My Freeform Treeless Trial ...

[Miss L Toe]

I think if you compare modern saddles these days to the older saddles (and I'm talking older saddles here) you could in some circumstances be able to multi use the old style with the right pads etc but saddles have moved on since then (thankfully)

My 1974 saddle was state of the art in 1974, not something left over from the second world war! It did not have a spring tree, so this may have contributed to its longevity. I liked it, it was comfortable for me and the horse.
It was part of a lot made for export to Italy, and it happened to fit all the TB types I had after that first anglo arab that I bought it for.
If I could buy a new one like it, I would do so, it had three full seasons hunting, did a bit of RC, had enough support for local eventing and jumping, no good for dressage. and was used as a "hunting saddle" in a racing stable, so I can't see why it should be dismissed as out of date, surely advances in saddlery should not be backwards?

 

[Kenzo]

My 1974 saddle was state of the art in 1974, not something left over from the second world war! It did not have a spring tree, so this may have contributed to its longevity. I liked it, it was comfortable for me and the horse.
It was part of a lot made for export to Italy, and it happened to fit all the TB types I had after that first anglo arab that I bought it for.
If I could buy a new one like it, I would do so, it had three full seasons hunting, did a bit of RC, had enough support for local eventing and jumping, no good for dressage. and was used as a "hunting saddle" in a racing stable, so I can't see why it should be dismissed as out of date, surely advances in saddlery should not be backwards?

lol, I think you may of taken my reply the wrong way, my point was yes they did make some dam good saddles a long time ago, very well made and a lot of the modern saddles made today certainly wouldn't last as long neither, my point was advances in saddlery has moved on, in very good ways, saddles are more suited to individual shapes now, which limits how versitile some can be on different horses, unless of course you buy something like for example a wow where most of it can be changed, I wasn't knocking what was once back in the day were good saddles.

 

[Miss L Toe]

lol, I think you may of taken my reply the wrong way, my point was yes they did make some dam good saddles a long time ago, very well made and a lot of the modern saddles made today certainly wouldn't last as long neither, my point was advances in saddlery has moved on, in very good ways, saddles are more suited to individual shapes now, which limits how versitile some can be on different horses, unless of course you buy something like for example a wow where most of it can be changed, I wasn't knocking what was once back in the day were good saddles.

"Back in the day", moi, are you suggesting that I am past it!!!!!!!!!lol.

I took a young lad (old enough to leave school , but too young to have a job)...... out yesterday, to do a bit of "work" for me, after an hour I had to take over, he said, "don't you find this is hard work"
Well that is the younger generation for you. He is forty eight years younger than me. His father has been on the phone, desperate that I employ him again today, so I must have made an impression, unfortunately he failed my "you get paid by results test"