Dustee Secondhand Saddlery

Dustee Secondhand Saddlery We sell safe affordable secondhand saddles & tack to average equestrians. We are happy to post! The quote “ice to eskimos” certainly comes to mind.

The Dustee Secondhand Saddlery story:

Dustee Secondhand Saddlery began in 2019 as a hobby, a simple way to make some “pocket money” for our family and to help carry the load of financially providing for our family at least in some small way. I was already reasonably well known in the local horse community, somewhat experienced in identifying, valuing, cleaning and presenting of the relevant item

s and as a consumer of the goods myself understood the desperate need our local community had for such a venture due to the dwindling number of options where such items could be purchased in the area with at least two shops selling similar albeit new items having closed their doors in recent years. Only one dedicated equine shop, dealing solely in new items remained in our town and a handful of produce stores that offered a small selection of the most common saddlery items, again new. The prices were often out of reach of beginner horse owners and riders or families like our own that relied on a single income and seldom had much extra left over to waste on what in this area, is very much a recreational pursuit. There was a thriving second hand market for horse gear in our area but people struggled with finding and meeting up with potential buyers due to location, lack of time, work hours, family obligations, lack of knowledge of the items in their possession, inability to market their items effectively and limited ideas of where to advertise. The majority of people I knew were unwilling to post because they found the process complicated and costly, they were unable to schedule it into a day already crammed full of children, household chores and sometimes full time work hours which prevented them from accessing postal services. As a result items were often under priced and remained unsold far longer than they should. In addition, with our families background on working cattle stations and living in somewhat remote and rural areas for most of my life I was aware of the need further out west for many of the items I saw unsold, and at prices that suited the more low incomes of families living on the land. My husband had always maintained I was exceptionally good at selling items for decent money whenever things in our life had reached their limit of usefulness as hobbies were discarded, or kids grew and items were outgrown. Further more we lived immediately across the road from our local post office and with our youngest child less than a year old I was not inclined to return to the workforce leaving her for somebody else to raise. At the time a small front room in our rental house was given over to the project and with the purchase of a few small lots of gear and saddles I began. The community response was very supportive and I was able to turn a tidy profit quite quickly. Within a month, so quickly I am unsure if photograph evidence of this phase even exists, it was evident my venture had outgrown the front room and my husband relinquished his hold of an old single garage on the property. Whilst fitting out this newly acquired space in a budget friendly way we hit upon our ideal look of rough wooden furniture with rustic recycled horse shoes and horse shoe nails to both embellish and emphasise our chosen subject of business. Several of our saddle display stands, the iconic Dustee Secondhand Saddlery desk and wall units to display horse bits and boots were lovingly crafted by my husband and myself out of discarded pine pallets from local businesses, leftover shoeing nails from our own horse supplies and used horse shoes from those of my most supportive customers. Whilst imperfect these items remain a recognisable part of the saddlery today and show case our ideals that items be safe and usable, however may not be free from minor visual imperfections. The backbone of the saddlery a massive almost full length rail for hanging bridles, halters and other gear ran full length along the middle of the single garage and I envisioned lining the open ceiling with discarded horse feed bags to further add to the rustic effect and add just a pop of fun and colour. Additionally I was wanting to send all my goods home in bags made from recycling the very same kinds of feed bags and given the industry with which I serviced I had an almost unlimited supply of the raw products. Supply and demand of equine items continued to steadily grow through word of mouth, free online advertising on websites and most particularly Facebook where I created a page for the venture. As a start up venture, disposable cash was short and rather than turn away offerings of items I could not buy at the time I quickly implemented a service to sell on commission for my customers, for me this meant I could stock my saddlery without needing to purchase every single item and for my customers it meant they could theoretically receive a higher price from it selling to another customer as opposed to myself who needed to buy at lower prices to ensure I could both make a profit and still offer budget friendly items to buy. On March 1st (my birthday) 2021 Dustee Secondhand Saddlery became a fully fledged business and my secondhand dealers license was approved shortly there after. Due to popular request I invested in Square to be able to offer the ability to pay by card and increased my commission prices to offset the cost of the business name, secondhand dealers license and fees payable for each Square transaction. It was a big leap of faith and initial investment especially for a license I wasn’t sure would be approved (almost $1000 for the first year). I feared customers would think twice about the new higher cost however there was no discernible drop off in my patronage. Sadly the rental property where we began this venture was sold in a business deal along with several other properties in the January before becoming an official business and only a few months later we were advised our lease would not be renewed as the property was again being sold. We met with our bank to discuss a house loan however due to being a very newly formed business my income wasn’t deemed suitable enough until I had a minimum of a year’s financial records in place, preferably two. We called it our two year plan to save a deposit and looked for another rental to bide our time. In the middle of COVID conditions the struggle was real but we were lucky enough to find available to rent an older high set house through our previous real estate and the owner was happy to allow us to operate from the location as a business. Better yet we were assured the property was not going to be sold. The space was bigger however much different to that which we had previously and it took some time to relocate family and business and prepare it to open once again. My customers waited patiently through the upheaval, sales I could squeeze in still racked up funds and we were on track again. Our initial six month lease passed and we re-signed for an additional year, of which is almost half gone. Unfortunately several weeks ago we were hit with a bombshell by our real estate agent, the owners insurance policy has been updated and the terms no longer allow for a business to run from the property. On top of that the property was being listed for sale. We were devastated by this unexpected complication to our two year plan. Unfortunately we just aren’t quite there yet, due to the nature of the business where I can be available outside of normal hours for customers with busy lives themselves, and the desire to remain a stay at home mum for our children, lease of a commercial property is less than ideal and not currently within our financial ability. We are currently operating in a minimised capacity whilst we focus on raising the remaining necessary funds to use as a deposit on a house of our own with a suitable space to permanently house the saddlery. The support of our customers in this time has been outstanding and we have no doubt, as evidenced by their words, actions and offers of help, that they will rally behind us even more once we have a permanent place to offer the service they have come to rely upon. Dustee Secondhand Saddlery
ABN 31296714931

Josephine Thornton
Second-Hand Dealer No 4476478.

SOLD SOLD SOLD - Southern Cross Western Work Saddle in excellent used condition, complete with Caribu padded carry/stora...
21/12/2024

SOLD SOLD SOLD - Southern Cross Western Work Saddle in excellent used condition, complete with Caribu padded carry/storage bag and synthetic fleece lined western girth.

Quality construction for high performance. This saddle is built for work/training but with additional features to make it an ideal saddle for a range of other riding activities.

Rough out seat and fenders, American leather, sheepskin lined, 2 d rings, silver conchos, flank dees.

Close contact seating system.

We’ve measured this saddle up and it looks to us to be a 17 1/2” seat, FQHB but please use the supplied measurement photos to make up your own mind.

Local trial available.

$3,200 Inc Gst, payment plan available.

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

DRAG C187/1

Just a reminder that today is our last day being open before Christmas! We shut at 12.
21/12/2024

Just a reminder that today is our last day being open before Christmas! We shut at 12.

20/12/2024

*Jnr Worker Wanted*

We are chasing someone to come in once a week or a few mornings a week to assist with general ground chores. Washing horses, replaiting tails, grooming, changing rugs, saddling and catching in work horses, feeding out etc.

The job would essentially be volunteer work, however some minimal cash would be offered to assist with travel, lots of learning on the job (always happy to show you anything), and also happy to throw in riding lessons etc.

Happy to show someone green, just a positive attitude required.

Very flexible on hours days, probably suit a local teen.... but you know, if you're going on holidays and want to leave the teenage blocker here and have a romantic escape - feel free to drop them and their horse off. 🤷‍♀️ I'll take any enthusiastic help.

Located Gympie region.

Black Leather PONY Driving Harness, includes breeching, breastplate, bridle, saddle etc. Good condition, soft supple lea...
20/12/2024

Black Leather PONY Driving Harness, includes breeching, breastplate, bridle, saddle etc. Good condition, soft supple leather not stiff.

$275 Inc Gst, payment plan available.

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C232/134

Pony Size Brown Leather Harness Breeching$55 Inc GstBundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.For sale by commission a...
20/12/2024

Pony Size Brown Leather Harness Breeching

$55 Inc Gst

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C232/133

Leather Harness Girth, well used.$11 Inc GstBundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.For sale by commission at Dustee...
20/12/2024

Leather Harness Girth, well used.

$11 Inc Gst

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C232/135

Colourful stocking fillers for that horsey person!
19/12/2024

Colourful stocking fillers for that horsey person!

NEW Saddlery Trading Company Web Halters, small dust mark or two on them.

PONY mint green
PONY pink
PONY khaki brown
COB pink
COB pink
COB brown
FULL yellow
FULL yellow

$5.50 Each Inc Gst

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C243/148-155

19/12/2024

PONY Western Two Ear Beaded Leather Bridle. Fully lined. Barb wire stamping.

$44 Inc Gst

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C243/142

19/12/2024

Black Western One Ear Bridle + Matching Split Reins. New, unused. Fit cob to full.

$99 Inc Gst, payment plan available.

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C243/79

18/12/2024
18/12/2024

I’m going to preface this by disclosing that I don’t set my prices. My accountant does. She’s done my books for the last 8 years and watched me struggle financially the whole way. She owns horses and is aware of how the industry works.

There’s a post on fb talking about prices in the horse industry. Mostly on trainers and breakers. Personally I charge $550 a week including gst. For this your horse gets its feet and teeth done. It gets fed and kept in a private paddock with a rug on. Most important they get rode/handled for a minimum of an hour a day. I know there’s people either side of me. Some more some less
That is not really any of my business.

The biggest cost that constantly gets over looked is land. It’s extremely hard to do much without some sort of base to work out of. I’m extremely fortunate that my family helped me to get a start. Without their help there’s no chance I’d be able to buy a place to run a viable horse enterprise. Numbers aren’t my thing and I’m sure someone in the comments will help. To get a 30% deposit on a $700000 place is going to take a lot of horse riding. Add some facilities to work in and a million dollars quickly rolls around.

Then you have to add in all the stupid s**t that I hate thinking about. Insurance, loss of income insurance, sick days, holidays, superannuation and wages. Seriously it gets out of hand extremely quickly.

It’s a dangerous job. No matter how good you are there’s a chance a Gumby horse will hurt you. And you’re working for the paying public that means you have to take and ride everything that gets run in underneath you, the good the bad and the ugly. Today is 32 degrees and 99% humidity. I still have to work. It’s to hot to ride at lunch so I’ll shoe some in the middle of the day in the shade.

Yesterday it was rained out and we could only ride a limited number of horses. I could build an undercover. At $500000 I’ll have to work until lunch time the day of my funeral to pay it off.

Guess what I’m trying to say is this isn’t an easy job. It can be extremely rewarding and has moments I wouldn’t change for the world. It also has days that are an absolute grind. I think everyone no matter what they charge is earning their pay.

If you think anyone in the horse industry is over paid then feel free to start a cheaper business and get after it.

They’ll always be a cheaper option. And that’s fine. It’s how the economy works.

Two little pink sets left, to make some girls day!
18/12/2024

Two little pink sets left, to make some girls day!

KIDS Grooming Kits.

Brand new in handy clear drawstring carry bag. Front zip pocket for bands or other small things.

Set consists of :

Body Brush
Dandy Brush
Comb
Plastic Curry Comb
Sponge

All conveniently sized for your child’s small hands.

Ideal for birthday presents, christmas presents, presentations, end of year club awards etc.

2 x Pink LEFT !

$25 each including gst.

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For sale at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

18/12/2024

Eurohunter Grooming/Brush Bag + Brushes. Blue. Has probably been used once or twice but is pretty much as new and still has tags!

$49.50 Inc Gst

Bundaberg North Qld, post at buyers expense.

For by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.

BREE C243/137

18/12/2024
17/12/2024

17” Wintec 2000 Pro All Purpose, flocked, removable knee blocks. In good used condition for an older saddle. Comes with slimline stirrup leathers and adults Flexi stirrup irons. Removable knee blocks. Easy change gullet, currently fitted with black medium (other gullets for sale in the saddlery). Three short leather girth points each side with girth buckle covers to protect your saddle flaps.

This model is especially popular for its grippy equisuede, suit pony club, trail, adult riding, begginers etc.

Easy clean and care synthetic saddle, no oiling needed.

Local trial available (on full payment).

$440 Inc Gst, payment plan available.

For sale by commission at Dustee Secondhand Saddlery, Bundaberg North Qld, a registered Australian business and licensed secondhand dealer.

BREE C243/2

Address

33 Hinkler Avenue
Bundaberg, QLD
4670

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 2:30pm
3:30pm - 5pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 12:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 2:30pm
3:30pm - 5pm
Friday 10:30am - 2:30pm
3:30pm - 5pm
Saturday 9:30am - 12pm

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Videos

Cute Tuesday Visitor!
Cute Tuesday Visitor!

This little guy kept me company earlier, he was quite chatty and wanted me to remind you all that we’re open until 5 pm today and every week day this week and the next in the lead up to Christmas!

What’s Inside Dustee Secondhand Saddlery - Let’s Find Out!
What’s Inside Dustee Secondhand Saddlery - Let’s Find Out!

Dustee Secondhand Saddlery virtual tour, sorry folks I’m bad at this 😳 but if you see anything you like get in touch. Dustee Secondhand Saddlery is located at 33 Hinkler Avenue, Bundaberg North Qld. Check our page for opening hours or message us to confirm when you’d like to look through. Alternatively ✉️ WE POST AUSTRALIA WIDE! Thanks for sticking around and watching, I’ll try and improve my video technique for next time! 😂

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Dustee Secondhand Saddlery in “2020”..

Dustee Secondhand Saddlery began as a joint venture between myself, Josephine Thornton of Dustee Stud and a friend in 2019 with the goal of purchasing and selling safe secondhand saddlery for the budget conscious pony club, pleasure or trail horse rider.

And what a great start the year of 2019 has been! We have been blown away with everyone’s support of this little venture and just how many times we were told how desperately a shop like ours was needed in the area.

However going into “2020” Dustee Secondhand Saddlery is now solely owned and operated by myself Josephine Thornton and I will be dedicated to bringing you some awesome saddlery deals as always.

As a mother, and horse owner, from a single income family I am well aware of the struggle to provide everything your family needs and support a healthy horse addiction. I am approachable and realistic with my prices. I will accept short payment plans, and/or trade ins of appropriate nature and value on items owned by Dustee Secondhand Saddlery.