Desperate search for saddle

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Infynitie infynitie@hotmail.com
HELP! I have learned so much from reading the archives here, but searching really doesn't turn up much relevant information. Here is my problem . . . well, a lot of problems, actually. 

I'm a vegan, and I love and respect all life, so there is no way I am going to buy several murdered creatures and place them all over my horse. I don't mean to get into a debate on veganism on an endurance board, just trying to tell you where I am coming from. SO, I have been looking for forever for an endurance saddle. My current saddle is a Big Horn Arabian cordura, and some issues that I have with it are that it fits fine in front but rides a little high in back, the stirrups are too far forward for me, and that horn - - I've heard horror stories about horns, plus they restrict movement when they serve me no purpose. And yes, the saddle does have leather, and yes, I bought it before I became vegan. Long time ago . . . wheeew . . . so, yeah, I'm selling that thing, but I obviously need a new saddle! I will either buy a new *all-synthetic* saddle or a used leather one (because I won't be contributing to the slaughter industry by doing so) . . . my issues are . . . 

I am really stupid about saddles and endurance and whatnot, and no matter how much I read (I read a LOT), I don't know what I should really be looking for in a saddle, and I still don't understand what I should be looking for in saddle fit. If only my horse could speak words and tell me how each saddle feels. Anyway, I probably would have gotten some of the saddles I've seen so far, except I have an issue with stirrups. I've only ridden English a few times, and the thing I hated about it was the way the stirrups would flop all over the place. It was so much more comfortable to drop my stirrups. I can't stand the free-swinging things . . . is there a trick to stop that, like to just put a lot of weight in my feet? Because if I could learn to live with free-swinging stirrups, life would be a whole heck of a lot easier. There are a lot of synthetic endurance saddles with free-swinging stirrups . . . 

But otherwise, does anybody know of any all-synthetic endurance saddles that I could look at? No, Abettas are NOT all synthetic (plus, three people out at the barn ride in them and I've seen they're really cheap pieces of ****), and no, Wintecs aren't all synthetic either (wool stuffing in the panels), although I would definitely consider a used Wintec, if, again, I could get used to the free-swinging stirrups. The Pro Endurance and the Pro Stock (Aussie saddle) look pretty nice.

There are a lot of knowledgable people out at the barn who could give me advice on saddle fit, but it seems like a real pain in the butt since it's not just me running to the tack store and bringing the saddle out to the barn, it's ordering it. Yuck

Sorry about the structure of the post and everything - - I know, I'm really bad at sentence construction and making everything flow, but what can you do . . . heehee . . . 

And, just in case it would help, I've read on this board that some saddles definitely work better for lighter riders, and some for heavier riders. Just in case it helps . . . 

I'm 5'8" and 125 lbs, but I'm only 15, so I probably have some growing and weight-gaining to do. 

My horse (yay Anna) is a teensy eensy itty bitty little Arab (she's probably 14:3 and about 850 lbs) with a narrow back. Which I take is good for me, because a lot of saddles are made narrow . . . am I right? She's also young (3) so she'll have some growing to do (God, I hope), and also some filling out. I just broke her about 3 months ago, but she is *so* incredibly well, especially considering her life prior to when I got her, and she *really* loves the trails more than anything (of course, she thinks it's fun to try new stunts when crossing water and almost unseats momma many times), so I'm sure that when we start some dinky little 15 milers and stuff next spring, she'll enjoy it as much as I will. Yay Anna . . . I knew we were soulmates from day one :-) Anyway, yeah, you can tell I love her ;-) 

So . . . again, I apologize for the crappy wording and stuff, but I *really* need some help, so if anybody could suggest anything, it would be wonderful. Thanks so much!