A Buyer Beware Tip for Used Saddles

After a very long absence – over a year! – we are oh, so happy to be back. I thought I’d start out with a quick “buyer beware” post of something I just saw on ebay..

Someone is selling a vintage Billy Cook trail saddle with a cracked tree. Now, to give them credit, they are revealing in the listing that the saddle tree is indeed cracked.

But a saddle with a cracked tree is done being a saddle. What it is now is … parts. The seller has it listed for $162, which is a bit rich for “parts,” which makes me a bit nervous that someone might buy it for a riding saddle.

Don’t do it. A cracked tree is a serious defect that will be no good for the horse or the rider. Stay away.

Saddle Tree: Rocker, Twist & Flare

Veterinarian, Joyce Harman’s newest saddle fit book, The Western Horse’s Pain-Free Back and Saddle-Fit Book, is chock full of great information on western saddle fit and western saddles. I’ll be sharing some nuggets from the book on the Saddle Blog, but this is really a book you should have in your library.

The first nugget from Dr. Harman’s newest book is a great diagram that visually illustrates the shape variables of the bars of a saddle tree – the rocker, twist, and flare. The shape and angles of these three elements greatly affect the fit of a saddle, but are often hard-to-grasp.

• Rocker – Curve on the bottom of the tree
• Twist – Curve from front to back of each side of the tree
• Flare – Curve at the front and back edges of the bars