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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 696
  
| a little bit of a spin off from my other post... when a young child is learning to ride (4 years old) do you think it matters if they learn to ride in a barrel saddle vs a roping saddle? I have a chance to buy a used 10" Corriente roping saddle for around $200 but I have it in my mind that they really need to learn to ride in a barrel saddle to keep them on their bottom and their feet in front of them. they will not be doing much more than walking for a very long time though as they have no experience what so ever other than sitting in my 15" barrel saddle while I lead the horse around a couple of times. I am attaching pictures of both styles of Corriente saddles from their website.
 (corriente barrel2.jpg)
 (corriente roping2.jpg)
Attachments
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 corriente barrel2.jpg (86KB - 438 downloads)
corriente roping2.jpg (69KB - 253 downloads)
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I think what ever makes them feel secure with the right size seat. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I feel I ride just as correct in my rope saddle as I do in my barrel saddle. I feel that correct riding is having your feet under you and balanced with your hips under you, not rolled into your pelvis like riding hunt seat, but not so concerned about sitting on your pockets and you’re actually tipping your upper body back and behind the motion. The need to push your feet forward and roll your hips under comes into play IMO when powering around a barrel, and even then u think riding centered and balanced is more effective than getting leaned back and left behind.
I also think since the horn is harder to grab she’ll be less likely to develop that as a bad habit for security. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 933
Location: north dakota | I liked the buckaroo saddle from corriente better than the barrel saddle and that’s what my 2 and 5 year olds use but if I had come across a roping saddle for that price I would snatch it up. The used saddles usually are not much cheaper than the new prices.
Edited by ndcowgirl 2018-02-28 6:59 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 612
| My son (who is now 11) has always ridden in a roping saddle and is very comfortable in them. He runs barrels at large events on a good barrel horse and the roping saddle holds him in. When he was really little, he had an older kids saddle that didn't have much of a cantle. He started riding in a roping saddle with a 12 inch seat when he was 6. He still rides in that saddle with the 12 inch seat, although we had to put new stirrup leathers on it because his legs out grew the old ones. He even has rubber on the saddle horn for team roping and doesn't have a problem holding on.
That looks like a nice saddle for the price. You will get every penny of your money's worth out of that saddle and the kids can use it for every event. |
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 The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | I don't think it matters either way. |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | I'm pretty sure their youth trees are the same no matter what type of saddle.
For $200, I'd snatch it up!!
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 495
Location: Washington | We have a corriente barrel. Was a step up from a Circle S and has helped daughters seat/leg position so much! Drove us nuts the Circle S would push her forward and feet back.
To me for a youngin like her is the size of the saddle horn. Which is easier for those little hands to get a good grip on. We had the OLD pony saddle but never used it because of the flat seats and short fat horns. Both of ours have also rode without stirrups, even buddies, til they were about 5/6 |
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 Hummer's Hero
Posts: 3071
Location: Smack Dab in the Middle | I like the buckaroo saddles. We borrowed a 10" Corriente for a while, and then I found a used 10" Teskey's. I called both companies and they are built on the same size tree, and neither have another option for the little saddles. We used both saddles on multiple horses of every size-just change pads-and I've only had trouble with fit on ONE horse, and she's a cranky old bat so it's probably just her. But, I paid as much for a CSI pad as I did for the saddle, and it seems to have kept her appeased.
My older son seems to have a very naturally balanced seat, and he keeps his feet under him well in these saddles. He's currently using buddy stirrups rather than the ones that came with the saddle, and since they attach to the horn, they aid in keeping his feet forward. My younger one is still little enough that he just gets led around and can't reach the stirrups, but it looks like he will have the same natural seat as his brother...
12hh fat pony...
16hh heading horse...
15hh, mutton withered, cranky old hag...
14hh oddly shaped pony/horse pot-belly pig cross, lol...
Edited by RockinGR 2018-02-28 10:11 AM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | RockinGR - 2018-02-28 10:04 AM I like the buckaroo saddles. We borrowed a 10" Corriente for a while, and then I found a used 10" Teskey's. I called both companies and they are built on the same size tree, and neither have another option for the little saddles. We used both saddles on multiple horses of every size-just change pads-and I've only had trouble with fit on ONE horse, and she's a cranky old bat so it's probably just her. But, I paid as much for a CSI pad as I did for the saddle, and it seems to have kept her appeased. My older son seems to have a very naturally balanced seat, and he keeps his feet under him well in these saddles. He's currently using buddy stirrups rather than the ones that came with the saddle, and since they attach to the horn, they aid in keeping his feet forward. My younger one is still little enough that he just gets led around and can't reach the stirrups, but it looks like he will have the same natural seat as his brother... 12hh fat pony... 16hh heading horse... 15hh, mutton withered, cranky old hag... 14hh oddly shaped pony/horse pot-belly pig cross, lol...
You sure got alot of cuteness going on there   |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 696
| Thank you all so much for the much needed advice. I'm going to go ahead and get the 10" Corriente roping saddle for $200. I can't wait to put it on a horse and see how much they love it!!  |
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 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | My two cents, a kid can wrap their hand around a barrel horn better than a roping horn. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 612
| I agree with this in theory, but my son doesn't like the horn on my Coats barrel saddle and prefers the horn on his roping saddle. I still can't figure that out, but he doesn't have a problem holding onto the horn. |
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | cecollins0811 - 2018-02-28 11:26 AM My two cents, a kid can wrap their hand around a barrel horn better than a roping horn.
For speed I actually agree but for regular riding no need so it would just depend |
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Expert
Posts: 2122
Location: The Great Northwest | Some barrel saddles have a built up ground seat that is narrowed. The horn cap and neck are usually smaller than a rope saddle. |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I don't think either of those types of saddles matter because neither sits them correctly for proper equitation. But honestly few child saddles do. I just go with what fits their behind and leg length better, because security is a big deal to kids. A stumble or spook can scare them pretty bad and staying in the saddle during it, can go a long way to helping their confidence. |
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