#5: Dakota Trail Flex Saddle 213 | Price: $930.00
This is the Dakota Trail Flex Saddled 213 and it comes in at #5 on our list of Top 10 saddles for 2013.
Let me start by introducing you to Dakota Saddlery. If it's not a Billy Cook or Tucker, some might overlook it, but we can tell you from experience, Dakota is not to be overlooked.
A small family owned business in Ider, Al, Dakota makes some of the most affordable, quality, American made, custom saddles in the industry. That was a mouthful, but that's Dakota for you.
You can read more about our visit to Dakota Saddlery here and here.
The 213 is like the sports car of trail saddles. By popular request, Dakota designed this saddle with a barrel style skirt making it perfect for horses with a shorter back.
The leather is supple, but does require a little break-in time. Good thing Dakota makes this saddle with easy twist fenders for a shorter break-in period.
Want a different color? Not a problem. Dakota will make that change at no additional cost. In fact, go ahead and make this a custom saddle. Dakota doesn't charge painful fees like some other saddle makers. Most of their changes will run you around $5-$10 each.
We always like long saddle strings on our trail saddles, so Dakota hit the sweet spot on this one. We also like that the 213 is only 30lbs! We'll take every lb. we can get when tacking up!
The Trail Flex bars are perfect for keeping your horse comfortable. A flex saddle will allow the bars to flex front to back and side to side, making a good fitting saddle GREAT for your horse! You can learn more about Flex trees here.
The petal boarder tooling adds a nice touch to the grainout leather. Although a bit understated, we actually like how clean the subtle tooling makes this saddle look.
For those longer trail rides, you'll enjoy the 5" cantle with black grainout leather seat and a 3.5" horn for a little extra grip.
Don't let the price fool you on this one. The Dakota 213 is our #5 best selling saddle this year because it features some of the highest quality material at an extremely affordable price. And making this a custom order won't break the bank!
You can get more information on this saddle at HorseSaddleShop.com.
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