What the heck is the difference between a roping saddle, barrel saddle, and a pleasure saddle? I'm thinking of going western (been English all of my riding career) but I'm a little confused as to why there are all these styles of western saddles available.

There's a ton of different western saddles. Different seats, horns, cantels, skirts, and so on. They are made for more or less a specific application. If you're just going to trail ride, I would just go with a "pleasure saddle". You can Google that and see what they are.

Kay

Thanks for the reply Kay. Do you ride western?

Nowadays I ride western. Just a personal preference but I feel like it's easier to maintain my seat and it's more comfy than English, saddle wise.

Kay