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First, what is her size in relationship her age and to her parents?
Do you expect her to be tall? Is she short waisted and long legged,
or visa versa? Is she stocky or a toothpick? You basically have
two choices at this age, buy a kid's saddle that she will outgrow
in a couple of years or get a saddle she will grow into. How fast
and how big she will grow may be a factor here. Many kid's saddles
are poorly made and do not have a balanced seat that helps a rider
keep her leg underneath her body. Most of the youth riders I see
riding in kid's saddles are way too big for the saddles. As for
the size of the saddle, two things you want to consider in fitting
the child: seat size and leg position. If the child is a toothpick,
she will be floating around in the seat of an adult or large youth
saddle. On the other hand, a child of average size will quickly
fill the seat of a kid's saddle. There should be room in front of
and behind a rider's seat, the cantle should not touch the back
of her seat. You also need to consider the fit of the saddle to
her leg. The stirrups should adjust so that they can wrap around
her leg and twist. If they have to be adjusted too short, they won't
want to wrap around her leg and she'll be constantly struggling
to keep the stirrup on her foot. If the stirrups have to be adjusted
really long, she won't be able to benefit from the contact with
her leg on the fenders. Most importantly, make sure the saddle has
a balanced seat. You can tell this by looking at the profile of
the saddle as it sits on a stand. The stirrups should hang straight
down, beneath the seat. If they stretch forward, it is not a balanced saddle and will impede her riding. You can look at any catalogue
that has a number of Western saddles and see that some saddles are
balanced and some are not. Some saddles will actually be advertised
as being a balanced ride and this is critical to developing proper
equitation. Of course, the saddle also has to fit the horse reasonably
well and if your horse is stocky, a child's saddle probably will
not work too well. My guess, after having said all this, is that
you're on the right track and that a 14" adult saddle would be about
right. This might be referred to as a Lady's saddle or a youth saddle.
Good luck! Your daughter is lucky to have a father so interested
in her riding endeavors!

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