I have had so many saddles over the years I have lost count. Forty five years ago my favourite was an RM Williams Colt. It was really a breaking saddle but I remember I did love it. Although I learnt to ride in English saddles, once I started doing stock work everyone used traditional Australian stock saddles. Most stock horses were thoroughbred types and fairly narrow. We didn’t think much about saddle fit. You just has a saddle and that was it. I do remember the Barcoo Poley was novel and different as it had a felt lining.
Fast forward to today and I have far to many saddles. Horses have changed and saddle fitting has become a full time profession. I have a Syd Hill Steve Brady Special which is probably the last traditional Australian stock saddle I will own. It is a great saddle, but I found it only fitted random horses. About five years ago I bought a custom made swinging fender saddle, but I am getting older and just find it is too heavy to handle, and it is a lot of extra weight for my horses.
I must have read somewhere about Liversage saddles and I made it a mission to track them down. The Australian agent is Greg Steemson and he lives in Western Australia so I hopped on a plane and flew over for a few days, just before covid hit.
Greg and I became friends and I now own about ten Liversage saddles. They are super light weight, well made and very affordable. I started off with a Trail Rider but my wife claimed it, I then used a Kentucky and it was my favourite. Because I started competing in extreme cowboy racing (EXCA) for a bit of fun, I realised after 12 months or so that I really needed a saddle with a horn to carry a rope so I now use a reiner.
For most of my life I have pretty much ridden English and Western riding was pretty much alien to me. After a visit to Montana about five years ago, and more recently involvement with EXCA, I am a late life convert to what I would call ‘Cross over western’ riding and the reiner is now the best saddle I have owned. It is super light, fits a wide variety of horses, and it is great for long trail rides (with a sheepskin seat cover).