It takes a lot of time and patience with Ebay, but eventually something you want in your price range will show up. I just got a gorgeous leather Weaver brand A/P saddle with a wide tree (hard to find!) for $66! No sh*t! But it took about three months of tedious looking and being outbid on other saddles before I finally lucked out with this one. I got a really sh*tty halter bridle on Ebay, once, too- false advertising. So it's a gamble. The best way to know if a seller is a scammer is to check feedback percentages- I almost never bid on a seller with less than 98% positive feedback. Good luck- I think saddle shopping is kind of excitin'!

Have you ever started bareback? I like to rope them out Lynn Miller style over several or more sessions, until they're really desensitized and comfortable. Then start ground driving for a while, first at liberty until they get whoa, gee, and haw down pat just from cues and body language and then in a french snaffle and lines, with a harness or saddle on. But when it's time to back them, I think no saddle is nice b/c it's one less for the horse to "think" about- weight in the stirrups, the sound of the leather creaking, these kinds of little details.