If the shape fits you and your horse I second (third?) the Thorowgoods. Picked mine up on eBay for $80 in excellent condition. They are lightweight and comfortable. I'm kicking myself for not snapping up a second one from the same seller for a similar price.
Need to talk to the parents about this, not much time left but I think for the price, even plus the shipping, they would be okay with me buying it. I can easily use the leathers/stirrups/girth from my old leather saddle too. Thoughts? 17 inch thorowgood saddle medium fit | eBay
Apparently Ebay is the way to go to find insanely cheap saddles! Just found another that I might be more interested in because it looks like it might also be more suited for some low/occasional jumping. Thorowgood saddle | eBay
I just bought this endurance style saddle: 16" TN Saddlery Quilted Gaited Western Saddle "scratch and dent" | eBay It has flared bars for gaited horses but it is also good for trotting horses with big shoulders. It weighs 24 lbs. It has crossfire rigging which I now have to learn ----- blech ------ old dogs don't like to learn new tricks, lol He also has custom TackyTack pads, made for this style of saddle. There are endurance stirrups that can be bought. If you go to the EBay Tn Saddlery home page there are a lot of saddles for sale and some have FQHB, rather than the flared gaited bars. The guy only lives 35 miles from me so we drove to his house to save the $35 shipping and spend it on lunch instead, lollol I can't say how it holds up as I haven't used it yet. My horse has gained weight and I need a bigger cinch. It's been 7 years sinc I've ridden <----- that's another story.
Yes... no idea why or how. Trying to find out but hey the prices seem better over there! ETA: I found out why. Just had to check the URL and now I feel somewhat stupid. Oh well..
Okay, I might be switching my search a little due to the prices of actual endurance saddles around here, even if they're used. Does anybody see a major problem with finding a decent used all purpose english saddle? The longest distance I'd ever go in it is probably 20 miles. Edit: I'd prefer to get one now, meaning it's going to be rather cheap, especially as my parents don't seem to be huge fans of spending more than $100 on a saddle *Excuse me while I pull all my hair out*
Your good as long as the saddle fits it you and your horse and is good quality. many of us use English saddles in endurance. It's whatever works!
Fantastic! I've found a couple I really like that are a price I can do easily now. Both auctions end soon so hopefully I can get one!