Oh, look, a treeless saddle thread

[Jellymoon]

I have solution saddles and really love them. They are so much more comfortable than many treed saddles. They look normal too.

They are easy to balance once you have been shown how and they have fitters who can help you get them right.

I have done everything in mine, hunting, jumping, pleasure rides, dressage, showing the works.

This! And they are fab for natives. Just need to get the balance right with help of fitter and keep on top of it.
They don’t suit every horse though, some don’t like the feel of them.

 

[GoldenWillow]

This! And they are fab for natives. Just need to get the balance right with help of fitter and keep on top of it.
They don’t suit every horse though, some don’t like the feel of them.

I can definitely agree that they don't suit or fit every horse despite the best efforts of fitters.

 

[Caol Ila]

I seem to have wrestled his current saddle into submission, for the next five minutes anyway. However in the long term, someone will be getting a new saddle. Either that saddle will be made to fit Hermosa, and Foinaven will get a new one, or he'll keep it, and she'll get a new one. So all suggestions on this thread will be needed.

 

[MarvelVillis]

I ride in a 2019 Easytrek GP which I find really comfy and feels/looks just like a normal treed saddle. Their saddles are supposed to 'mould' to any horse shape, but I did get it checked over by a saddle fitter and they said it was a good fit for him.

 

[Labaire]

Ghosts are easy to fit and have one on an xxw Fell. The only sorts that they don’t seem to work as well in are shark-finned withered types with no barrel-which I doubt your PRE will be. It’s the most stable treeless I’ve tried with him (torsion, two barefoot models, tree free and a libra). I have the Barocco but trialled a Torino which I also loved which looks traditional with a covered pommel option. Only issue is the current 12 week wait but equinewhispers are fab and you can trial one from them. Second hand price is extremely good due to the wait and Brexit. I am thinking of another but torn between going more traditional or even more not (as in a fur saddle or buttera for archery).

 

[cauda equina]

I have a fur saddle (well, a pad really; it's a Christ Lammfelle)

We are currently hacking in it as his Solution needs shimming and I haven't got the headspace to sort it out atm
I wouldn't want to do anything too challenging in the Christ but it's fine for hacking.
The horse feels really forward and free and according to the physio his back is the best it's been since she's been treating him

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Has anyone tried one of the Cavallin bareback pads?

https://www.equinewhispers.com/en-gb/bareback-riding-pads/cavallin-bareback

 

[GoldenWillow]

I have a fur saddle (well, a pad really; it's a Christ Lammfelle)

We are currently hacking in it as his Solution needs shimming and I haven't got the headspace to sort it out atm
I wouldn't want to do anything too challenging in the Christ but it's fine for hacking.
The horse feels really forward and free and according to the physio his back is the best it's been since she's been treating him

I have Christ Lammfelle pad and used it for six months when I was saving for a new saddle. I love it, did 8+ hours work a week in it, schooling, hacking and small jumps. Having tried for 5 months working with Solution to get the saddle I bought new from them to work with that workload and failing I was amazed and very relieved to find horse showed no sign of any problems using it. It does however feel wide and my hips no longer appreciate that!

 

[planete]

I have Christ Lammfelle pad and used it for six months when I was saving for a new saddle. I love it, did 8+ hours work a week in it, schooling, hacking and small jumps. Having tried for 5 months working with Solution to get the saddle I bought new from them to work with that workload and failing I was amazed and very relieved to find horse showed no sign of any problems using it. It does however feel wide and my hips no longer appreciate that!

Did you use it with stirrups?

 

[GoldenWillow]

I had stirrups on when hacking in case I needed them but I didn't put any weight through them, or tried not to, generally. It did wonders for my core and thighs! Realistically I'm sure I would have put some weight through them but pony was fine and he is very princess and pea with saddles and let's you know very clearly if he's not happy and his back was always fine on checks. If it helps he's 14.2 cob and I'm 5'4" approx 53 kgs.

 

[Caol Ila]

Defeated, I've come back to this thread for inspiration. The current saddle, which is made by a Spanish (I think) company called Sorenta, is not cooperating. Trying to sift through all the options and work out what I can get for him quickly, but that will hopefully work.

 

[Gloi]

I got a torsion at one point when I had damaged my coccyx. It was the only one I could ride in without pain but it was impossible to mount from the ground and it dumped me a couple of times when it spun round as I was leaning down to open a gate. I sold it once I had recovered.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Defeated, I've come back to this thread for inspiration. The current saddle, which is made by a Spanish (I think) company called Sorenta, is not cooperating. Trying to sift through all the options and work out what I can get for him quickly, but that will hopefully work.

There's a couple of Ghosts up for sale on FB. Equinewhispers will also do a trial but there's a 12 week waiting list to get one made. Because of this, their second-hand price is holding up very well. There's also a couple of Western Barefoots, didnt find them the most stable on round Fell pony but they did me ok for a year.

 

[planete]

Well, I have given up on the Heather Moffett Flexee as unable to shim it in such a way that it stays balanced. It is making me feel perched and about to nose dive and the pony hates it. I have gone back to the Total Contact saddle and am hacking out and schooling in it. If you have ever ridden bareback, it is easy to adapt to it. I use the stirrups very little. It is relatively cheap, resells well and feels surprisingly secure. i can mount from the ground if I need to and have survived fast spins without moving. The pony has never objected to having it girthed up or to being ridden in it and he is not one to bottle up his feelings. I do worry about pressure but with a fully shimmed Prolite under it plus a memory foam seat saver it seems to work well.

Sorry. Realised I am repeating myself. I blame old age...

 

[suestowford]

I got a torsion at one point when I had damaged my coccyx. It was the only one I could ride in without pain but it was impossible to mount from the ground and it dumped me a couple of times when it spun round as I was leaning down to open a gate. I sold it once I had recovered.

This is a problem with them but I have a solution for this. I made it out of old rug straps and clips. Use a bit of thin rug strap (like a leg strap) and clip it to the D-ring on the off side. Attach a D-ring (I used one off an old headcollar) to the end of it. Get a wide belly strap off an old rug and sew it to the D-ring, put a clip on the other end and you can put it round the off fore leg while you get on. It's easy to unclip it once you are up. Use a wide strap for the bit that goes around the foreleg and you won't pinch or rub as it will lie on the underside of the chest rather than the leg itself.
I thought my pony would go mad when I tried it but I don't think he even noticed it.

 

[TPO]

There's a couple of Ghosts up for sale on FB. Equinewhispers will also do a trial but there's a 12 week waiting list to get one made. Because of this, their second-hand price is holding up very well. There's also a couple of Western Barefoots, didnt find them the most stable on round Fell pony but they did me ok for a year.

Someone I vaguely know is selling a Ghost for £650ono in Perth. No idea if that's a good price or not

 

[Zuzan]

Defeated, I've come back to this thread for inspiration. The current saddle, which is made by a Spanish (I think) company called Sorenta, is not cooperating. Trying to sift through all the options and work out what I can get for him quickly, but that will hopefully work.

See if Riding in Balance have something in stock .. relatively local as over in Edinburgh

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Someone I vaguely know is selling a Ghost for £650ono in Perth. No idea if that's a good price or not

unless its pretty old, that is a reasonable price.

 

[TPO]

unless its pretty old, that is a reasonable price.

Just double checked and its the western version.

 

[Caol Ila]

Emailed Riding in Balance a couple hours ago.

I think I found the one TPO is talking about. It looks like a fairly old one but I have no idea!

 

[maya2008]

This is a problem with them but I have a solution for this. I made it out of old rug straps and clips. Use a bit of thin rug strap (like a leg strap) and clip it to the D-ring on the off side. Attach a D-ring (I used one off an old headcollar) to the end of it. Get a wide belly strap off an old rug and sew it to the D-ring, put a clip on the other end and you can put it round the off fore leg while you get on. It's easy to unclip it once you are up. Use a wide strap for the bit that goes around the foreleg and you won't pinch or rub as it will lie on the underside of the chest rather than the leg itself.
I thought my pony would go mad when I tried it but I don't think he even noticed it.

All of mine are in Torsions currently. Professionals choice Girths = being able to mount from the ground no problem.

 

[Gloi]

This is a problem with them but I have a solution for this. I made it out of old rug straps and clips. Use a bit of thin rug strap (like a leg strap) and clip it to the D-ring on the off side. Attach a D-ring (I used one off an old headcollar) to the end of it. Get a wide belly strap off an old rug and sew it to the D-ring, put a clip on the other end and you can put it round the off fore leg while you get on. It's easy to unclip it once you are up. Use a wide strap for the bit that goes around the foreleg and you won't pinch or rub as it will lie on the underside of the chest rather than the leg itself.
I thought my pony would go mad when I tried it but I don't think he even noticed it.

I actually considered that but didn't try it. Too late now ?, well unless I do my coccyx in again and buy another ? pony was very round with hardly any wither.

 

[Caol Ila]

Does anyone know much about Better Saddles? I see they sell a few brands of treeless.

I'm a bit leery of going for the traditional treed saddle, although I'm in contact with someone sellling an Ideal Highland and Cob saddle at a pretty affordable price, so that could be a short term solution. With Gypsum, I had a miserable time with treed saddles. She would change shape, they wouldn't fit, I would track down a saddle fitter, it still wouldn't be right. I was trying to flog old saddles so I could buy new saddles. Rinse, repeat. It was a nightmare. I changed to a saddle that sat on flexible panels, which worked for a long time until it broke here in the UK and could not be repaired unless I shipped it back to the States. I rode her in a Thorowgood GP saddle for a few years after that, but I was back to constantly chasing (and rarely catching) saddlers, which drove me crazy. My friend gave me the DIY adjustable leather tree Sorenta, which was awesome for us, but it just ain't working for the pony. Argh.

 

[soloequestrian]

I've switched from Balance to Heather Moffett, mainly because Balance didn't do a saddle flat enough for my warmblood. I have both horses in Flexees now - leather tree so a sort of half way house. We tried a Vogue a while back and all three of us hated it so clearly horses for courses! I do pad the Flexees the same way as I would a Balance saddle and it seems to work very well, with the bonus that the saddles are really cheap, comfortable and put you in a good position.

 

[Zuzan]

Does anyone know much about Better Saddles? I see they sell a few brands of treeless. ...

I've only ever bought things like t bar stirrup leathers from them. I they're based way down south and Riding in Balance work on similar principles with a mix of tree'd, leather tree'd and tree'd. I have a Hidalgo leather tree which has velcro panels .. which sounds v dubious but is actually ace. Plus the advantage with RiB is that she will be able to bring a range to you for fitting / working out which works etc They have ex demo and 2nd hand I believe too.

 

[Caol Ila]

I've only ever bought things like t bar stirrup leathers from them. I they're based way down south and Riding in Balance work on similar principles with a mix of tree'd, leather tree'd and tree'd. I have a Hidalgo leather tree which has velcro panels .. which sounds v dubious but is actually ace. Plus the advantage with RiB is that she will be able to bring a range to you for fitting / working out which works etc They have ex demo and 2nd hand I believe too.

That would be ideal. Just waiting for her to answer my email. Hopefully she can come out soon!

 

[TPO]

Does anyone know much about Better Saddles? I see they sell a few brands of treeless.

I'm a bit leery of going for the traditional treed saddle, although I'm in contact with someone sellling an Ideal Highland and Cob saddle at a pretty affordable price, so that could be a short term solution. With Gypsum, I had a miserable time with treed saddles. She would change shape, they wouldn't fit, I would track down a saddle fitter, it still wouldn't be right. I was trying to flog old saddles so I could buy new saddles. Rinse, repeat. It was a nightmare. I changed to a saddle that sat on flexible panels, which worked for a long time until it broke here in the UK and could not be repaired unless I shipped it back to the States. I rode her in a Thorowgood GP saddle for a few years after that, but I was back to constantly chasing (and rarely catching) saddlers, which drove me crazy. My friend gave me the DIY adjustable leather tree Sorenta, which was awesome for us, but it just ain't working for the pony. Argh.

Geography is not my strong point but I think Laura Simpson at Amayzing Saddlery covers your area. She's always got a long waiting list but by all accounts is worth the wait.

@sbloom is moving to Scotland too ?

 

[Caol Ila]

I like Laura, but her waiting list is too long. I could not deal with that when I had my last horse. She'd visited my horse, refitted the saddle, but after a few rides, it was clear that the saddle still needed some tweaking. I totally appreciate that saddle fitting is an art, a tricky one at that, so didn't mind that she hadn't got it quite perfect, but when I was told that she could not come back out for another three months, I looked for Plan B.

 

[Wheresthehoofpick]

Did you try a solutions saddle?

 

[HashRouge]

I've literally just bought a second FlexEE Finale for my share horse. I know they're not everyone's cup of tea but I had a saddle fitter out to try one a few months ago and quite liked it. However I wanted to try a few treed saddles before committing so didn't buy...then the horse's owner decided she was selling him! I held fire on buying a saddle but she's now changed her mind about selling the horse for the next three months at least and I cannot keep riding him in his current saddle when I know it really, really doesn't fit. I tried to get the two local fitters who were recommended out to see him but one has a ginormous waiting list (literally won't even take new bookings) and the other only does Tuesday and Thursday 9-5, and I can't take leave because I'm a teacher. So I've picked up this saddle second hand and we shall see how I get on! I figured that if it comes to it I can probably re-sell it without too much of a loss.

Soloequestrian - do you use the specific girths that are recommended for use with a FlexEE? When I say I've just bought one, I mean literally bought today so it isn't here yet!