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Barrel Saddles

Barrel saddles! Barrel saddles for sale! One of the most popular categories at Holtz, it can be a very tricky thing to choose. With so many options – and more added each day – we do our best to educate you on the importance of a proper fitting. Although some riders feel any barrel saddle will do, your horse will quickly let you know this is not the case! If the saddle don’t fit, you’ll be in for quite a few poor runs, possible behavioral problems and injuries to your equine friend in some of the worst cases. That’s why it’s important to do your research beforehand both at Holtz and various online horse forums and through talking it over with knowledgeable trainers that you trust. But below we’ll give you a little insight to get the process rolling.

As you may have seen, barrel saddles come in a variety of styles and designs. Nowadays, you’ll come across colored seats (like the Connie Combs series from Saddlesmith of Texas), outstanding safari and camo designs (mostly through American Saddlery) and differing fendor and cinch positions. Although some of these features are meant to merely stand out, others clearly look to improve overall comfortability and performance. In our experience, we tend to steer you away from the latest and greatest fashion statements and stick with the proven saddles that have been around for years. So always remember: the statement you make on the dirt is going to last much longer than the attention you get from your saddle. Your affection for your fashionable saddle will fade but your desire to win and perform at a top level will not (again, in most cases that we’ve seen).

Fitting Your Barrel Saddle

When analyzing the features of your selected saddle, you want to be sure the fit isn’t too tight around the withers. Otherwise this will result in a sometimes generous pinching on your horse as you go into turns, ending in wider angles and slower times. You may also find that a tight fit will have your horse’s shoulder bone driving deep into the tree of your saddle which will cause obvious pain and discomfort, resulting in less-full strides.

But at the end of the day, you certainly have to take your horse’s desires into considerations before landing on your long term barrel saddle. Otherwise you may find yourself standing on the sidelines since your horse will always equate this unsuitable saddle with pain and discomfort and thus not want to go near the arena.

Now these are just a few tips to get you started with your saddle search. Again, there are a lot of choices and a lot of questions you’ll need answered before your purchase. But when it comes time to ride, you’ll feel confident and poised to perform at your top level come competition day! And when our customers choose barrel saddles based on feel for both them and their horse, that most often results in a job well done.