[Lindsayanne]

Stubbens are hard, really hard. I mean, no cushioning in the seat. They also take a particular kind of conformation to fit comfortable, some people say they are more of a men's saddle in terms of fit and the twist.

Pessoa, the general consensus is that the older (8-10yrs or more) Pessoas are worth their weight in gold, but the new ones aren't worth their weight in, well, in the cheap Argentinian "leather" which is what they are now made of.

My favorite brands are County and Albion.

But I would never buy on brand alone (and honestly, I'd never buy new)

You've saved up, now treat yourself to a roadtrip to the tack store with the biggest saddle selection in your area, call ahead to make sure a trained saddle fitter will be there, and just sit in several dozen saddles and let the saddle fitter tell you what brands are going to work with your conformation. Even the prettiest, best made, highest quality saddle will be miserable for you if it doesn't work for your body. And if you buy one new based only on brand and looks, and it turns out to be misfit and painful for you to ride in, you can still resell, but a new saddle will resell at 70-80% of what you paid, where a name brand used saddle you could sell for 90-100%+ what you paid.

[DiamondRio]

Thanks that is just the kind of information i was looking for!

I am riding in a Stubben right now that isnt that bad but i feel like the bioflex that they started will make them more comfortable.

The closest place that has a nice selection of saddles is Dover Saddlery (about 10 min away) and i ahve NEVER had a good experience there when buying a saddle or any piece of tack for that matter.

Thank you so much for all your help!

[mize67]

i would have to say pessoa i ride in a pessoa 4 my lessons the only type of saddles my trainer buys are the pessoa and recomends to all clients she has gone to apha and paint world so i would have to say pessoa i LOVE them

[idlewild]

For me, I'm a huge bates fan! I have a wintec CC saddle right now, and when I upgrade it's probably going to be to a bates elevation (though, if I can REALLY save I'll splurge and get a Prestige). If you watch the auctions on ebay you can find some nice used bates CC saddles for right about $1000

[Redfishy]

I recently got a Toulouse and it has done wonders for my position balance wise. Its super comfy!

I do like my Passier AP saddle too, but its not as cushy as the Toulouse.

Never found a Stubben to fit me, I think you either hate or love them and no inbetween.

[horseyfrk145]

MTL (Toulousse) are really nice, Bates are nice, Prestige I really like...I agree - time for a trip to the tack store!

[JumpingBean]

Originally Posted by DiamondRio

I heard from someone that pessoa doesnt use that nice of leather but i found that hard to believe.
I had a HDR in the past and found that the leather was alright but they were incredibly unbalanced.

Thank you.

I had a Pessoa pony saddle and the leather was mediocre. I don't know if their "big kid" saddles are like that, though.

Beval Butets are incredible and you can sometimes find nice used ones in your price range. I saw a really nice one on ebay that was a demo saddle (aka, fantastic condition at a "used" price... the bidding was at 1800, so in your price range). Or you could buy mine, I need to get rid of it.