I have recently sold a few saddles via ebay, I aimed to give excellent quality saddles at an affordable price from a chap who custom makes for me in the USA.

I'm sure i'm not alone in being utterly dismayed at the total rubbish that gets sold on ebay and leads a lot of people wishing to try their hand at the western experience totally up the garden path with what can be described at best as total tat!

There are then the dreadful dreamers who ask shocking prices for what will appear on picture as a half decent saddle but to those of us who have been around the block a few times the worst excuse for a western saddle ever!

I am honest and upfront, I offer as many measurements as I can and advise saddles are by no means guaranteed to fit. It pains me to see so many people thinking that a western saddle will fit any old horse without suffering any consequences.

I'd love to know your views and experiences, have you had sleepless nights with excitement only to open the box and been greeted with a poor Mexican replica?

Thanks for reading my ranting, I feel better now!

Ditto! People just don't understand the difference between a quality saddle/bridle whatever and the cheap knock off imports....I know one person on this forum who does know what they are doing (if she were to say - buy that saddle - you wouldn't question her opinion) who purchased what seemed to be a great deal from ebay - had the saddle checked out by one of the most respected western saddlers over here and discovered it was compressed card that had been lacquered and dyed........just wait until you rode int he rain.

Not just Western tack though is it - that's the chance you take when trying to get yourself a bargain on an auction site, english tack, clothes, household goods etc etc.

If it looks too good to be true - is probably is too good to be true.

Caveat emptor.

Would be lovely though to get a genuine bargain, but when it comes to something as important as a saddle, then I think you need to bring the professionals in.

Post edited by: whitewood, at: 2008/03/11 23:15

Too right saddles are important! I wouldn't bat an eyelid at buying a tat washing machine! But a tat saddle.......

The cardboard saddle sounds very Blue Peter!!!!!

Saying that,i put my well made Ray Cooper saddle on Ebay and i didnt even get one bite at it.The saddle was priced ok to.Yet some of the cr*** stuff sells quickly.
Go figure that one out

ditto that Shaza - we've had a saddlesmiths and a custom made on ebay and no interest at all. seems to me that people expect to pay pennies for anything on ebay, unless of course you have some navel hair from Elvis or a potato snack in the shape of the Madonna.....apparently that sort of stuff goes for squillions!!