Treeless Saddles.....

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My mum had a torsion for her horse who was a happy hacker. She found the more she rode in it, the better it felt and the better the horse went. But as the horse is constantly in and out of work and only in light work anyway it never felt properly right, so she sold the saddle and went back to her made to measure tree'd saddle.
But the horse in question is extremely wide with *no* withers so may be different to the norm!
 
I've test ridden pratically every brand in the last couple of months after having a nightmare with treed saddle fit. The two stand outs were the Bob Marshall and the Barefoot. I couldn't find a Bob Marshall big enough for me in the UK (still looking though) so ended up buying a Barefoot. Really lovely saddle, very comfy and felt very secure in it (my horse has a big spook in him). Was very happy with it until I did a 15mile training ride a couple of weekends ago. Saddle performed fine on the day but the day after he had lumps either side of his withers - either from the stirrup bars or from the fibreglass pommel insert. The training ride was up and down some very steep slopes - an excellent test which unfortunately the saddle failed. It confirmed my main worry with treeless - pressure points from the stirrup bars. The Bob Marshall is built very differently to the Barefoot though, so if I could find one of these big enough for me then I'd be happy.

Incidentally pressure from stirrup bars is not confined to treeless I've found. I had been riding him in a common or garden GP saddle - fitted him really well but had recessed stirrup bars, which on rides over 30 miles dug into him causing pressure lumps.

There are lots of people competing long distances very successfully in treeless saddles - including 100 mile race rides. So they can perform very well - I think it really depends on the shape of your horse. Flatter backed, well muscled horses probably suit them better than A-framed horses with more prominent withers.
 
The only time I have fallen off getting on was a treeless, I will say no more.
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My horse wasn't going too well in his schooling and the only thing I could think of was the saddle, so I stopped using it and dragged out a Barefoot London that I had hardly used. Transformation int he way he went. The more I ride in it the better I like it. Although the saddle fitter has taken away the treed dressage and GP (same make) for some attention and alteration to fit.

I have also been using the Barefoot on a very, very spooky pony. Same saddle fitter said that his saddle didn't fit him at all, was too tight. He is definitely getting better behaved and although I don't think the saddle was all, it was part of it.

Just read, today, that there is an acupuncture point by the shoulder which affects a horse so a too tight saddle can produce spooky behaviour.

Would really like a Solution or HM, but mega expensive, and I think I would need to keep my GP for hacking as I am on and off opening and shutting gates.
 
I don't think that the Barefoot saddles have had as much attention lavished on weight distribution as some of the other makes. But then, they are a lot cheaper. I would also avoid Torsion personally, for the same reason - a strip of webbing straight over the horse's back, which then attaches to the stirrup bars. A lot of these saddles are good for happy hacking, but not for hard or distance work, definitely not for anything where we put our weight down into the stirrups a lot.
Personally I like the HM saddles, no pressure problems there touch wood, but they need to be fitted by one of her trained fitters. I've also found Freeform (by Goldfinch, not the cheap imitations) and Sensation saddles very good. Love Bob Marshall, but they are like hen's teeth in the UK and I wasn't sure about the leg position, a bit too western for me.
I don't think some people realise how varied the treeless saddles are, or how different they are in construction. Saying that you rode in a treeless, were uncomfortable and will never ride treeless again is like saying, oh I dunno... "I rode in a Keifer and I'll never ride in a treed saddle again".
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Treeless saddles also need to be fitted properly. The ones with blocks for cantle and pommel can cause huge pressure problems if they don't fit the horse and the rider's posterior. Or even if the rider assumes an armchair seat and sits back against the cantle.
 
After many back problems and lots of money wasted on badly fitting treed saddles I invested in a solution freestyle. I have never been happier with my horses performance and muscle development since buying the saddle and will never return to a treed one.
 
I've sat on a couple and personally didn't like them. Not to say I would rule them out in future but I wouldn't go out looking for one. I quite like the look of the Heather Moffatt ones but I'm pretty one of the ones I sat in was a HM!

Discipline wise, you know what I do (not a lot of anything and none of it particularly well!
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) and I have 2 saddles with trees in.
 
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