Santa Cruz
Jumping Saddle
Jumping Saddles

Manufacturer: Santa Cruz
Model: Jumping Saddle
Category: Jumping Saddles

Purchase: I had originally been wanting an HDR Rivella for my new horse but I went in to a local tack store, Wei's Western Wear. I had heard that the owner will order in anything that a person needs so I went to him to order my HDR. He suggested I take home a Santa Cruz wide tree that he had in stock just to see if I would need a wide tree, although every saddle is different, I decided to take it home and give it a try. I ended up liking it, plus I would have been stretching things a little to thin to get the HDR but does that really matter when you find your dream saddle? Anyways I ended up paying $895 for the Santa Cruz instead of $1500 for the HDR.

Likes: I love the color. It is dark havana, though it also comes in a sort of tan color. It took a while to break in because the leather isn't the finest of quality for $895 but I took it home 4 different times and lathered it with Horsemans One Step. It soaked it in quite nicely. With that and riding in it 5 times a week it is now really comfortable. It keeps me in really good position on flat work. I have never felt like it is pushing me forward like some jumping saddles can do. I have a young horse so we haven't done much jumping in it yet. However the one time we did jump it seemed pretty good.

Dislikes: The flaps are hard. When I first got it I tapped my nails on it and it sounded like plastic. Over time with oiling it, they have gotten a little better. My stirrup leathers have started to wear a bit on the flaps but not too bad.

Quality: The leather on the seat is nice leather. The seat is decently padded. The overall construction is quite nice. It looks great. I get a lot of complements on it. The billet straps seem like they are kinda cheap leather but they are strong. I don't worry about them snapping. The sides of the billet straps seem to be fraying a bit.

Summary: All in all this is a really good saddle for the price. I think it will last a long time. Once it broke in it is quite comfortable. It fits my horse well. It was a really good choice even though I would have rathered the HDR. But I don't regret it.

Rating: 4

Author: Samantha E.

Date: 2007-11-02

Usefulness Rating: 4.13333 out of 5.
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