treeless easytrek saddles

I've tried Barefoot, Freeform, Libra Trec, Tree-Free Exmoor, Heather Moffat Phoenix and Vogue, and HM FlexEE.

Barefoot: have been highly recommended to me by Endurance friend who loves them. I just can't get on with them, would love to love them, but find it impossible to get the bleddi things to fit either me or the horse at the same time! Size 1 is too small for me and OK for horse, size 2 is just OK for me but way too big for my short-backed cob!!! Have tried the Cheyenne (no knee rolls, hated it, wasn't confident to canter in it); Cherokee (tried both size 1 and 2. Size 1 fitted but a bit too small, but would have been OK'ish - but I sold the saddle as needed the money!. Size 2 way too big for horse and me). Barefoot Lexington, bought secondhand, size 2. VERY deep seat, too deep TBH, OK'ish on Welsh D mare but not trad cob, who hated it and it dropped down in front too much. So basically I've given up on Barefoots. They're very good saddles and a lot of research has gone into their design, so a huge pity.

Freeform. Lovely and comfy, but TOO comfy TBH coz got lower back pain after about an hours riding as no support; also suspected there wasn't enough support for the horse as could see stirrup bar indents after horse had sweated up underneath. Sold it on e-bay!

Libra Trec: I've got a leather one, bought 2nd hand. OK'ish, good starter saddle.

HM Vogue & Phoenix. Tried these two, hadn't tried treeless before so bearing that in mind. Preferred the Phoenix (more expensive, typical!). Rode in them for about an hour each, could hardly walk for the rest of the week!!! Could probably have made them work, may try again now I'm used to treeless.

HM FlexEE. I've got the original gullet-free version. Came highly recommended, but I find the constant shimming and faffing you have to do to get a good fit is a PITA. So selling this one probably!

Exmoor Tree-Free. What I've got now, and luvvit. I had one on trial first, found the people (Johan and Andrea) very helpful, knowledgeable, and not at all pushy. They are based in South Devon which is fairly local to me, so an additional plus point. They are Master Saddlers and put their expertise into developing these saddles. My Endurance friend tried it and loved it, and was satisfied that it supports the horse adequately, her words were that she'd be "happy to do the Golden Horseshoe in it". The Exmoor has the knee rolls, the Dartmoor version hasn't. With later versions you can change the position of the stirrup bars and the girth which is a huge plus. I cannot sing the praise of this saddle enough! Sorry, probably advertising!

Hope this helps.
 
Hi my point exactly. There is no point paying £2,000 for a Heather Moffatt if you have to shim it every which way to make it fit just so you can say you have one. At the end of the day it does not matter about the price you pay for a saddle, it is whether the saddle fits the horse! A saddle does not have to be expensive to fit correctly. And no just because you comment and say positive stuff about a saddle you should not be scared of certain other members - not to mention any names! from accusing you of working for that brand, because that's just silly! I stand by the Easytrek and love it, that's my opinion, I haven't tried the Exmoor tree free but sounds good!
 
I think the idea of shims is to make minor adjustments, making the balance of the saddle correct, like you would use flocking in a treed saddle, or for example the wintec saddles have the easy change inserts for this purpose, another use for shims is to fill in muscle wastage until it builds up or adjust the saddle for the horses changing conditions over seasons. I think if you are having to use excessive amounts of pads and shims with any saddle then it needs adjusting/Changing. Please correct me if I am wrong as I'm not 100% sure.

If the Easytrek saddles work for you and your horses and you are happy and comfortable then I am very pleased, however this thread was started for opinions of these saddles and as I own one of them I decided to post my opinion, and if it is beneficial to anybody then that's why I posted it. It is only my opinion and personal experiences, and as I stated in my original post I only own the one model. Anybody reading this thread would have to decide whether to purchase based on a collection of experiences and from this thread there seem to be more negative than positive.
I defiantly don't believe in purchasing a product and paying for the brand, as there are certainly lots of high price brands not worth the money, but looking at value for money I don't think there's much in the Easytrek but in the brand name there is a reputation and Heather Moffat as a brand seem to have built up decent one, as have quite a few of the brands mentioned on this thread.

I will let you know if Easytrek ever get back to me on how to adjust my saddle, as I would have thought a good reputable brand (like your experiences with Easytrek) would want to sort out any issues with customers quickly, (as other saddle brands and company's have before).
 
aston said:
Hi my point exactly. There is no point paying £2,000 for a Heather Moffatt if you have to shim it every which way to make it fit just so you can say you have one. At the end of the day it does not matter about the price you pay for a saddle, it is whether the saddle fits the horse! A saddle does not have to be expensive to fit correctly. And no just because you comment and say positive stuff about a saddle you should not be scared of certain other members - not to mention any names! from accusing you of working for that brand, because that's just silly! I stand by the Easytrek and love it, that's my opinion, I haven't tried the Exmoor tree free but sounds good!
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The Flexee costs less than an Easytrek...... (well it did until heather started messing about with them yet again then discontinued them).

I've had many treeless saddles. I had an Easytrek. I'll lend anyone my bargepole. They can use it on all the cheap Indian-made saddles of similar quality to the Easytrek.
 
aston said:
It is by the same token also misleading of people to infer that a particular saddle is not a good saddle if they have not physically seen one or tried one. How possibly can someone comment or make judgement on something they have heard on the grapevine from another who has made a judgement on something they haven't even seen or tried. That is my point.
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Sorry but I feel the need to stick my oar in here- I bought one of these saddles once, it was utter c**p and you cant say anything good about it. The panels weren't even, one was about an inch thicker than the other. I have tried many treeless saddles before, this was by far the worst. I didnt even try it on my horse.
 
If that's at me, I think it is better to have communications such as this in writing, from my first email there would have been no problem for them to reply and tell me instructions, apologise for any disappointment and leave a phone number in the email for me to make further contact if I am still having problems.
They were more than happy to do that when I wanted to buy (think I waited less than 24 hours), I would rather they just sent instructions and acknowledged my email.
 
aston said:
Why don't you ring the tel no on the website ?
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Are you absolutely certain you are nothing to do with them? This is the second thread today with new or lurking posters raving about Easytrek saddles in a very odd way.

I wouldnt touch one with someone elses bargepole having read those posts, so I if you do work for them or are associated with them, then its right royally backfired :lol:
 
FrankieCob said:
Are you absolutely certain you are nothing to do with them? This is the second thread today with new or lurking posters raving about Easytrek saddles in a very odd way.

I wouldnt touch one with someone elses bargepole having read those posts, so I if you do work for them or are associated with them, then its right royally backfired :lol:
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So because I saw a thread and wanted to give my opinion of an Easytrek saddle means I work for them.??? That must mean that everyone raving about any other brand of saddle must work for them - crazy!
I have a genuine Easytrek saddle with serial numbers clearly marked on the girth guards, not a cheap indian fake version. My saddle is a perfect fit for my 15.2 hunter, the leather is lovely and the saddle I find is extremely comfy.
Like I have always said from word go, my real point here is that it does not matter how much you pay for a saddle, what is paramount is that it fits the horse without the use of risers and shims. If you have to do this you have defeated the object in my opinion. It just seems a little snooty to slag off more affordable brands if for some they work for their horse and are a perfect fit. The reality is we don't all have £2,000 to spend on a saddle!
That's my opinion
 
My horse is broad shouldered. I could never get a treed to fit without slipping. The Classic pommel arch can be widened or made narrower to suit. Best way is to lay the saddle on carpet with the arch upwards and press down with your weight on the arch, it will widen. Once mine was set right i never had to change it again as I only have the 1 horse. I don't find the saddle rigid at all, the cantle will flex in and out. The saddle fits around my unusual shaped monster great.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
I've tried Barefoot, Freeform, Libra Trec, Tree-Free Exmoor, Heather Moffat Phoenix and Vogue, and HM FlexEE.

Barefoot: have been highly recommended to me by Endurance friend who loves them. I just can't get on with them, would love to love them, but find it impossible to get the bleddi things to fit either me or the horse at the same time! Size 1 is too small for me and OK for horse, size 2 is just OK for me but way too big for my short-backed cob!!! Have tried the Cheyenne (no knee rolls, hated it, wasn't confident to canter in it); Cherokee (tried both size 1 and 2. Size 1 fitted but a bit too small, but would have been OK'ish - but I sold the saddle as needed the money!. Size 2 way too big for horse and me). Barefoot Lexington, bought secondhand, size 2. VERY deep seat, too deep TBH, OK'ish on Welsh D mare but not trad cob, who hated it and it dropped down in front too much. So basically I've given up on Barefoots. They're very good saddles and a lot of research has gone into their design, so a huge pity.

Freeform. Lovely and comfy, but TOO comfy TBH coz got lower back pain after about an hours riding as no support; also suspected there wasn't enough support for the horse as could see stirrup bar indents after horse had sweated up underneath. Sold it on e-bay!

Libra Trec: I've got a leather one, bought 2nd hand. OK'ish, good starter saddle.

HM Vogue & Phoenix. Tried these two, hadn't tried treeless before so bearing that in mind. Preferred the Phoenix (more expensive, typical!). Rode in them for about an hour each, could hardly walk for the rest of the week!!! Could probably have made them work, may try again now I'm used to treeless.

HM FlexEE. I've got the original gullet-free version. Came highly recommended, but I find the constant shimming and faffing you have to do to get a good fit is a PITA. So selling this one probably!

Exmoor Tree-Free. What I've got now, and luvvit. I had one on trial first, found the people (Johan and Andrea) very helpful, knowledgeable, and not at all pushy. They are based in South Devon which is fairly local to me, so an additional plus point. They are Master Saddlers and put their expertise into developing these saddles. My Endurance friend tried it and loved it, and was satisfied that it supports the horse adequately, her words were that she'd be "happy to do the Golden Horseshoe in it". The Exmoor has the knee rolls, the Dartmoor version hasn't. With later versions you can change the position of the stirrup bars and the girth which is a huge plus. I cannot sing the praise of this saddle enough! Sorry, probably advertising!

Hope this helps.
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Second the Tree-Free, I have a second hand dartmoor and love it - it's so comfortable, it's obvious by the sweat marks that it gives good spinal protection to my horse & she's happy in it. I'm also not the smallest of riders and with the proper pad have no problems at all even tho I'm above maximum weight for many of the treeless brands
 
FrankieCob said:
Are you absolutely certain you are nothing to do with them? This is the second thread today with new or lurking posters raving about Easytrek saddles in a very odd way.

I wouldnt touch one with someone elses bargepole having read those posts, so I if you do work for them or are associated with them, then its right royally backfired :lol:
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Just check out astons posting history. It is obvious they are an eBay seller for easytrek saddles and huntmaster clippers.
 
It doesn't matter how much you pay for a saddle in theory. However, to use decent safe materials, the ones you can see and the ones you can't, costs a certain amount. The sub £300 synthetics and sub £500 leather saddles are going to struggle to be able to use decent materials, those needed to do the job properly. Too many horror stories of what is inside these saddles, treed or treeless. I'm by no means saying that every new saddle under those price points will be cr*p but it's something to bear in mind. And for a decent bench made English leather saddle you're looking at substantially more.
 
aston said:
My horse is broad shouldered. I could never get a treed to fit without slipping. The Classic pommel arch can be widened or made narrower to suit. Best way is to lay the saddle on carpet with the arch upwards and press down with your weight on the arch, it will widen. Once mine was set right i never had to change it again as I only have the 1 horse. I don't find the saddle rigid at all, the cantle will flex in and out. The saddle fits around my unusual shaped monster great.
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Shetland pony, if you are reading this please do yourself a favour and throw that saddle in the bin or if you paid by paypal try and get a refund, i have never read such nonsense in my life, who ever heard of adjusting a saddle this way, it's totally ridiculous.
Aston, you are obviously connected to Easytrek and have avoided admitting to that like a slippery politician, i am now going to do as Firefly has done and report you.
 
Okay, I have managed to adjust the saddle by kneeling on the pommel, there is no way to know (and is very hard to) make sure it adjusts evenly, so that is the same width each side of the horse, sometimes it moves a few millimeters and sometimes a few centimetres, I can imagine it being a very repetitive trial and error procedure to get it to fit, because you would often end up making it either too narrow or wide.
It would be impossible to try and use it on 2 horses due to this adjustment process. I can't get it to be even and would be very worried about the damage it would cause being uneven, to both horse and rider, which could then cause problems when the rider rode other horses.
When you make it narrower the channel also becomes very narrow and so would press on the spine.
Also as it widens with weight on the pommel there would be quite a significant chance of the is happening when riding, even if slowly which would then make the saddle too wide and lead to a whole range of problems.

I emailed Easytrek yesterday with a different email and they replied! I only asked how to adjust it and you do lean on the pommel. It has 'a high strength spring steel bendable arch', any saddlers heard of something like this before? Sounds to me like a posh way of saying a bit of metal holds the shape. Also on their website it says this saddle has no hard components, surely steel is a hard component?? Also the cantle is solid to give it shape which is another solid component.
 
shetland pony said:
Okay, I have managed to adjust the saddle by kneeling on the pommel, there is no way to know (and is very hard to) make sure it adjusts evenly, so that is the same width each side of the horse, sometimes it moves a few millimeters and sometimes a few centimetres, I can imagine it being a very repetitive trial and error procedure to get it to fit, because you would often end up making it either too narrow or wide.
It would be impossible to try and use it on 2 horses due to this adjustment process. I can't get it to be even and would be very worried about the damage it would cause being uneven, to both horse and rider, which could then cause problems when the rider rode other horses.
When you make it narrower the channel also becomes very narrow and so would press on the spine.
Also as it widens with weight on the pommel there would be quite a significant chance of the is happening when riding, even if slowly which would then make the saddle too wide and lead to a whole range of problems.

I emailed Easytrek yesterday with a different email and they replied! I only asked how to adjust it and you do lean on the pommel. It has 'a high strength spring steel bendable arch', any saddlers heard of something like this before? Sounds to me like a posh way of saying a bit of metal holds the shape. Also on their website it says this saddle has no hard components, surely steel is a hard component?? Also the cantle is solid to give it shape which is another solid component.
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Hi no that's not right, the cantles are soft PU foam. Not hard? Sounds like you haven't got a genuine Easytrek, has yours got a serial number? they have been subject to copies in the past. Mine has 2 serial numbers on it, and the cantle is definitely soft. It is a well made saddle in my opinion. The pommel could never bend out whilst riding because you sit in the saddle seat not the on the pommel, that just isn't possible. Also with regards to the bendable steel arch. Freemax and as far as i am aware nearly all the treeless saddles have either a metal pommel arch "wither iron arch" (or as "shetland pony" says it "posh way of saying bit of metal" ) or they have hard fibreglass pommel inserts. That part of the saddle has to be rigid otherwise there would be no structure? you would be riding on a parelli pad otherwise! I had an old barefoot before i had the easytrek. The reason i changed was because the fibreglass pinched my boys withers when he put on weight and the bendable arch works for me because I can adjust it for the different fat and thinner seasons.
 
aston said:
Hi no that's not right, the cantles are soft PU foam. Not hard? Sounds like you haven't got a genuine Easytrek, has yours got a serial number? they have been subject to copies in the past. Mine has 2 serial numbers on it, and the cantle is definitely soft. It is a well made saddle in my opinion. The pommel could never bend out whilst riding because you sit in the saddle seat not the on the pommel, that just isn't possible. Also with regards to the bendable steel arch. Freemax and as far as i am aware nearly all the treeless saddles have either a metal pommel arch "wither iron arch" (or as "shetland pony" says it "posh way of saying bit of metal" ) or they have hard fibreglass pommel inserts. That part of the saddle has to be rigid otherwise there would be no structure? you would be riding on a parelli pad otherwise! I had an old barefoot before i had the easytrek. The reason i changed was because the fibreglass pinched my boys withers when he put on weight and the bendable arch works for me because I can adjust it for the different fat and thinner seasons.
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From the back of the cantle? Like you were stood behind the horse? Is yours soft, as mine won't flex at all and sounds quite solid when you knock it?

I doubt mine is fake as I ordered it direct from them. It has a 2 diget then 1 then 2, stamped on the near side girth, and stamped on the nearside buckle guard with Easytrek. No stamps or marks anywhere else.

Sorry, I'd never heard of them having bendable arches before. What I meant by it adjusting is when you tack up and things you are constantly holding the saddle at the pommel and moving the saddle, also if you have young or difficult horses you might grab the pommel in an emergency, and more so with young or unbalanced riders who frequently lean on the pommel when they lose their balance, maybe it holds its shape better than I thought. My problem was them saying no hard components, which there are.
 
Barefoot saddles most certainly can be used without the fibreglass arch. BF sell stuffing in a material case that you can put in instead of the fibreglass.

I often work with metal and the idea of repeatedly adjusting the steel front arch on the ET saddles fills me with dread due to the increased likelihood of metal fatigue. I also wouldn't want to adjust it without being able to see that the arch is symmetrical, which you can't do when it's enclosed in a saddle.
 
I found it was hard to adjust the first time and had to put all my weight on it but is now quite easy like the metal is 'softer'. That's what I was worried about it not being symmetrical and the damage it would cause, I can make mine quite narrow one side and then wide the other, obviously you would notice to that extent but a smaller difference Could go unnoticed.
 
Faracat said:
Barefoot saddles most certainly can be used without the fibreglass arch. BF sell stuffing in a material case that you can put in instead of the fibreglass.

I often work with metal and the idea of repeatedly adjusting the steel front arch on the ET saddles fills me with dread due to the increased likelihood of metal fatigue. I also wouldn't want to adjust it without being able to see that the arch is symmetrical, which you can't do when it's enclosed in a saddle.
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my thoughts exactly Faracat, it is just ridiculous to think that this is an acceptable way of adjusting a saddle and the fact that it is meatal fills me with horror.
i also find it interesting that after weeks or months of being ignored by Easytrek they are now suddenly responding, is it only me that see's a connection to this post?
Shetland pony... ask for a refund and buy a Barefoot, it's in a similar price bracket, also you can find them on german ebay second hand
 
Yep it is horrific.

I can break a steel bar in two by putting one end in a vice and repeatedly bending it backwards and forwards until it fractures. It's surprising how few bends are required and yes, it does get easier, which makes me worry that the bar inside SP's saddle is starting to fatigue.
 
Shady said:
my thoughts exactly Faracat, it is just ridiculous to think that this is an acceptable way of adjusting a saddle and the fact that it is meatal fills me with horror.
i also find it interesting that after weeks or months of being ignored by Easytrek they are now suddenly responding, is it only me that see's a connection to this post?
Shetland pony... ask for a refund and buy a Barefoot, it's in a similar price bracket, also you can find them on german ebay second hand
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They haven't replied to my email I originally sent. But I sent another a few days ago from a different email account just asking how to adjust them, and they told me the pommel was metal and you bend it and left a phone number so I could try one.
I brought it nearly 2 years ago now so a refund is probably not going to happen.
The only reason I got a treeless was my young mare was broken in and brought on in one and when I got her I think it was too much new things (home, owner, companions, tack) and she wasn't happy in the wintec I brought for her, so I got a treeless so she relaxed into work a bit more. (Which is why I didn't want to spent too much). I'm going to get a thorowgood for her because my mum's pony has the wintec now, but we are ok in our treeless at the moment.
 
I am also :o at just bending bits of metal. I guess you will notice if it breaks though hopefully and get a replacement put in?

the leather does look more like that used on sofas though??
 
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