Talk to me about treeless saddles!

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hendrabonnie

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I am looking at these saddles as a option for my horse for hacking. We have given up competing and are enjoying just mooching round the moors/woods.

She has changed shape and am looking at something that will change with her. The look of them scares me as i have only ever had traditional saddles. I am looking for something comfy for me and her but haven't got clue about them so doing a bit of research.

Do they fit any horse?
Is any special equipment needed?
Is there any brands to avoid?
How does the sizing work?

Thanks in advance!
Hot buttered toast and tea for anyone who wants it!
 
I used to have one and loved it. I am a happy hacking mooching kind of girl, though I did jump fine in mine on occasional.
Mine cost £300, that was about 6/7years ago, you can get cheaper ones but I have no experience of them, some say avoid them with a barge pole,but I cannot comment on them personally.
Anyway, I found it a little strange initially in that it tended to make me tip forward a little, but it was so comfy and I soon adjusted to it and was no longer tipping forward. I loved that it felt like you are almost bareback, but added bonus of stirrups :D I have quite a bad back so cannot do bareback any more but loved the feel of the treeless. They are not for everyone and not for every horse. I think they can be really good for horses who are growing/changing shape.
Perhaps you could trial one as some places do this :)
 
like all saddles you get what you pay for. I use a treeless for my WB X Cob and would not allow a tree'd saddle on her now. I use a smart solution saddle, but it cost me £2000. However it looks like a traditional saddle, it is very comfortable and in no way bulky, it never moves on her, and I also use it on my daughters TB and again it never moves on her.
However I have also rode in some awful treeless saddles that were bought form ebay and the only thing they were good for was the bonfire!! They were just cheap copies and in my opinion dangerous. One of them had a wooden pommel, the owner was on her horse arguing with me that it was fine ( I had said to her that unless she got a well fitting saddle for her horse, tree or treeless I would not be wiling to teach her as the saddle was so bad on the little mare ) when there was an almighty crack from this saddle...the wooden pommel had snapped as under all the leather and padding the stirrup bars were attached to it putting all the riders weight in a small area every time she would rise in the trot! Poor horse no wonder she was being naughty, so would I have been.
Please go with a recommendation and don't go for what looks like an ebay bargain, and even though it is treeless get it fitted, x
 
Counciller thankyou for ur reply! I didnt even realise that u could get a treeless saddles that looks traditional so that could be a good thing to look at. The others do look a bit bulky but i am not ruling them out yet! Do they use normal stirrups and do they need a special numnah?
 
Its just like a normal saddle. I use normal stirrups and a plain saddle cloth with my horse, but with the TB I have to use a special pad with it as she is only young and hasn't developed a good core top line yet. This is why you need to get a fitter. My fitter is local and she checks my saddle for free as both horses are changing shape at the moment.
You can hire the saddles to see if you like them, and if you do but find the price a bit steep you can put down a deposit and pay the rest up.
Oh it is a dressage girth though, but not a specialist one, I use a aerborn one x
 
I like the barefoot saddles, i definitely wouldn't get a cheap import off ebay.

You do need a special saddle pad underneath most treeless saddles, to ensure spine clearance.
 
I have a Sensation treeless from Canada if you want to know about them? Have you tried the yahoo treeless message board? Loads of info on there.
 
I tried a heather moffatt saddle on my horse and didnt like it. I felt perched on top. There is a heather moffett saddle around £350.00 which she has recently designed and I dont know if they are any better.
 
I had a Fhoenix last year and also felt perched... it slipped pretty badly and was very insecure to ride in. I rode in a Freeform years ago, very comfy and great if you don't mind specialist pads and a saddle that looks a little less traditional, I found that slipped aswell though. Currently trialling a Smart Solution saddle, and I have to admit it's like heaven to ride on!
 
I have a freemax and its brilliant. Very secure, comfy and spreads the riders weight well. Needs a treeless saddle pad and a dressage girth, I use normal stirrups. Don't girth up too tight with a treeless, no tighter than with a treed saddle. If it slips use a grippy pad and don't try to mount from the ground.. I don't need one with mine, it doesn't move. The pommel is just to lift the saddle off the horses withers so it doesn't rub, it can't be too tight as with no tree there's no pressure on it, there's not really anything to fit. Solution saddles have a lot more ability to adjust so they may need a fitter to get the best balance. Seat size depends on your bum. With no tree you don't worry about length of saddle in relation to horse. Even with a saddle that spreads your weight well, most will be under your seat and on the stirrup bars. Treeless works best for people who ride without a lot of pressure in the stirrup. Even rising trot, when done correctly and supporting yourself with your thighs doesn't result in much pressure on the stirrup. If you're someone who braces their leg forwards against the stirrup, stands on the stirrup to rise to the trot or canters in the forward seat, treeless will put a lot of pressure on your horses back directly under the stirrup bars.
 
I adore my Podium, an endurance treeles saddle. A few do come on the endurance market for sale second hand. It's like riding bareback with stirrups. You feel so much more of the horses movement, there are no rolls so you sit up tall & deep naturually, rather than relying on blocks to hold you in. Sounds scary, but I now find it tough to sit in a treed saddle as I feel confined & less able to move with the horse. It is a bit of a marmite saddle, love it or hate it, so I would recommend you try one first.

I've sat a few bucks in it, because you're in a good position it's easier to ride them out. We've done a lot of miles together & I've had to do one tiny repair that the saddler did gratis. Yes it has gone up on the moors, & I noticed in the leading group photo of riders at the world endurance championships this summer several were in Podiums. If they can do 100 miles racing in it you get an idea of how comfy they are.
 
I had never tried a treeless saddle until this year and after 25yrs of riding I went in to it with an open mind.

A friend of mine is a big treeless fan and I rode a couple of her horses in treeless saddles... The first one I tried was a Barefoot Cheyenne, very comfortable saddle and you can really feel the horses back working under you.

The second one I tried was a Heather Moffett Fhoenix Dressage saddle, this again was very comfortable but I couldn't feel the horses back as much under me, I also found that the stirrup bars are set quite far back on this saddle and I tended to tip forwards in it in rising trot, fine in sitting trot and canter tho.

My friend recently tried a Equitrek saddle and I'll be honest, the quality was dreadful, the stitching was very poor and the leather was like cardboard and it wan't evenly cut at all, needless to say it was sent back and Equitrek gave a no hassle full refund.

I really liked the feel that the treeless saddles gave me but I wasn't 100% convinced that I liked the actual look of them, they looked a little odd after years of riding in traditional treed saddles. I went on the hunt for something that looked 'normal' but had the benefit of being treeless and I ended up buying a Startrekk Treeless Dressage saddle, it has the look of a conventional saddle but with the benefit of the treeless... This is the saddle I bought below. The thing I really love about this saddle is that it has 2 sets of stirrup bars on each side, allowing you to have your stirrups set further back or forwards depending on your preference but it's ideal for tall riders like myself who have a long thigh as you can position yourself perfectly by using the forward bars...

Saddle.jpg
 
I was very keen on having one and luckily tried before I bought it hurt my back so much I had to be helped off the horse waited a few moments got back on same thing put my own saddle on I was fine it was very odd.
It was an Ansur I tried I thought the idea was great the horse seemed happy but it just did not work for me .I would say definatly ride in it before you buy.
 
I have a Heather Moffett 'soft tree' saddle, a vogue dressage. I bought it at the start of the year as I couldn't afford to keep buying new treed saddles. I knew someone with one so borrowed one for a week first, but you can also pay to trial them.
Dante felt great in it so I looked for a secondhand one & picked it up in Feb. Since then we've used it almost daily with no problems, Dan is much happier in it & it's very comfy for me too! I hack, do dressage, jumping & have just had a XC lesson in it last week too, it hasn't slipped really, even when Dan has done some spectacular twisty turns...
It looks normal, and can be used with a regular saddlecloth!
I was also really pleased to find that Heather herself is happy to give advice about the saddles, online or over the phone. Dan's isn't shimmed at all at the min, just has the normal panels in, but I believe they can be altered very well using shims etc.

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Saddle staying put despite me staring at the floor :p (I did stay on though!)
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Dan jumps far better now than he did in any other saddle, so I'm hoping to save up & buy him a FlexEE GP next year too so we can do more jumping and hopefully it'll be a tad more comfy for me! (I much prefer having knee room! :p )

The EE group on Facebook is well worth a look if you have any questions about Heather's saddles :) Everyone is really friendly there I've found.
 
I used a dream team saddle on my borrowed cob, and there were pro's and cons.
It was comfortable and I could feel his movement well. I felt very secure in it (he is a little s-d) as it had a high cantle and was like a dressage saddle to sit on.
I found the girth difficult to adjust when I was mounted, and I had a lot of pain in my hips as my legs were forced further apart than usual.
The reason I changed back to a conventional saddle was because he developed rubs from the pad, which is supposed to be used with it. He is very short backed, and probably this was the problem, but the saleswoman was insistant that it would fit any horse.
I know people who use treeless, and would never go back, but I think it depends whether it suits your horse.
 
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