Treeless saddles - who likes them and why

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Quartz

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I want to change my saddle and am thinking of treeless. The website I just looked at seemed to suggest you need different leathers for jumping or dressage. Who can make buying a treeless more clear? And also are you for or against and why? Thanks
 
My cob is now in a treeless and me and him love it.

He has a very awkward shape, when i bought him his saddle didnt fit - i bought hima wintec and even after changing gullets it wasnt right - he changes shape weekly!

So i bought a cheap libra with pad to try and havent looked back - love it and i know my horse is comfortable with it, doesnt slip like his others did and fits him all year round.

When this saddle has had it, i will definiteley invest in a leather treeless one. x
 
as with any saddle, treed or treeless, one of the main things when buying/fitting is to make sure there are no pressure points...

treeless saddles are more prone to having pressure points caused by the stirrup bars - on treed saddles they are attached to the tree, and the weight is therefore distributed along the tree whereas treeless saddles don't have a tree to attach them, so rely usually on webbing etc. i believe that some of the cheaper treeless saddles have the stirrup bars attached to... well, nothing... just the saddle. so the weight is pressing down directly at the point of the bars. therefore, for that reason, i'm not convinced by the cheaper treeless saddles. and i'm still not overly sure about the more expensive ones, although i know many people that are fans. x
 
I think you just have to try it for yourself, some companies would give you a saddle for a trial, it's a bit of a marmite thing these saddles. One person has described them to me as sitting on a big blanket, apparently they don't give you quite as much support as treed saddles would.
 
i ride in both treed & treeless - i have a leather torsion treeless - which is fab/comfy & my mare is happy in it - but i do tend to see it a my slobbing out saddle - hacking/mooching around in
i prefer to school & compete in a treed dressage saddle
lots of the big brand treeless allow you to trial them - try a few & see what suits you & your horse:)
 
After having so many issues with fitting a treed saddle to my wide, short backed, sprung ribbed and forward girth groved horse, including having one made to measure which he hated!..... I tried a treeless. Never looked back and been using 6 days a week, schooling and long hacks all through summer and no sores or rub marks.

I bought a barefoot london as a mid range treeless make and he went so well in it that I upgraded to the Heather Moffett fhoenix dressage saddle.

Its very important to get the padding and panelling to fit right to prevent pressure points and not go for the cheaper treeless from India etc.

I would have a look on www.enlightenedequitation.com for more info on the Heather Moffett saddles and people who are using them.
 
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