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Show Me The Money? No, Show Me The Saddle!
Maybe these saddles are better for the horse and rider, and maybe they offer superior design. But, rather than show me an unappealing saddle and tell me why it's better (and usually more expensive), why not make it attractive? If a super saddle salesperson is going to attempt to enlighten me to the benefits of one of their saddles over my current saddle, why must I feel like I'm still making the ultimate sacrifice by paying top dollar for an unattractive, unconventional saddle?

I may not be a marketing genius, but I'd just about bet the farm these newfangled saddle designers would sell more saddles if they were superior in design and looked good.

Marks and Misses
In the last few years popular manufacturers like Circle Y, Billy Cook, and Tex Tan have offered mid-priced show saddles that share common details with higher priced models. They look good, they ride well, and they're affordable. Bob's Custom, Dale Chavez, Blue Ribbon, Victor, Broken Horn, Sergeant's, and Phil Harris saddles begin to escalate in price, but also in quality and detail. Throw some of the less-known, but high quality, custom maker's saddles into the mix... and today's western rider has plenty of show saddles to choose from in a wide range of price points.

Let's say there was a saddle that was ultra-comfortable to ride, put you in the proper position, gave you closer contact, allowed your horse to move more freely, eliminated pressure points on your horse's back, fit a variety of horses, and was vastly superior to a rigid tree saddle in every respect. And, let's imagine this saddle looked just like your favorite show saddle - with all the details in all the right places. If the price was the same as a traditional show saddle, would you buy it? Let me rephrase that: why wouldn't you buy it? For every one of you that said "yes", these super saddle manufacturers have just lost a sale because they have yet to offer such a saddle.

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