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Favorite brand of saddle.

I like my Ralph Shimon saddle. Maybe not the finest workmanship but very good fit for both horse and man.

My daughter had a Circle Y that was a great looking saddle that was nice to ride but seemed to sore most of the horses she rode. Not here anymore.
Both my daughter and son now ride saddles built by a lady that took her training at the Montana Horseman Saddle building school.
http://www.montanahorseman.com/index.html.htm
 
Those are both nice looking saddle makers. Right now I'm using a Hereford that fits me pretty good but I've been looking at High Qualty Saddles in Utah and a few makers in Texas. Angus Cowman just went down there and bought one with in seat rigging that I really like too
 
http://www.bigbendsaddlery.com/saddlesnew.html
and this guy, I have a couple of his pretty good saddles, I got the "vesatility" and the "will James"
http://jeyssaddlery.com/articles/view/versatility-505b2f8c-ecd8-435a-a441-421b0abbf917
Big Bend, if you wanna go first class, jeys if you are poor like me.
good luck
 
For a production saddle, my Court's has been a great saddle. It's well made, fits me swell and is tough enough i can dab a loop on most any critter that gets tangled up in my rope when i throw it. :D I have an old center-fire Hereford that is use to break colts and it is a nice saddle too, but i dont ride it much anymore.
 
I like Ralph Shimon saddles, and have pretty much worn out three of them since 1974. They are a little more crudely built than some, but probably fit both horse and rider better than most of the fancier ones.
 
I have an original Billy Cook that I like pretty well. The best saddle I have ridden to date is a Nelson custom made saddle. I don't actually know how many he made. This saddle was made for his brother, Tim, in the early 80's. I bought it of Tim last spring. I also like the old Colorado Saddlery saddles, I don't know what year they went to hell, I bought one about 10 or 12 yrs ago and will never buy another.
 
I've got a custom made saddle made by Mark Denny of Williams Lake BC.

It's just a plain Jane working saddle with a Bowman Roper tree but it fits most horses and one fat guy when I occasionally use it.

Quality and workmanship are both good.
 
Kenway 3/4 rigging with association tree I used as a kid and still pull out occasionally is very nice to ride (not so good for roping things and the tree is low for high withered horses).
Dad's old F.Eamor roping tree is what I ride right now and it is probably my favourite.
We have a newer Billy Cook Roper that we try to avoid using (not that comfortable for anyone above or below it).
A couple of years ago when we were trading horses, the fellow brought two old saddle makers with him (75 and 83) and let me use his Wade built by the 83 year old gentleman. He had ridden a lot of big ranches as a younger man, but that was hands down the best saddle I have ever sat in (too bad it was only for 15 minutes).
 
I've never had the luxury of riding any real high end saddles, but I like the old Emore's we have just fine. Servicable and comfortable for horse and rider alike.
 
Corriente slick-fork.

Impossible to beat the comfort, value & durability for the money I paid for it.
 
I've ridden 454 Billy Cooks a lot, but have a Brian Burrows styled Billy Cook that I think is better. We own whole bunch of Dale Martin saddles that fit a horse real well and are real comfortable, but they are roping saddles and don't have much for swells.
 
It all depends on what your expectations are. I have ridden an OLD Porter, that I loved. Out grew it, about the time it came apart. Rode a Simco, that crippled anyone that rode it. Got a R bar B saddle, that I think is made by Corriente, that I LOVE. Owned a Corriente, slick fork, that was ok. Spent alot of money and had Heritage Saddlery build me one. I sent it back to him, and had him readjust the seat. I guess that is the biggest advantage of the custom saddles. They WILL make them right.
My experience is that the average person doesn't ride enough to justify a high dollar saddle. I got mine for my ego!!!
 
The Eamor saddles mention by many Canadian here were probably the topline saddle of the 50's 60's and 70's. I guess they are back to building them the old way again. Kenway saddles were pretty popular in the 60's maybe before and after that. We have a primo Riley McCormick made in Calgary I think in the late 40's or early 50's. Braided rawhide horn, high back Association tree.

I rode Eamors after graduating from a little Hereford brand and a old Powder River that my Grandpa bought off the Anderson boys when they were rodeoing.I found the stirrups hung to far back on the Eamors for my liking. I much prefer the way they hang on my Shimon.
 

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