Jumping in a treeless saddle?

Rowreach said:
Solution Saddles are afaik the only make of treeless which are permitted for use under FEI rules, so anyone who has evented or sj'd at a higher level will have used these. I currently know of several people who have or are competing at 3* and 4* in Solution saddles and high level dressage. They are also becoming more common in the show ring. Somewhere (I shall see if I can find the link) there is a great picture of someone sjing in a Solution Jumper.

If you like the original models rather than the SMART, you can pick up 2nd hand ones quite reasonably on ebay or through the unofficial network that exists.
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I've just read somewhere there you are allowed to use any treeless saddle under fei. Confused now!
 
I started jumping my youngster in a Solutions Freestyle - the dressage one. She was fine in it, when we started doing more though my instructor recommended I change to something more forward cut (rather than a pure dressage saddle) as she has a huge jump and my position was not helping (and becoming a hinderance) he also felt it would be dangerous now we were jumping bigger fences (that I wouldn't be able to get out of the way should things go wrong due to the longer straighter leg position).

Nothing to do with the treeless, more to do with the dressage saddle and the progress we were making.

Unfortunately I couldn't afford a Solutions jump saddle (or GP!) so ended up with a treed jumping saddle but continued with the treeless for flatwork and dressage. I started hacking in the treed jump saddle as found it easier (leg position) for fast work. Until then though I had done everything in her Treeless dressage saddle, including some little hunter trials, show jumping, jump lessons and long fast hacks. No issues caused by stirrup bar pressure etc.

So I would say that you try it but you might not find you can get a good leg position (particularly if the stirrup bars are set back to enable a good flatwork position) and depending on how your youngster jumps you might not find you are able to go with the movement as well.
 
Struggling at the mo to find actual rules on treeless saddles, only thing I can find is old h and h posts saying saddle must look traditional or something along them lines.
 
Just had a quick flick through bsja rules and BE rules and only mention of saddles is that they must be of English or continental style and of certain colours only. No mention of treed or treeless.
 
Can't find anything in the FEI rulebook about them, or anything useful anywhere else, apart from what you've already said about "traditional looking". I have to say there are not that many treeless saddles I'd want to jump more than a crosspole in! :eek:

fwiw the Irish Pony Club had a strange rule which said that you could use treeless for dressage and jumping but not xc (or perhaps it was the other way round, xc not jumping) - but this has now been reviewed!
 
Rowreach said:
In my experience (which is quite broad when it comes to this subject :)) horses are a heck of a lot happier jumping in treeless than treed. The shoulder is freer, the back is freer, the bascule is better, and on landing they don't have the force of the rider's weight following through behind the tree points behind the scapula ... and from the rider's pov, they are comfy, supportive, and are flat enough to get your bum back over a fence without landing on the cantle.
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Or from my POV, the seat of the saddle was too big for me, I couldn't get any support from the knee rolls, and the saddle flaps (of the GP!) were too long so if I did have my jumping length I literally had ankles only to use. I had a fitter out and then bought off ebay as I couldn't afford new.
Also, they didn't suit my horse - without any padding he jumped through his back better - however, the saddle would then slide forwards and/or round (as happened at a demo...). With padding he'd hollow, bronc etc. It also began to rub him raw at the back of the saddle, over his spine. Basically got told my horse was a freak of nature (he has got the most unsaddle-physics-friendly back I've seen...) and so gave up with the treeless and went back to treed saddle + polypad. He goes much better now because I am much more secure in it!

I do however know people who event (up to BE100/N) in them very successfully.
 
Rowreach said:
I've been jumping very happily in my Solution saddles for upwards of 7 years now. Maccachic I think maybe if you are interested you should do a bit more research than that! I imagine if your saddler doesn't sell treeless (and doesn't know much about them) then he won't be advocating them to his customers :)
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He doesn't sell saddles so is not biased, he is a Uk qualified master saddler.
 
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