Let's hear those sleigh bells jingling...

Christmas is coming, and I think I'm going to get a new (to me) saddle. I've ridden in Peggy's Prestige 2000 several times and I love it. It's secure and comfy and I think it puts me in a very good position. It has big knee blocks which I viewed dubiously at first, but I miss them now when I ride in my old saddle. My current saddle is a Collegiate Baron dressage saddle. It's actually still in pretty good shape- it's worn and has some scoffs and scratches, some fading on the billets and some rust on the metal here and there, but it's held up well overall for the last 14 years. I bought it new when I was about 16. I had actually recieved some tack as a gift from my parents- they had gone somewhere and bought me two new saddles and a bridle. They had gotten them from what was described as "Rashid's bargain basement fell off the truck stuff". I've no idea what brand they were, if they even had a brand (never did find a logo, tag, or brand name), but neither really suited me much and I loved my friend's Collegiate Event saddle, so I sold them through a local tack shop and purchased a brand new, black soft-seat Baron, which replaced my other saddle on the flat. I kept my first saddle, an Ulster event, for jumping.
I got the Ulster for Christmas after I had been riding for a couple of years. I think I was 12 or 13. You never saw a happier kid. It wasn't a horse, but it was the next best thing. I was completely surprised and utterly thrilled. Here I had a brand new saddle complete with all the fittings. I assembled it and my Dad made me a saddle rack for it from a sawhorse wrapped with a carpet remmenant. I kept it in my room and sat on it from time to time untill I was able to bring it out to the barn and put it on an actual horse. I got a lot of good rides out of that saddle. It was synthetic instead of leather, and the cloth seat was very comfortable (and less slippery than leather, which is nice for a novice). The saddle was very lightweight and when it got dirty you could just hose it off and wait for it to dry.