Saddles: expensive or cheap? What are we paying for?

When it comes to discussing saddles, many complain: “Where are these prices from? The saddle is worth more than my horse!” Indeed, from where? What is the difference between economy saddles and luxury saddles?

Let’s start with the basics!

Lenchik. Trees for inexpensive economy saddles are “stamped” according to the pattern and, as a rule, are not checked or tested. Their forms are often copied from foreign samples, but there are also “home-made products on the knee.” Most often, the trees are wooden, less often – metal.

In expensive saddles, trees are usually combined (wood/metal, carbon/plastic/titanium, carbon/metal), which allows them to more sensitively respond to the movement of the horse, respond to its moving body, transmit information from the horse to the rider and vice versa. In today’s high-end saddles, the tree “plays”.

The very fact of combining materials already adds value to the future saddle, and this is not counting the very idea that was born in the head of a specialist who was hired for this for a salary, testing, fitting materials to each other, as well as 3D modeling of the structure and subsequent multi-stage installation.

So, we are still far from a finished saddle, and we already have a design on hand with a cost of 20 thousand rubles (offhand). For economy saddles, this amount can be 2/3 of the final price, if not the final price itself.

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Block. Economy class saddles (which, by the way, include all saddles with replaceable trees (not to be confused with re-crimp!)) are made for a spherical horse back in a vacuum – the so-called standard back. And you will be very lucky if your horse’s back turns out to be average.

Economy saddles have no variation in pad length, shoulder blade cutouts, spinal canal width, front or back seat elevation, midsection thickening, wing length (e.g. for a rider with long legs).

Professional saddle pads are usually designed for warm-blooded horses with muscular backs or tending to (if the horse is young). Surveys of horse owners have shown that a greater number of sport horses have fairly wide shoulder blades. Last but not least, this is due to selection (a wide chest, a voluminous heart and the absence of pathologies of the lungs and spine are valued).

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Leather. As a rule, on the store counter, all new saddles, regardless of their price, look the same: a pleasant shine, cleanliness, even smooth skin. It is with this that the indignation of the buyer is associated at the first stage (where does the difference in price come from – 200 thousand, if the saddles cannot be distinguished from each other ?!).

The difference usually shows up after the first encounter with the difficult reality of the stable: moisture, sand, breeches with pleats or riding in jeans… With regular use of the saddle, the whole truth about the quality of the leather emerges.

Matte leather, which holds the rider so well, is now only in Europe able to be used with high quality in the manufacture of saddles. Such leather, with proper care (do not rub with oil to a gloss every 2 weeks!) lasts a long time even when riding in breeches with a silicone ley.

In budget saddles, the skin warms up too quickly and tears in the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe seams in the ischial part of the saddle. The consequences of drying out of the skin are cracks and, again, bursting seams. All this tells us about the initially poor quality of the leather (perhaps its dressing was compressed in time to save money and time, and the treatment was carried out with cheap chemicals, which dissolved the leather more than necessary).

But skin is skin, and appearance fades into the background when the horse begins to complain about his back. It is possible that an inexperienced horse will not immediately show discomfort, and an inexperienced rider will not immediately understand that something has changed in the horse’s behavior, or will not be able to make a connection between head up, bucking and discomfort in the back.

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Durability directly relates to the skin, and to the threads, and to the cut, and even to the stitches themselves (the distance between the stitches, their straightness, work with the upper and lower thread, non-skip stitches, thread tension – all this verified and tested over the years). Do not forget about the professional sewing machines themselves, which need maintenance and care, as well as about the “gaskets between machines and saddles” (sorry!) – saddlers!

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Individuality. It, of course, depends on the block, but there are other nuances.

Have you ever thought that depending on the slope of the shoulder blade (oh, this topic about “shoulder-shoulder”!) The plows should be located closer or further from the center of the saddle, as well as have a slope?

In a sport show jumping or dressage saddle (unlike Western saddles, where the pommel is simply attracted by a separate girth), it is quite difficult to find the superposition of girths in which 3 points are attracted: the front pommel, the middle of the saddle and the pommel. The manufacturer also makes allowance for the fact that when the rider sits in the saddle and tightens the girth, the position of the saddle on the horse will change. The price of a saddle directly depends on the very fact of paying attention to these “little things”.

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Details. Details include rivets, leather folds, rivet caps, protective guards on the plows, design elements, small practical trifles. Don’t you know the difference between an iPhone and some Chinese phone for 5 thousand (we are not saying that everyone should like one thing, we are discussing the differences)?

How is the skin attached to the tree? Have you thought? There is a known case when a protruding stave caused a lot of anxiety to one horse and its rider and became the subject of a whole investigation. The riveting, which was not twisted by the master during production, became a problem for a sports couple!

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Testing (crash test). Have economy saddles passed many tests? To be honest? Most likely, the tests were carried out by the employees of the workshop, and more often by the buyers themselves. Most likely, when creating the model, test riders rode saddles, but testing is different for testing! Vintek Isabel (Vert) is a trademark, but not an indicator of quality today. Although for their time (appearance on the market) these saddles were the best in comparison with the rest.

In expensive saddles, testing is carried out both on live horses, under riders, and on computers, using information about the biomechanics of the horse, sensors connected to the horse and rider. Saddles are issued for testing by a professional rider, and their comments are taken into account when making changes to the design. An analysis of the material of the tree is underway – its reaction to changes in the position of the rider when working with the horse is being studied.

Prestige. The aesthetic component has not been canceled – the good appearance of the saddle, its beauty, grace matter. The boring round pommel is a thing of the past (although some artisan brands still can’t get rid of it).

The saddle has long ceased to be a simple means of interaction between horse and rider. The world is changing, and ammunition is changing with it.

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Well, about the sore: order, euro exchange rate, delivery, customs clearance procedure. To deliver a saddle of a foreign manufacturer to Russia, you need to visit this country, find a conditional John there and conclude a cooperation agreement with him. The selling company has its own staff of managers, and the saddle has a final price, which is usually determined not only by the net cost of the material and labor of workers, but also by the payment for the work of the entire staff of designers, sales managers and all their related activities, it’s no secret that in In Europe, the market for saddles is organized no less widely than the market for exclusive cars.

At the request of the store, the manager receives a batch of saddles, which is sent by plane to Moscow. Next is the customs clearance procedure with a customs broker, payment of a fee (European order, all saddles pass at their real price). At the same time, each manufacturer sets its own MSRP (manufacturer’s recommended retail price), or, in our opinion, RRP, below which a Russian seller cannot sell.

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Used saddle. Looks like a compromise has been found! Today, the market for used European saddles is growing steadily. But you need to understand that buying a used saddle, like buying a used car, is a risk.

If we step aside from shopaholism (“Oh! The same saddle is only 3 times cheaper!”), we will remember that, like cars, saddles undergo pre-sale preparation, a rare seller will tell you that a saddle with a screw (not uncommon) will not hide the year release (not everywhere there is a stigma), and no one will tell you about the “mileage”, because it may simply not have such data. A skin balm will temporarily hide chapped or stretched skin. The advantages include the absence of an overpayment for organizational moments and the discount for depreciation itself (although the percentage of intermediaries is a separate issue).

Let’s get back to the price: used prestige brand saddles are still more expensive than new economy saddles, so fans of Wintec and other Bates, if they want to go to a higher class of saddles, it is advisable to contact saddle selection specialists, making such a selection in the presence of a veterinarian or an independent experienced person not interested in your deal.

I strongly recommend that you do not neglect the presence of a veterinarian when contacting dealers who call themselves experts in the selection of saddles. Unfortunately, many of them need to sell the saddle in the first place to get their commission, not to make your riding better. This statement of mine is based on frequent complaints from people who have used this service without a veterinarian present.

I want to emphasize that not all saddle brokers are like this, but if you want to save money, you should keep your eyes open. Free cheese only in a mousetrap!

Depending on the intensity of your training, your ambitions and quality, I would recommend that you purchase the most expensive saddle you can afford, with the advice of a specialist and (preferably) a doctor. Even a new saddle may not suit your horse, and then the cost of the saddle will fade into the background.

Many riders successfully ride Belarusian, Chinese and other saddles, but nevertheless, athletes choose something else.

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Price order for 2017 New economy class saddle – 35-45 thousand rubles. New premium saddle – 90-170 thousand rubles. New luxury saddle – 350-450 thousand rubles. In intermediate price categories, as a rule, there are used saddles.

Ekaterina Litvinenko (Ilenara).

The author is grateful to the Horse Shop Prokoni shop for the opportunity to study new saddles from Equipe, Sommer, CWD, take detailed photos, as well as attend a master class from a representative of CWD.

Ilenara 22th of December 2017
Wow! Thanks for posting! Answer
Terra 22th of December 2017
A very controversial article. And frankly advertising. It makes sense to take an expensive saddle only if it was created for your specific horse and rider’s specific ass. In all other cases, it can just as well not lie down and cause harm and discomfort to the horse. The same Belarusian saddles today are sewn in the “economy” version and cost between 20-25 thousand. And very high quality – from beautiful English leather, which does not slip and does not lose its appearance for years, with high-quality trees and fittings. And yes – the price will be 35-50 thousand, but the quality is comparable to the European so-called premium. Response
Danon_Konnik 23th of December 2017
I subscribe to every word. I ride Ratomka, and there has not yet been a more convenient saddle for myself and the horse. And the article at the end was, to be honest, not very pleasant to read. Just an advertisement for the most expensive saddles, they say everything up to 45 thousand is made on the knee and those who buy them are amateurs. For example, for me and 45 thousand this is already a Premium saddle and I don’t see anything wrong with riding on a budget saddle, provided that it suits the horse (first of all) and me. Answer
Z-z-z-z 25th of December 2017
Can you please tell me why saddles with a matte leather surface cannot be oiled to a shine? I have just such a luxury saddle, it came with leather oil and saddle soap, and every week I diligently wipe the saddle with this soap, and then I treat it with oil … It seems to be no problem. Answer