• Available in many varieties
• Often built with a lightweight tree
• Not designed for heavy ranch work.
• Designed with higher and lower cantle, lower cantle being more popular
• Higher cantle: more protection
• Lower cantle: more comfortable
• Rigging is usually in-skirt because of the stress put on the saddle
• Often equipped with many leather ties to attach your gear

All Around Work

• Flatter seat to allow movement and adjustment of rider.
• Seats are often padded suede.
• Often close contact skirting to help in the leg cues.
• Reinforced rigging for any type of light roping.
• Strong wooden tree.
• Strong horn, made higher for holding on to.

• High cantle with deep pocket seat to hold you in.
• "Hip hugger" ridge around the back of the seat.
• High horn to hold on to.
• Shorter skirts.
• Rigging is simple in-skirt.

• Low cantle, high pommel and horn.
• Flatter seat with slight rise at pommel.
• Jockeys and fenders often made out of rough out leather for better grip.
• Reinforced rigging.
• Back cinch and slim stirrups.
• Leather wear strap between fenders and bottom skirt.

• Very comfortable seat for long-endurance rides.
• Smaller, lightweight.
• Many strings for attaching gear.
• Most without horn.
• Often with center-fire rigging to keep saddle from tipping.

• Big and heavy.
• Slick, hard seat for comfortable day-long use.
• Sturdy tree for rigorous ranch work.
• High cantles and back straps.
• Plate rigging, which is more comfortable for a horse that wears a saddle all day long.

• Close-contact saddle with skirts to allow for rider-horse communication through cues.
• Lower horn and pommel for movement of reins without interference.
• Often with a show-type silver and patterns for the arena.
• Flatter seat for hip movement.

• Very sturdy wood tree with bullhide, rawhide, or very strong fiberglass covering.
• Reinforced rigging attached to tree and back strap expected.
• Seats often suede and padded, many times in a pocket seat for good positioning.

• Very detailed tooling.
• Come with silver on the skirts, cantle, pommel, horn, and stirrups.
• Seats are often equitation, which are balanced and have pocket to keep rider in the proper position.
• Turned stirrups.
• Padded suede seats.
• Often close contact with lower pommel and horn for better cues and rein control.

• Often with reining saddle type tree.
• Low pommels and cut out skirts for closer contact.
• Many dees and rings to attach training devices or aids.
• Padded suede seats.
• Fenders and jockeys are rough out leather for better grip.