Tell me about treeless saddles

[frozzy]

Because we are not showing now I sold my Fylde Samanthas and bought a synthetic saddle which at the time did fit. It no longer fits so we have difficulty getting proper saddle fitters in our area. I have been investigating treeless saddles which I know absolutely nothing about. The pony it would be for is a 13.2 Welsh C (which is currently muzzled and not happy!) She is a typical good doer but I cannot start her back in work until I get a saddle that fits.
I was looking on Ebay and saw some that have the "look" of a dressage saddle so if we decided to do a show or two it would look ok. These retail about £300. The only other one I have heard about is a Heather Moffat.
My question is how do you measure these? Could I buy one and expect it to fit?
I have always bought my saddles from Fylde usually at a show and had them fitted.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

 

[somethingillremember]

If its a "traditional" look saddle then you measure as per a traditional saddle , if its a Torsion type then its abit different . Worth going onto Facebook and join Heather Moffats page and ask her direct ! I've had treeless for many years now and wouldnt go back to a traditional saddle but some I found better for me than others ... I love my Torsion , Barefoot but Ive had a WOW and a Heather M as well . Ive tried an Ansur but it wasnt for me. Ask around and see if someone local has one you can try on the pony so you can see if you like it as well as your pony . Ask the company that you like the look of if they do a trial saddle , Torsion used to but Im not sure if they still do.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Ditto post above. Get a trial period if you possibly can; some companies "hire" you the saddle for a week or so and you can then try it out.

I tried a Heather Moffatt saddle; thinking it would be OK for both me and my horse. It was the most uncomfortable experience I've ever had - and I was as stiff as a board for about three days. Yes OK so it probably put me in the "correct" position, but TBH I'm not terribly @rsed about correctness if that's the sort of pain I have to go through to achieve it!!!

Barefoot changed the whole look of their saddles about eighteen months or so ago; if you can get hold of one of their earlier ones they're like hens teeth apparently.

Also, with treeless, you need to factor-in the essential-ness of the pad underneath. You MUST must must make sure this is right or else you'll get problems.

As with any saddle; its as important to correctly fit a treeless as it is a treed saddle (more so in fact). Personally I'd ask a saddler to cast their eye over it for you just to check.

PS there was another thread on here just recently about "cheap e-Bay" treeless saddles from India - you could do a search on here which should bring it up. Basically be very carefull of cheapie treeless saddles and only buy well known branded makes on E-bay basically.

 

[Shysmum]

I have a barefoot cheyenne and love it. I tried an awful lot of treeless as i used to help at a "treeless yard". There were some I hated, some I loved, but the barefoot is for me.

Heard good things about Libra saddles.

It really is personal choice, BUT please don't look at anything from India.

 

[suestowford]

I agree with MiJods about the pads. It is worth spending the money on a good one. I've got an old-style Torsion, I've had it for eight years, same with the pad (an Equitex). The pad was nearly £100 and I boggled a bit at that but eight years on it still is in really good condition even though it's been used a lot and washed often. The padding doesn't seem to have lost its 'give'. The saddle still looks pretty good too.

 

[Nudibranch]

I have a Libra and used to have a Torsion. Love treeless and found they were ideal for allowing muscle to develop where a horse has previously worn a poorly fitting saddle. The Libra was bought as a stop gap but it's really comfortable and has done my new mare's back wonders. However I use it with a Suber pad which cost almost as much as the saddle! Would echo the advice about the pad being critical, and sticking to well known models. Lots of threads on here about the pro's and con's of various brands.