How about troopers

[jacksmom1]

Now I'm thinking about a trooper saddle.  Does anyone have experience with these saddles.  I looked at Trail and Field and Haggis.

[wildflower4757]

I am also curious about trooper saddles. I saw one that looked fairly comfortable, but I wonder...if the seat is supported so far above the rest of the saddle...how secure can you be? Please explain the mechanics or rather the purpose of this design. I appreciate your input in advance. - Susan

[Meg63]

Hi,

I saw one on a website, when looking at (drooling over the western saddle I am saving up for), they are interesting looking, I am no expert, but they look as secure as the average English Saddle  . Again no expert but the one I saw looked a little sturdier than the one you mentioned, but they both looked very comfortable. I saw some review on the web and they are supposed to be great for endurance riding, me I like my Horn

Megan

[horsenut71]

I was one of those folks, that thought I had to have a horn. I also thought Trooper saddles were strange looking.... until I rode one. Very pleased with the comfort and the secure ride. I was so pleased, that now I'm a distributor for the Trail and Field saddles....I decided on T & F because of the warranty, the return policy and the classy appearance... and my customers like them, so I must've made a good decision! (smile)

[Reindance]

I  own and ride in a Haggis, and absolutely love it.  It was not hard to adjust to the trooper style after riding in the old western type for 50 yers or so.  It  sits up high in order to give ventilation to the horses back from what I understand.  Because the tree is made of brass the width can be changed easily by the saddle maker, brass is one of the metals that can be worked and bent and unbent and not become weak from the changes.  I never felt uncomfortable, or unstable, or unbalanced, or "going to fall out of the saddle"  insecure or any of the other labels one could use for not feeling at home in a saddle.  I got my Haggis custome made so I elected to get that funny little thing at the cantel taken off.  Also there is the least amount of leather onthis saddle in order to lessen the weight.  It has been about 8 years maybe since I first got this saddle and I have never regretted the purchase.  It fits both of my current trail horses and I did have to bring it back to Jeff Haggis in order to widen it for one of my "easy keepers"  I highly recomment trying one out if you get the opportunity.  If you like pm me and I can give you the website.

[Meg63]

Has any one ridden in a Mountain Trooper by Southern Trails Saddle, they are about an hour away so that would be convenient, I read on some posts somewhere they had a great Cordura Endurance Saddle, but cannot find anything about the Trooper. Money is tight so I hope someone has tried one out before, I like to deal local if I can.

Megan

[DidiLyn]

Has any one ridden in a Mountain Trooper by Southern Trails Saddle, they are about an hour away so that would be convenient, I read on some posts somewhere they had a great Cordura Endurance Saddle, but cannot find anything about the Trooper. Money is tight so I hope someone has tried one out before, I like to deal local if I can.

Megan

I'm interested in them also. On there site they look very similar to the tucker. I wonder what the differences are.

[Meg63]

Hi,

I called the guy the other day, it seems the person who makes this for them used to work for tucker for many years, the biggest difference is that nothing is machine cut, everything is done by hand.
I am thinking of giving up my horn , everyone says they are so comfortable, have to save a little more money.

[Reindance]

I would not worry about missing the saddle horn.  Until I bought my Haggis saddle I had always rode in a typical western style saddle and used the horn for hanging my bridle on when stopped out on the trail or hanging my chaps on or looping my lead rope on when on the trail.  Yes at first it was kind of inconvenient, but I got over it quickly when the saddle itself was so comfortable.   I just find something else to hang my tack on and loop the lead rope around the horses neck and tie it to the halter.  The saddle is worth the small adjustments that we have to make.

[JeneJen]

I really like Troopers, I show in one sometimes.  IMO you lose a little bit of the closeness with the horse because of the suspended seat, but not enough to make a huge difference.  It is a bit more stable than a flat seat though, every time I get in an english saddle I feel like my hiney is hanging off the back in a rather unflattering manner,lol.

[GHWebmaster]

I just got one of these, as I said in a different thread here. We actually did have one a while back, not sure of the maker as it was about 10 or so years ago and do not have it anymore. Pretty sure it was not Tucker as it had a slick seat. Anyway, it was primarily used by my husband, who is a big guy with little or no balance on a horse. Now granted he had a gentle Paso Fino mare who did not give him many reasons to "grab a horn", but he did use the front arch when he was caused to go off balance. Never had any complaints and his horse was comfortable too - in other saddle we had tried she was not with his weight. I think the way these saddles are more situated to the side for weight bearing made a big difference for them.

As to mine, I just got a T&F - the quality is as good or better then that of the other saddles I have here - and it is a LOT lighter. Love the warranty too - never even heard of a company putting a 7 year on a tree before. And I think it is 4 on the rest of the saddle. gotta love a company that will stand behind it's product. I do no think you really loose the feel of the horse or close contact - it is just a different feel. I rode my stallion Ovation with mine and he is really soft in his carriage, I could feel him engage and disengage his hind end when he was being lazy (don't tell anyone he does that!) with no issue. Since mine will be used primarily for training young stock, the feel and the security of the seat is paramount. Not an issue with this saddle!

--
Beverly

[DidiLyn]

I have some questions maybe some one can answer. I hear you all talk about this saddle being hand made vs machine made. Some of it is kind of confusing.

Hand crafted for example, to me that would seem better, But when you say but this saddle is machine stitched. This to me seems better and stronger then hand stitched.
So to me it make sense that if a saddle was hand crafted and hand made but machine stitched it would have the best quality's. Maybe this is how they make some I don't know. But since were talking tucker that is for the most that I know of is all machine made and very well made at that as apposed to say Southern Trails saddle. which is a little of both I think right?

So what the pros and cons between the different styles?

[SouthernTrailsGA]

I cannot say about every Company for sure, but many Saddles have the Leather Parts cut by a Machine Stamping versus each piece of Leather cut and fitted by Hand.

With a stamped piece of Leather you just have to "fit" it the best you can.
With a Hand Cut piece of Leather any irregularities can be addressed before the piece of Leather is "Fitted"

Some parts have to be sewn with a machine, but the key to any Saddle is fitting all the parts together, quality of Leather, quality of tree and quality of dyeing and protecting the Leather.

[DidiLyn]

kevin, now that we got you on here can you explain the major difference between Tucker and Southern trails? Do you use a brass pommel? how is the felt compared to tucker. What about the seat gel or ? Is the leather soft and pliable like the Tucker? easy on the knees.

We've owned Tuckers for years, all kinds of models. Our latest is the cheyenne. After I rode in a friends heskett trooper I'm sold. Don't know if all troopers are the same feel but his sure was nice. I've been researcher them all, just my personally preference but I'm leaning toward Hesket, Tucker and Southern Trails. Just found out about your saddles a couple weeks ago so I'm gathering info.

thanks for your help Rod

[SouthernTrailsGA]

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