Nor am I referring to winter - it is still here unfortunately... 
I'm referring to my beautiful, hand-made in Europe, English saddle...
Yep, I took it into the tack shop I got it from to sell on consignment. The saddle is a Tolga, made in Belgium and is extremely comfortable. It is probably close in quality to a Devoucoux or an Antares. I bought it used and it was still pretty pricey. It is the most comfortable English saddle that I have had the chance to ride in. The guy that owns that tack shop told me it would probably be gone in less than a month, as he often has people calling in to see if he has any used ones in the shop... He also told me he wouldn't take much of a percentage on the sale because he felt bad that I wasn't using it.Why on earth would I try and sell it, you ask??? Well, I just wasn't using it. I don't think it fit Rusty as well as it could, either. The last time I rode in it, I felt off balance and was tipped back a bit. I don't want to get into buying all kinds of riser pads and such. I'm also not enjoying riding english as much as I have in the past. I have been having a hard time with leg position and balance. I'm feeling much more comfortable in a western saddle. Every time I've been at the barn in the past few months, I look at that expensive saddle just sitting there and cringe a bit when I think of what it is worth. I'm all for buying quality tack, but not if it is going to sit around and collect dust.
Since I'm on the topic of selling tack, I've also had some good luck moving other stuff on ebay. I sold a John Lyon's bridle to Canada, the old Parelli level 1 kit to the UK and two Centered Riding DVDs to the US. My stuff has found new homes all over the world! I'm reallllly trying to not buy any more stuff, so I don't have to turn around and sell it all.
My personal assistant wanted to get his nose or paw in every picture I was trying to take, so I had to shoo him down to the basement!What are everyone's saddle preferences? Would you only ride one or the other? Always ridden english and never tried western, or vice versa? What about buying/selling tack on ebay or local message forums? Do you find it worthwhile, either as a buyer or a seller? Do tell!!!
7 comments:
Ugh.. saddles... Right now we are going through one of those growth/ recovery periods with Sonny Bunz (AGAIN) and once AGAIN his back is changing, making his saddle fit like crap. (And its NOT a crappy saddle! LOL) My really good (but old) English saddle sits on his withers, and my TexTan western saddle just seems *wrong* up there- call me dense, but I am having a hard time pin pointing the exact issue. Darnintall....
I have had the chance to ride in some fantastic saddles, and some of the most comfortable ones were the really NICE dressage saddles used by the Paso Fino folks. Yep- no kidding- those babies (saddles AND horses) were amazing. (Unfortunately, my budget right now does NOT include shelling out well over $2000/USD for a saddle...)
I love your header picture. It made me smile BIG!
That is one gorgeous English saddle, Laura.
I've never ridden English, but I do think I prefer Western. I tried to find my brand of saddle on eBay, but only found very old ones, so I ended up buying brand new. I was not dissapointed. I'm a little nervous of eBay. I used to buy and sell like crazy many years ago.
I got a little carried away. Now I stay away from eBay. lol!
I'm glad you're doing well with selling on eBay, though. It's cool that your stuff is traveling across the oceans, too. :)
~Lisa
I used to exclusively ride english. Maybe ride western once or twice a year. Now I'm the polar opposite! I LIVE in my western saddle these days. I feel much better balanced, and I can ride one handed. Which is a bonus because I've dislocated my left shoulder 4 times so that arm is very weak. But I do still enjoy english. I've never bought a saddle without fitting it first. I'd hate to purchase something only to find out I have no use for it! In this area there is an over abundance of used saddles available so it can be very difficult to re-sell. I have a Billy Cook Roper for sale if anyones interested.....
Sheez-we never sell anything!!
The loft of our barn has about 15 saddles stacked up there. Some are my step-dad's old trophy saddles, some his old rodeo saddles, a couple of my grandpa's, my brother's first kid/pony saddle that we all rode as tots(and our kids rode as tots), a kid's saddle that my grandpa had made for my dad(that we all rode when we outgrew the pony saddle and then all of our kids rode when they outgrew the pony saddle) and on and on and on-LOL.
I can remember getting rid of two saddles, ever! A Martha Josey that my mom bought brand new-that had crooked bars(that one went back to the dealer) and another Martha Josey that she bought me in when I was in high school. I hated that saddle!!
Last spring I bought a 2nd hand, brand new Ovation saddle off of eBay for Megan. It was 1/2 the price of a new one, but had never been used. I was comfortable buying it, because it was the exact saddle I thought I was going to have to break down and buy brand new.
PS-Loved the video of Rusty. He just moves so effortlessly.
LAURA!!! Come and play more often at the Other Blog there!! ;) I have been whining and complaining a lot lately about being freaking sick, but I promise it is not always like that. You literally never know where that blog is going to go on any given day.
So stop in when you can and play with me there tooooo!
(Oh dear. That just did NOT sound right....)
I prefer English saddles. It's easier for me to move.
I'm just a western kinda gal. I have ridden English when I was in a situation where it was that or not ride, but given my druthers, I'll always choose western. I like the feeling of being cradled by my western saddle.
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