Beware This page is for those who may be new to western saddles ,and we are not just helping the new rider to be aware of a poorly made Asian western saddle ,but the main factor is a concern for your riding safety,so please think twice before buying ,and Yes there are the better and the worst of these saddles ,but sadly it is not easy to tell before it is too late . The only good thing I can say about an Asian Indian saddle is It can get you started at a reasonable price ,and if you find you do like the western style of riding ,then ditch it for a better quality saddle. And don't always be fooled by the Indian manufacturers slick Websites as they will also post US made saddles on theirs as if they have made them,I contacted one of these Manufacturers (Blue Dive International ) and asked them for the US companies they supply ,only to be told we respect the privacy of our clients,Funny that as would'nt you be encouraging those you supply to be the best referrance for your products ,so we had to conclude only US photos on their website and not the saddles they had made,sadly a lot of retail saddle shops don't know what they are buying and some I have to say don't really care .

Top View of an Asian Indian made Saddle Tree I have personably been offered Indian western saddles for $69 US ,so who's making the money (the factory owner and the Retailer ,that's who ),I can tell you now ,it is not the Indian saddle maker ,as he only gets $3-00 US  per day and a standard factory no skill labourer may be half that with no job security.Slavery I hear you say ,Well as long as you pay them something it's not under international law. Bottom View This tree is far too flat and wide for a standard horses back ,and will tend it inhibit the horses spine causing unnecessary pressure,also causing a rolling effect.

Delammination of the fibreglass tree I have tried to put screws back into these saddles and found if you don't stop at exactly the right time they will spin out (that is if there is any thread grip left ) now once that failed I have even tried Pop rivets and they just pulled right thru the weak fibreglass walls,so all I could do was to fire staples at different angles ,telling the customer that was all that could be done without costly work being involved ,Sorry. Hollow inside So where is the strength coming from.An old saddler friend of mine use to repair these for a well known importer of these saddles and told me when delammination started to take effect ,he would fill them with foam in a can space invader ,and there was your so call strength

BEWARE Another cheap Asian Knock off,1 a genuine Ralide and the knock off to a T ,the 2 trees together ,and I  don't think I need to tell you what is what. Poor Indian KNOCK off Just when you thought you might be getting a good tree in an Indian made saddle ,it will be just another cheap Indian Knock off,an inferior plastic that may not even be injected into the mould ,but just hot poured ,where our Ralide trees are injected under huge pressure to form a high tensile polyethylene plastic to cope with the pressures of todays horsemanship.