Treeless saddles

[LaurenB84]

HI all.

I am hoping you can help me out. My horse had the saddler out yesterday who has confirmed my suspicions that her saddle wasnt fitting right. We have got her saddle fitting better for the time being using a prolite pad and adjusting how I was anchoring the girth, but it is not a long term solution.
My horse is incredibly flat backed and wide (highland x welsh d). She currently has a Thorowgood Cob Plus T4 saddle in xxw. The width etc is fine for her but with the cob plus style saddle they have taken a lot of flocking out of the panels, which for her is causing pressure points and discomfort as there is not enough support for her. It is dipping at the front and flapping around at the back! eeek!
Because of her difficult shape the saddler recomended a treeless saddle, but the ones she recommends are £1500 plus!! Thats a bit out of the question...my other half would kill me!
Basically I would like your views/reviews of the cheaper (!!) ones...the barefoot for example?
My concern is that due to her shape they would slip badly?
I have read up about them and the pitch they give is brilliant, why wouldnt you want a treeless saddle? But I'd rather have the opinion of real riders!


Please help,

Thanks

ps I think a custom fit leather saddle will be the plan in a year or ywo when she has finished growing!

[tango'smum]

i just brought one of these and love it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1208980469...84.m1439.l2649

[diamondrockharvey]

I have a Barefoot Cheyenne that I use on my very flat backed cob, I have the XXwide pommel insert in it and I use it with a HAF endurance pad which has a sympanova lining which is slightly grippy on the horse, and I use a mohair endurance girth.
I can mount from the ground, it never slips, even last summer at a clinic when he took off bucking and I fell off - twice - the saddle never budged!! (shame I did and hit the deck)

Here is a piccy of him in it (it''s the cheaper Drytex version):

[LaurenB84]

Thank you! it looks really comfy! great to hear you can get on from the ground with it. The 'cob' saddle i have now would be under her tummy if I tried that! That was my concern with the treeless, that it would wobble about as she has no withers or shpe to hold the saddle in place. Has visions of my sliding off round a corner or over a jump! haha! Do you do much schooling in it? They do look like they put you in a good riding position.

[diamondrockharvey]

I haven't done much schooling in it, only a couple of lessons and clinics and some jumping, I mainly hack and go on fun rides. But it is a very versatile saddle, I have jumped up to 2ft6 in it with no issues. I am usually the one to get off on hacks to do the gates and so I am off and on all the time and never have any problems with it. I attach saddle bags to it and everything.

My horse always has lovely even sweat patches and a dry spine after riding and never objects to having the saddle on, so really I can't fault it, especially for the money. Plus the saddle pad goes in the washing machine and it is wipe clean so really easy to look after!

I have recently ordered a made to measure treed saddle but I am not parting with my barefoot, I love it too much!

[kezz86]

Originally Posted by LaurenB84

Thank you! it looks really comfy! great to hear you can get on from the ground with it. The 'cob' saddle i have now would be under her tummy if I tried that! That was my concern with the treeless, that it would wobble about as she has no withers or shpe to hold the saddle in place. Has visions of my sliding off round a corner or over a jump! haha! Do you do much schooling in it? They do look like they put you in a good riding position.

I used to have a solutions energist saddle I bought it second hand for £800 (still not dirt cheap I know but I didn't loose a penny when I sold it on 2 years later) I loved riding in it. It does take some getting used to as you can feel every movement your horse makes but I liked that.
http://www.solution-saddles.co.uk/ss....html#energist

I've also frequently ridden in a barefoot cheyenne which i completely adore it's so comfy and i felt more secure in it than I did in any treed saddle.

In my opinion they are great if you have a horse that is changing shape a lot (as most do).

Why not try a few before you dive in and buy, I know that Solutions used to lend saddles out to try and if you don't like it you just return it (I think a deposit is required but I think you can try for a week or a month!) It's easy to get a saddler out to fit them (always recomended) and simple to adjust once you've been shown how.

I think you can pick up Cheyennes for around £250-300 second hand now which is a bit of a bargain!

[forestfantasy]

Barefoot are great, i had one before i saved up for a solutions GP!

Here's me & my mare off hunting in the barefoot:


Now i have the solutions as i found jumping in the barefoot difficult with hardly any knee rolls:


Also use it on the mare i'm schooling to sell:


It fits any horse with the right shims
Love it

[LaurenB84]

thank you all for taking the time to reply and put pics up...lovely horses btw! we're not doing any huge jumps, 2'3 2'6 so hopefully a barefoot would be ok. The saddle i have now doesnt have much support at the knee as it is so I guess I wouldnt notice much difference!