Broken tree in saddles

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silverstar

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How do you check if a trees broken? I got on saddle the other night and it made a noise. Have done the cantle pull down thing and there is a bit of creasing (not sure if it was there before). Would a tree break just by getting on it?
 
It is highly unlikely a tree would just break from normal use. They can develop cracks/sheared rivets that creak and squeak and if left can then fracture.
Hold the pommel against your waist and pull the cantle towards you. (depending on the tree type) it should slightly flex which will wrinkle the seat. When you release the pressure then it should spring back into shape. Then support the cantle on a surface, at the pommel end,run your hands up under the flap until you are grasping the points (just in front of girth webs) and try to flex the gullet- there should be zero movement and no noise (unless you have a flexible gullet..)

Some saddles do develop creases in the seat especially the well padded ones eg Black Country but that doesnt mean there is a fault with the tree..
 
i don't think it should happen just getting on.

if you have doubts i would take it to a saddler to check -should only take them a matter of seconds i would have thought!
 
Saf,s best dressage saddle just snapped, and if you know Saf you will realise that the saddle has never been roughly treated. The problem is that if the gullet is adjusted ,the steel is weakend. It is a High Carbon steel and does not take kindly to being flexed beyond its elastic limit. Microscopic cracks form which can eventualy join up and cause failure.
 
That is exactly what happened to OHs saddle. We were going out for a hack and when he mounted he said 'my saddle just made a funny cracking sound'. On returning from the hack he checked the saddle by flexing the saddle from the pommel to cantle and the tree broke in half! We have owned the saddle from new and it had never been abused. It was 5 years old and still covered by warranty so it had a new tree put in it free of charge.

If you are unsure about it, definitely get it checked by a professional.
 
I had my Albion K2 jump saddle checked by a saddler recently for exactly the same reason - it is 100% fine, they called it "the Albion creak" and said it is very common :D
 
Going to get it looked at tomorro. Ive only had it 6 months. It was the sound that made me think somethings wrong. It wouldnt surprise me everythings gone wrong this year.
 
Mike007 said:
Saf,s best dressage saddle just snapped, and if you know Saf you will realise that the saddle has never been roughly treated. The problem is that if the gullet is adjusted ,the steel is weakend. It is a High Carbon steel and does not take kindly to being flexed beyond its elastic limit. Microscopic cracks form which can eventualy join up and cause failure.
Click to expand...

Totally gutted my saddles get treated so well, never on doors, never left and never piled up, was only checked 2 1/2 months ago and started creeking got saddler back out and 2 rivets popped and crack in cantle, saddle only 3 years old and made to measure:(
 
getting on from the floor, especially dressage saddles with narrow twist, can break the tree... a saddler told me that.
i think you can usually feel if it's broken by testing it with cantle pressed against your tummy, hands below pommel on either side of front of panels, and flexing it to see if it is firm, or uniform if it is a flexible tree.
 
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