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  Discussion on Treeless Saddle
Author Message
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 8:38 am:

Hi everyone,
I remember a few discussion on treeless saddles but not the details. A lady at my barn just purchased a treeless saddle with almost no advice from anyone (she's relatively new to horses). The saddle seemed to fit OK, except that I noticed it comes right down on her horse's withers - there's not a centimeter of space between the two and you can't see through the gullet of the saddle front to back, like you would with any other type of saddle. Is this how a treeless is supposed to fit? She was not sitting on the horse, so I'm worried that with added rider weight, this thing will sit right on her horses withers and spine. She admitted that he seemed a bit sore after work the other day while wearing it, but she thought it was because he worked hard (and it is true that the horse is out of shape as he is rarely ridden).

Can anyone advise how a treeless should fit?

Thanks!
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 9:12 am:

Fran, Is this a western or english treeless? I have a western and love it.

If the saddle is coming right down on the horses spine under the gullet, that is not good. She will need to get a decent pad for it. Some swear by the Skito pads. I ordered one, used it, realised it wasn't made correctly for my saddle, returned it, and just got the correct one. (it's been over 2 months, grrrrr....) So I can't say for sure if that is the whole answer, but a good pad will help with that problem. I don't like just the wither pads myself as there seems to be a ridge then.

The other problem I had with mine is it was too long on my short backed horse and I was putting it too far up on her.

It also does not fit every horse; on my Friesian mix it is really slippery side to side.

You should be able to get your fingers between the pommel(?) and spine though. I think a good pad will correct that without making it too tight width wise because there is no tree.

If this is an English saddle, I don't know about them but the same guidelines would apply.

Hopefully she uses more than just a thin blanket that would be the worst!
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 9:55 am:

Hi Fran,
The pad under a treeless saddle is very important. Some swear by the Corrector Pad, Impact Gel Pad, Equipedic Pad, some by the Skito. What she should have done is ask for the saddle to be made especially for high withers. I do this as a matter of course. I personally like the Skito. I too have Equipedic, those I had to cut at the wither section to ensure clearance. My Skito was made to clear high withers.

The pad she now needs will probably have to have inserts lifting the saddle off the withers. I make sure that I can easily slip my hand between the pad and the withers before mounting.

What tends to happen is a while into the ride the pad sinks some more so the saddle must significantly clear the withers upon mounting.

Also the girth must be checked with more diligence because of this. I came home from a ride once and as I was about to dismount when a friend abruptly stopped me and started laughing. I didn't quite get the joke. She pointed out that the girth was pretty much hanging below Takumba's belly. She was astonished that I was still in the saddle at all, especially knowing the kind of terrain I cover. It spoke volumes for close contact saddle fit and too fortunately good balance on my part. Somehow with the treeless you just stay glued to the horses back.

These factors are important regardless as to which discipline of treeless she has.

I love riding treeless, and as funds become available I am converting all my horses to treeless. I need 8 minimum so that becomes a significant chunk of change.

I hope this was helpful.
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 12:57 pm:

Angie & Ilona,
Thank you for your responses. The saddle is a western treeless, sorry I didn't mention that in my first post. The pad used under the saddle last night was a normal and quite thick western pad. This lady was going to try a thinner pad.

Sounds like my initial impression was correct: that (any) saddle should clear the withers. I was always taught that you should be able to fit 2 fingers between the withers and the pommel, but wasn't sure if it applied in this situation. The horse is a QH so he doesn't have a particularly high wither...I will recommend the Skito pad to her.

Thanks so much!!
Member:
Jgordo03

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 1:47 pm:

Fran,
Are you talking about this saddle. I was thinking about getting one to use in the winter when the daylight hours are short, it looks like it would be really easy to use and the reviews were good.
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=4391b8f0-0436-4f01-816e-ee30e6b78 15d
Let me know.
Judi
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 3:58 pm:

No Judi, the saddle in the link you provided is completely different from the one my friend had. However, it was interesting to see that in the picture, it looks like this treeless does sit right on the withers--hard to tell for sure as the angles were tough to get a really good idea and also, they may have not been too particular about fit for an ad photo shoot...it certainly looks VERY comfy.
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 4:11 pm:

Fran here is a review of the soft saddle that addresses what is needed with every saddle including treeless..
"I love this pad/saddle. I must admit I didn't think it was going to work at first, I felt like I was all over the place and my high-withered TB was not crazy about it either. However, after some modifications (I cut a spine channel out for the bony girl and use a split pad under the soft saddle to get it off her spine)it works great! It just took some time for me to get used to, now I love it"
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