Last updated on October 5th, 2020 at 05:05 pm
What are the Best English Saddle Brands?
It’s always hard to choose the best English saddle. There are so many brands making so many great saddles!
You have Wintec, Dover Saddlery, Circuit, and Steffen’s just to name a few of the biggest players in the game.
But it’s hard to narrow down which of these brands is the best.
What do you look for in an English saddle? It needs to have a great fit for you and the horse to aid in performance, and it needs to be built from the best materials. There are also a lot of different types of saddles to choose from, and the best brand is going to make a variety of useful pieces of equipment.
There are English jumping saddles made specifically for jumping in serious disciplines. These kinds of saddles are made for safety and comfort.
Then you have close-contact saddles that remove the bulk between you and the horse. These come with a flatter seat for a more comfortable ride with a shorter stirrup.
But when shopping around, which brands should you choose and how much is a good price to pay? These are the questions we are going to answer today.
What Brand of Saddle is Best?
To be quite honest, no one brand of saddle is the best. But there are some very quality brands.
M. Toulouse provides exceptional quality for all-purpose, dressage, and close-contact saddles. They combine traditional French elements with modern technology and classic techniques to make top-notch saddles. These types of saddles also include an integrated Genesis adjustable gullet system, which will allow you to adjust the saddle to each different horse you ride. This brand is safe and dependable and offers superior style and comfort.
Then we have Freedman’s Saddlery, and they make amazing saddles with craftsmanship that is renowned the world over. Each saddle is carefully handcrafted to meet your needs and your horse’s needs. The company was founded in 1802 and they have been making the most comfortable saddles for the best performance ever since. Their saddles are top quality and expensive. They have superior grip, innovative designs, and they offer fantastic show saddles. If you are an elite trainer, this is going to be an excellent brand for you.
Stubben is another great brand known for their dressage, all-purpose, and jumping saddles. As with the other great brands, they offer amazing comfort and design. But these guys were founded only about 100 years ago in 1894. Still, they offer great quality from their family-owned workshop in Sweden. Each saddle comes meticulously handcrafted to provide the optimum fit. They use unique designs and are some of the most sought-after saddles by professionals.
Collegiate Saddlery uses modern materials with traditional English techniques to make extremely professional dressage and close contact saddles. They use premium leather and premium craftsmanship to give you the most comfortable ride possible. These saddles are a bit more affordable and are widely used by equestrians all over the globe.
Bates Saddles are the official saddles of the United States Eventing Association. These saddles have great balance and great comfort, they come handcrafted with the finest leather, and they make saddles for dressage, jumping, and all-purpose. They also use a special cushioning system to provide ideal weight distribution while riding.
How Much is a Good English Saddle?
English saddles can be expensive. But they don’t have to be. These types of saddles range in price anywhere from just a couple hundred dollars to thousands. Reputable saddle companies sell a variety of different styles and specifications. And depending on exactly how fancy you want to get, you could be paying a pretty fortune for a single saddle.
Keep in mind that the saddles you find at your local shop are probably going to be affordable. If you’re buying one off the rack, you’re probably just looking in the hundreds range. But if you want a quality saddle built from premium materials from a brand that really knows their stuff, you’re looking at thousands of dollars. This is especially true if you want a custom saddle with a special design and special detail.
English saddles are just like cars. You can pick one up for $100, but it’s not going to be the same as spending $5000 on one. As with everything in life, money talks, and the best saddle is going to be the most expensive saddle.
What is the Most Expensive English Saddle?
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most expensive saddle ever sold cost a ridiculous $653,234. The saddle belonged to the Crown Prince of Dubai and was sold at a charity auction event in November 2015. We don’t know who the buyer was or what they did with the saddle, but that is the most expensive one ever sold.
In general, you won’t be paying that much money for a saddle. You can easily pick a saddle up for $500. But then again, some of the more expensive saddles available for purchase are going to cost around $10,000. Believe it or not, companies like Lamborghini actually make horse saddles, and they are just about as expensive as their cars.
How Do I Choose an English Saddle?
Choosing the proper English saddle can be tough. If you are experienced, you probably have a favourite brand already. But if you’re green, you probably don’t know anything. You probably don’t even know the difference between Western and English, and this can be tricky.
The best way to choose what saddle is best for you is to first find out what discipline you’re going to be riding in, figure out your seat size, the gullet size of your horse, and exactly how much money you want to spend. Do you need an all-purpose saddle or a close contact saddle? You could get an English starter set that comes with everything for a low price, or you could splurge and get a custom English saddle for you and your horse.
The best way to choose an English saddle is by talking to someone who knows their stuff. Don’t be embarrassed. Go to your local shop where they sell saddles and talk to a professional. Think of it as trying on a new pair of shoes. You will never know exactly which model you want to choose until you start trying some on.
Best English Saddles For Jumping
English saddles are separated into a number of different categories, as described above. One of the main categories is the English Jumping Saddle, of which there are two main types.
The Hunter-Jumper saddle is designed for safety, but also for comfort and good looks. They feature foward flaps, and different degrees of rotation so that the riders leg position can be in the right position in a short stirrup. The knee tolls are padded for show jumping, and that helps to make a half-seat position or a two-point position more comfortable. Also the pommel and the cantle are low and this assists the jumping position.
When it comes to English jumping saddles there are two main types, one is an eventing saddle and one is a close-contact saddle. Each of these is designed for a different reason and gives different things to the rider. It really depends on the style of the rider, the discipline they are riding in and the look they are after.
Best of the Close-Contact Saddles
Henri de Rivel Memor-X Close Contact Saddle | Color – Australian Nut
- Lifetime Warrantied Injection Molded Polymer Tree | High-Density Foam Panels
- Available in Regular, Wide and Extra Wide Trees | Available in Australian Nut Printed Leather
- Deep seat | Padded Forward Flaps
- Knee Blocks | Signature Stitching on Flaps
- Imported Leather