Question about a saddle's quality

[wildrose]

My mom, who is a petite 5', bought herself a new western saddle via mail order. She needed a 15" seat, and rides Arabians. She got a Simco Longhorn, after a lot of research, because it offered a good price. The tag says it's from Tennessee. She asked me to look over the saddle tonight on my way to work. While I'm not a saddle maker, and I rode hunter/jumpers myself, I told her I'd take a look. I must say I was NOT impressed. She told me it has a ralide tree, and I know nothing about that one way or the other, but the saddle as a whole seemed poorly put together. It is very plain (untooled), which is fine - she doesn't need fancy for a saddle that's going to be used most every day for trail riding and kept in a barn tack room. The thing will "go through the wringer" on their farm, no doubt. So it needed to be serviceable but durable.

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with Simco and can give me some feedback. I promised her I'd ask the group.

[frontpost]

Most of Simco's saddles are factory production made. They use staples and maybe a few screws to hold them together. Simco has moved to Texas this spring. The saddles are not bad, but they are not hand made.

[wildrose]

Thank you! I was starting to wonder if anyone would reply. Your answer helps me understand what I was looking at better (it being factory made)

[chevygirl]

My mom, who is a petite 5', bought herself a new western saddle via mail order. She needed a 15" seat, and rides Arabians. She got a Simco Longhorn, after a lot of research, because it offered a good price. The tag says it's from Tennessee. She asked me to look over the saddle tonight on my way to work. While I'm not a saddle maker, and I rode hunter/jumpers myself, I told her I'd take a look. I must say I was NOT impressed. She told me it has a ralide tree, and I know nothing about that one way or the other, but the saddle as a whole seemed poorly put together. It is very plain (untooled), which is fine - she doesn't need fancy for a saddle that's going to be used most every day for trail riding and kept in a barn tack room. The thing will "go through the wringer" on their farm, no doubt. So it needed to be serviceable but durable.

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with Simco and can give me some feedback. I promised her I'd ask the group.

Hi there,

In my opinion, most Simco saddles are "middle of the road." Meaning, not the best on the market - but probably won't completely fall apart either.

I know alot of people who ride in simco's, and have never had any substantial problems with them. So I would say, as long as the saddle is sound and has been maintained, It should be alright.

[wildrose]

Thanks! That's perfect for what she's looking for. I think I was spoiled by all the fine saddles I've seen on this board; so that when I saw this one I was a bit taken aback. As long as it's a nice basic saddle that will serve her well, it's all she needs. I mostly wanted to know that it wasn't poor quality, because she was willing to send it back if so.

[frontpost]

I didn't mean to make the saddle sound like junk, but most factory saddles are made about the same. I grew up with our family's saddle shop and we picked up truck loads of saddles from Chattanooga. As a child I got to roam the factories and see how things were made. Most of the name brands won't make something that fall apart. But you would not want to go roping with a saddle that has a ralide tree. Most of the tooling is pressed from a plate instead of hand tooling. Imported leather is used unless the company says different. You get just what you pay for. I am sure the Simco will be fine for your mother. If there is a problem, I would contact the maker and most of the time they will make it right. No one wants an insurance claim.

Edited September 3, 2009 by frontpost

[wildrose]

No worries - I hadn't thought you'd made it sound like junk at all.

She weighs less than 110 lbs, and rides an Arabian. The saddle would be used for trail riding, and that's all. She and Dad frequently take two of their horses by trailer to local trails and go from there. She needed something lightweight and fairly durable.

[3arrows]

No worries - I hadn't thought you'd made it sound like junk at all.

She weighs less than 110 lbs, and rides an Arabian. The saddle would be used for trail riding, and that's all. She and Dad frequently take two of their horses by trailer to local trails and go from there. She needed something lightweight and fairly durable.

Holly, I do a lot of repairs on saddles, 90% of my work is repairs and about 10% new items. I can tell you that the Simpco's are ok saddles, but Im not a fan of ralide tree's. They stretch and distort over a period of time and the more you use them the worse they get. The good news is that your mom is light (in weight) and that will make the ralide tree last longer. Make sure that the saddle tree fits your mom's horse before she uses it. Arabs can sometimes be hard to fit.

Typically the Simpcos are better than most of the Internet (Ebay) junk sold right now, some of the saddles you can buy on the internet litterally fall apart while the owner is using them. I refuse to repair most of these, since no amount of repairs can help a piece of junk poorly made with imported cardboard leather. Id rather rebuild an old Billy Cook, Longhorn, Simpco, or Circly Y than repair a new imported saddle.

PS: BTW your work is awesome, love it. My wife does custome saddle bags, take a look at our WEB page when you get a chance..thanks ron www.3arrowstack.com

Edited September 8, 2009 by 3arrows