Horse Tack & Saddles

I moved to a new area and need to find a new boarding facility as my old one is 45 minutes away on a nice day and an awful drive in the snow. With snow it can take me over an hour to get there! I need to relocate my equine friend to a facility that is closer to me and am having the hardest time finding a decent boarding facility. I do not ask much. All I ask is that the facility be in good repair (I don’t care how old it is as long as it is safe and functional), feed good quality hay, and have an indoor arena. I know the arena thing is sometimes hard to find, but it is Absolutely necessary in my area of the country (USA). I do not care what discipline the barn caters to as long as they allow all disciplines (I am starting a new ‘western’ career). I have tried to search for facilities on the web and in my local tack shops and have not had much luck. Basically I have found unacceptable facilities that are not safe, do not have any amenities (not even a restroom), many don’t have shelters for their pastured horses (I prefer to keep my horse in the pasture because she likes it best there), and many appear to be "back yard" type facilities where someone had some land and thought they could make some extra money keeping horses on it. Yikes! HELP!!!
Ah, guess it would have helped to tell you that. I am in CO.
At this point I will take all of the suggestions I can get Mulereiner! Maybe I am just spoiled from my last facility which has more amenities than I need. How about if I am just looking for safety and quality feed?
Sure Mulereiner, glad to. But, um, I feel silly. I am still new to this posting thing and don’t know how to find your email address…

I live in Wy… and live without the indoor, without the bathroom, without electricity and live with wind.

You have incredibly high standards for this part of the country honestly.

I hope you find what your looking for, but I would suggest some places depending on where your at, but I think my friends are below what you consider for proper boarding.

EDIT- can you please email me privately the town your in and your email and I will put it to my mule buddies that live in CO. I hope something works out for you.

alright here are the prices

Halter: $1.00

Araibian Halter: $1.50

Western Bridel: $2.00

Duration : 0:6:27

Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, I am going to get a Wintec All Purpose saddle. Unfortunately, there are no local tack shops that sell them (so there is no easy way to return them if I don’t like it). I have never bought an English saddle before…I know that with Western you have full QH bars and half QH bars, is there anything like that with an English saddle? My horse is not especially big boned or wide or anything. Also..on sizing…are sizes for Western and English the same? Like a size 15 saddle in Western is equal to 15 in English? Or is there a difference!!

Finally, do I need to worry about the saddle not fitting my horse? I am sure I could find some websites with return policies, but you guys know what a pain it is to have something shipped to you and then have to ship it back UGH. So..I’m hoping these saddles are pretty easy to fit. Please English people…help me out lol thanks!

I would suggest buying a saddle with the Easy-Change Gullet System. It is available in Wintec saddles and what it does is adjust the width of your saddle so you can get the best fit for your horse. I think the sizing is different, maybe a 15 western is a 16.5 English. I am pretty average size (I’m 14) and I use a 16.5. To buy your saddle, go to www.doversaddlery.com and find one with Easy-Change Gullet System. Then I would call Dove and just tell them your size for Western and how big you are and everything and ask them to estimate what size you should get. To find your size, I might go to your local tack shop and sit in some saddles just to get an idea of what size you will be for English. Also, if any of your friends ride English, try riding in a few English saddles to get an idea of what style you like. — Good Luck and I hope this helps!

I have seen some nice deals on e-bay etc.. for saddles. I am looking for something in a 16" Western, Leather. The prices on e-bay seem to be better than local tack shops. I am asking would you buy one without sitting in it? Can anyone recommend a brand that they think is better? What do you think a good price range is? I have seen saddles up to $4000 at a tack shop near hear! I was hoping no more than 400. It is just for weekend trail riding.
Any help is appreciated.

I have bought several saddles from ebay and have NEVER had an issue with any of them.

Of course I know what I’m looking at and what I’m looking for. I go with Circle Y, Tex Tan, Ozark, Billy Royal, just to name a few of the better brands.

Here’s a Circle Y in your price range: http://cgi.ebay.com/Nice-Circle-Y-Equitation-Saddle-21290128301_W0QQitemZ120324253820QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120324253820&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

On the lower price tags, Big Horn, Simco, etc.

This is for business research project. I’m doing a tack store. Just answer the questions truthfully and as completely as you can. Thanks!!!!
1. Do you own a horse? If not, what do you do?
2. How often do you shop for horse supplies?
3. Do you order tack online, or in local stores?
4. Do you ride western or english?
5. What are your favorite brand names of any kinds of horse supplies?
6. Any suggestions for how you think tack stores could be improved upon?

Thanks soo much for taking my survey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Yes, currently own 7.
2. Several times a week.
3. Both. I prefer to go to local stores, but I’ll order basics on line.
4. Both.
5. Flysect. Zimecterin. Horseman’s One Step. Ariat. Durango.
6. Put the real horse stuff near the front, and the cutesy kids socks and such in the back. I hate having to troop past all the fluff to get to what is actually needed.

Provide larger sizes of jodphurs/breeches/pants – more and more older, heavier people are riding (and riding well!), and it’s difficult to find proper sizes. We’re not all size 0 teenagers (wish we were, but…)

Provide tailoring (samereasons as above!)

Have experienced people on hand to assist. If a store has 3 dozen types of bits, someone should be around to give advice on what is and is not appropriate. The store should provide this training, as even experienced horse people don’t know what all this stuff is, and what’s appropriate for what discipline.

Have a directory of horse experts in your area – listings of vets, farriers, humane officers, boarding stables, and so on.

so ive noticed that like no one has a schleich tack shop and since ive given up on breyers (rottweiler + breyer = lotsa tears) (and theyre expensive) i have decided to open up the new clear creek stables tack shop! this one is for schleich horses. here’s whats for sale right now.
foal halters-$0.25
regular bridles-$1.00
bitless bridles-$0.75
western bridles-$0.95
halters-$0.50
tassled halters and bridles-COMING SOON
two of my horses(stallions)will be avalable for stud soon. if you breed them, send me a video of the foal.
if you are interested in any of the things listed above (not the thing(s) labeled as coming soon) PM me and I will be with you in a reasonable amount of time. shipping is not provided by me. when you ship the money in a plain white envelope, send a stamp with it. i will tell you if it will require more than one stamp, but it shouldn’t. I DO NOT SHIP OUTSIDE OF THE USA. sorry too much of a hassle. any other questions, pm me.

Duration : 0:8:25

Read the rest of this entry »

ok i asked this earlier under "corriente saddles" okay well do you know anything about corriente saddles? theres this one at a local tack shop near me and i really like it, have you had any experience with them? i am going to be barrel racing in it. thanks in advance!
oh! and the company is in new mexico
oh and the prices are really cheap too

My criteria for saddles is:

1. Does it fit my horse and can I correct for my horse’s weight loss and gain throughout the year with padding? Can my horse move his shoulder freely in it?

2. Is the saddle comfortable for me (you know where).

3. Is the saddle suitable for the work I want to do? Is the craftsmanship and materials that went into the making excellent? Can I adjust the rigging for the job?

4. Since I am no longer young, how heavy is the saddle?

That is about it in a nutshell. My personal preference is an A fork or Slick Fork, high back with a round skirt and adjustable riggins with an option of using a belly strap.

Happy Trails
HorseFeatherZ

READ****

Bosal bridel your choise of browband or not any colors i have. 2.50$

Leather Halter i only have one it fits large trads.

Western saddle sets i have a blue and black and a greedn and black all come with saddle,pad,bridle,boots and breast plate. 15$

english saddle set i have one left 10$

leather open boots, 4 for 4$

simple rope halter 2.50 or add a buckle it is 3$

leather show halter only have one

i do regular halters for 3$ with a clip.

colors, shiny gold, orange, blue, red, purple, hunter green

Duration : 0:2:45

Read the rest of this entry »

What do you all think of the Big Horn Western Saddles? Are they good quality? Last a long time?
I found one at a tack shop for $325, which I thought was a pretty good deal for that saddle..I haven’t tried it on my horse, Sonny, yet due to I have to wait and get my parents approval to do so…but I’ll hopefully be trying it on Thursday.
The saddle I saw was this one:
http://www.horse.com/Western-Tack/Western-Saddles/Big-Horn-Cordura-Saddle-Full-Quarter-Horse-Bars-WKA16.html
What do you think of it? Worth $325 (don’t say no cause you can get it for less on that website…I don’t like buying saddles on-line…plus I don’t know if it would fit my horse yet)
@CR
I WANT a synthetic…I can’t lift a real leather one…and I ain’t paying $800 for a saddle that I’m just going to pleasure ride in

I have this saddle and love it. It is comfortable. And for trail riding it has lasted a long time. I have other Big horn saddles also. I don’t have any complaints about any of them. Just make sure it fits your horse. Doesn’t matter how good the saddle is if your horse doesn’t like it. I also paid more then that for it so your getting a good price.

I have very well thought out dreams, & really want to achieve them someday.
I have been riding horses all of my life. the past 3 years ive been riding western & before that i rode english for about 8 years (i’m 15)
Western is fun, but ive decided that eventing, dressage & jumping are where my interest is.
Im saving up to buy some nice english tack for my horse by this winter & either keeping or selling my western tack. Ill ride english without lessons for the next 3 years before college. I won’t be having lessons because my barn is western & im not allowed to move my horse, ive tried many times. I am in 4-H though, so i have a 2-day clinic that i can choose to ride english in once a year.

Anyways, once i graduate high school i plan to attend a college with an equestrian team & bring my horse. I plan to major in business & minor in equine studies to hopefully someday open my own tack shop & ride in A rated shows (& hopefully ride in the rolex one day)

So any advice/opinions?

Thanks!

Just put in a lot of hard work and commitment (and of course money saving)! you can do anything you want to if you want to bad enough. You’re dreams are definitely reachable and if you put in the effort now, you’ll have an awesome life later. One thing i would suggest is reading a lot of articles online, watching videos, etc on english riding so you can know somewhat what you’re doing and not form any bad habits. Also, videotape yourself riding and be really critical about your strengths and weaknesses and how you can improve. Also, you should enter in some small shows…. judges input is invaluable!