Opinions on treeless saddles please

I bought a Barefoot London for Stinky when he was rising 3. I went for this as I knew he was going to change shape so much over the next couple of years.

I also bought the correct pad and width pommel and made sure it fitted.

It has done very well and I still use it for hacking and general schooling as it is so comfortable. I also use in on our clydesdale.

I did when he was rising 5 by him a WH saddle for the show ring and put it on him and off we went - if you have done the backing process correctly, the horse should accept any saddle as long as fits well.

I have gone from treeless, treed, western and side saddle on various of my horses with no resistance apart from wondering where the leg has gone when side saddle.

Don't buy a cheapy and make sure it fits and has the correct pad. Some people don't find them as secure and they are not the best thing for anything other than low jumps.

Finally some people hate riding in them. Most people love my barefoot as it is very comfortable, but one person would rather ride bareback than sit in it.
 
I back all my youngsters in Solution treeless saddles and would never go back to doing them in treed. They are much happier and easier to do treeless.

However, treeless saddles need to be fitted properly, and please please don't be tempted to use a cheap one - some of the ones you can get on ebay and such are complete deathtraps (I have seen them stripped down and they would make your blood run cold)
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If you want to ask any specific questions re treeless feel free to pm me
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I thought it would be a good idea because as you said he will change shape etc.
I have a treeless saddle which fits him and i have ridden my mums mare with it and found it very comfortable but i wouldn't want to always keep him in the treeless.
 
I have a freeform treeless package for sale if you are interested. I used it on my youngster, no probs at all.

pm me if you'd like to know more
 
I posted a similar question a while back and got mixed responses - let me see if I can find the post. We decided in the end to go through the second hand well fitted treed saddles route for the time being on our boy but I am still intending to get a treeless (Solution most likely) dressage saddle in the future - to use on both the youngster and my older arab, but have told myself until the youngster is competing reasonably well at novice he can stay in a GP/whatever we have for him at the time (he's in a Kay Humphries jump saddle at the moment as it was a good price and saddler very happy with the fit!).
Will look for the previous post.
 
Having always been treed with my old boy, followed similar route with my then 4 yr old ID. Problems arose reasonably quickly when he didn't develop symetrically in the wither/shoulder area, to the point I couldn't even walk past with a saddle. Had a fitter out and tried a couple of other saddles to no avail. Decided to go the treeless route (Barefoot) and we haven't looked back. He's soft through the back and loves to work and I love being able to feel everything that's going on - it's unlikely that he'll ever have a treed saddle on again as he's just too happy!! I would choose to start with a treeless but each rider/horse is different but I'd definitely give it a try.
 
I love treeless - I have a Barefoot Cheyenne - used previously on my TB and then cob with no problems, both seemed to prefer it and were more free with their movement. I find the cheyenne very comfy and secure.
 
There are treeless saddles, then there are treeless sadles. Wiht a good one, you can't go far wrong.
 
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