..Bad Saddles and the Dangers of Using Them!

Here is a picture of a very cheap Sidesaddle. Saddles like this one are offered on E-bay, everyday for about $200-$300.00. They are made in 3rd world countries and have terrible workmanship, poor quality leather and not even decent copies of real sidesaddles.

One of the first things I learned about sidesaddles, was that they must fit the horse so that the rider could balance. One of the features of a good sidesaddle is that the left underpanels are stuffed more than the right, since that is the weight bearing side. If not, the saddle will slip forcing the rider to lean to the right, just to stay on!.
A saddle that slips makes for an unhappy rider. A poor fitting saddle so tightly bound around the horse, so that it will not slip makes for an unhappy horse....and we NEVER want an unhappy horse!

This is a photo of a good quality, well "flocked" (stuffed) sidesaddle.Edited to add:
A good refurbished Sidesaddle should cost around $1000.00 and up. New models usually run $2000.00 and up....ouch!