Does This Saddle Look Assymetrical?

[silverdollarmagic]

I just paid $270 for this 50 year old saddle. Seller used it with no problems, then sold the horse she bought it for.

[silverdollarmagic]

Looking at the pics again, it looks like the cantle and horn are offset, and that the swell on the right side was molded a bit off, and not necessarily a problem with the tree itself. Am I right? Or am I fooling myself?

ETA: The fleece is somewhat new so it is thick looking. It's supposedly real and not synthetic fleece.

Edited February 18, 2011 by silverdollarmagic

[Luke Hatley]

Looks crooked to me...........

[silverdollarmagic]

Looks crooked to me...........

Do you think the tree is crooked or just the cantle and horn? I can handle some flaws in the cosmetic appearance since the saddle was hand made, but of course not a crooked tree. That goes without saying. I don't have the saddle yet but am starting to believe I will end up opening a paypal claim for a defective item. I really am sick over this. $270 might not seem like a lot of money to some, but as a vintage saddle lover hoping to have scored a good deal, it is like a million dollars to me.

[Luke Hatley]

get you're $$$$$ back ..Imagim if you had the saddle and wanted to sell it

I don't think anyone would be happy to buy it from you.

[Denise]

When you get the saddle do every test in the book to see if you can get any squeaks, movement etc. out of the tree. In 50 years a lot of things can happen to a saddle, and there are a lot of broken trees out here being ridden by people who don't know enough to realize that they are broken. We had one sent to us that was in two pieces, broken across both bars. It had been taken in to repair some minor cosmetic things and the saddle maker quickly noticed that the tree was badly broken. He phoned the owners up and told them, to which they replied, "It's been working just fine." They called him back a bit later and said "Come to think of it, last time I roped something, my mare did go to bucking." Some people just don't know...

[horsewreck]

As far off as the cantle to swells are to each other the bars can't be in alined properly to each other, I would not put that saddle on a horse period....;. Jeff

[Denise]

I can handle some flaws in the cosmetic appearance since the saddle was hand made

Just a quick response to this comment. While there are some badly made hand made saddles out there, just because something is hand made doesn't mean it has to have flaws. In fact, most hand made saddles are far better than the vast majority of production saddles. One of the maker's signature line here is "Make it look hand made, not home made." If you take a peak through the Saddle and Tack Makers Gallery you will see what I mean.

[silverdollarmagic]

Thank you all for letting me know what I already suspected. Just needed to know I wasn't in the wrong for thinking of asking for my money back and for clarifying that there is indeed something wrong with the saddle. I can assure all of you that saddle will not touch my horses' back. I will e-mail the seller now and tell her the saddle will be coming back to her and I would like a full refund. i

ETA: When I said I could handle some flaws, I didn't mean obvious ones such as crookedness. I just meant a slight flaw. Nothing that would compromise th looks and soundness of the saddle. I had one hand made and it was perfect, but my horse outgrew it. I had no problem selling it.

Edited February 18, 2011 by silverdollarmagic

[silverdollarmagic]

Seller begged me to try it out. Said she rode in it for 6 months with no problems. Could be that her horse is very stoic but I happen to have a high strung mare who will let me know in no uncertain terms if she is uncomfortable. I have been seriously injured by a colt I was breaking because of a too narrow saddle. I will not take that chance again and the hubby says no way. I asked her to please just refund my money. Hoping I don't have to go through paypal.