seat jockey add comfort and beauty with floral corner tooling. The saddle also has long leather strings and extra tie down rings. Tree: Tex-Flex Trail Gullet: 7″ W Bars: Full quarter horse Horn: 3″ pleasure horn Cantle: 5″ highback with leather binder Rigging: 7/8 In-skirt, stainless C ring with rig cover Stirrups: 3″ bell hand laced Seat: Crazy horse seat leather |