Corriente Saddle Co. Have They Changed Their Quality?

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I have not seen or worked on a Corriente Saddle, however; I can tell you this, it takes about 2 full sides of skirting leather to make a good saddle with rear cinch and breast collar. The cost for 2 sides of good leather and a partial side of latigo will run close to $600 plus shipping. By the time you add all the other material to make a good saddle and include a decent tree, you will easily have roughly $1200 in materials, not including any silver if required. Oh and by the way, the price of leather is going up again. There just isn't any way I can fathom making a good saddle for that kind of money. I agree with Keith, spend your money on a good used saddle, if you can't afford to have one made.

Bob

Edited December 27, 2014 by BondoBobCustomSaddles

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

This is an old thread, but since it has been revived, I would like to contribute. I have worked on maybe a half dozen Corriente saddles in the past 10 years. For the money, if buying new, I don't believe you can buy more saddle. The ones I've had apart have been really solidly built. Very rough, but solid. Now folks, we're talking about a $700 saddle. Like BondoBob said above, for the average one man shop to build a saddle, materials run at least $1200, and you can easily spend more if you go with a premium custom tree builder. HOWEVER Corriente doesn't buy their leather 2 sides at a time. You can bet they get a pretty good price on their leather, trees, and all the rest of their materials, no matter who they buy them from. When asked about the quality of a Corriente saddle (no I don't sell them) I reply that for the money, they are ok. Craftsmanship leaves quite a bit to be desired. Lumpy seats, big lumps where the stirrup leathers come over the bars, horns and cantles pop stitched with stiches about 3/8th" long, leather so hard that it has to be about half worn out before it breaks in, and just overall sloppy craftsmanship looking at it from a saddlemaker's perspective. But most riders do not look at a saddle from a saddlemaker's perspective. They want the most saddle they can buy for the least amount of money that will be safe to ride and hang together and the Corrientes I've seen can meet that need. I've seen poorer trees in better name saddles than Corriente. Riggings seemed put in solid. There is a semi custom maker that I swear uses the same leather as Corriente, hard as a rock, takes forever to break in, and costs 2-3 times as much. Unfortunately, the majority of folks looking to buy a saddle just can't swing 3-4000 on a custom saddle. We can justify all we want about why custom is a better value than a cheap made saddle but it doesn't change the facts. I agree that most people on the $700 saddle budget would be better off buying a good used higher-end saddle. That doesn't mean they'll listen to our advice. I'd sure rather see someone riding a Corriente than one of the $400 saddles with a hollow fiberglass tree that have flooded the market in the last few years. Those things are absolutely unsafe the second they put the last nail in. People bring them in for repair and there is just no fix to them. They are truly a throwaway saddle and $400 is $400 too much for them.

[bpryor]

I am debating on buying one of 2 saddles.  One is a Corriente all around that was a trophy saddle in 2019.  It doesnt look hard used and they say was on a horse about 50 times. All in all, doesn't look bad from pics (asking $600). The other is a Circle T all around. Looks like buck stitching around skirt and fenders.  Looks older then the Corriente, but could have been used harder.  It has through the seat stirrups.  (asking $700)   Both have skirt rigging which spooks me a little.   Value???, based on brands and approximately age, which in y'alls opinion is best?  I'm looking for something lighter that I can sling up without breaking my back, but want solid construction.  Most use will be casual riding,  not roping any more.  Thanks for any advise.