Treeless saddles

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MLP_Freddie

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My little pony is an irish cob with a plank back. Getting a saddle to fit him is proving very difficult but I've heard that the new treeless saddles are very good for the broad backed beasts, so here's my questions:

Do they stay in place??? (kind of VERY important)
Do they still provide support for the horse and the load he/she is carrying?
Do they need any special girthing system or can I just swap over my existing girth?
Are they really only suitable for happy hacking or could I use one for SJ/XC and team chase etc?

Thank you
 
MLP_Freddie said:
My little pony is an irish cob with a plank back. Getting a saddle to fit him is proving very difficult but I've heard that the new treeless saddles are very good for the broad backed beasts, so here's my questions:

Do they stay in place??? (kind of VERY important)
Do they still provide support for the horse and the load he/she is carrying?
Do they need any special girthing system or can I just swap over my existing girth?
Are they really only suitable for happy hacking or could I use one for SJ/XC and team chase etc?

Thank you
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Used them loads including table top nags. Never had an issue with them not staying in place. You need to use a special pad to help distribute weight evenly and not put pressure on spine. I use small dressage girth. No reason they can't be jumped in.

I like barefoot.
 
Wife bought one on eBay a few weeks ago , next free listing week it's going back on!

Did not get on with it , we had it for a wide ( fat) horse but it moved too much and I only sat on it in the stable and the way it was cut around the pommel was not good for my boy bits

May work on a very fat cob for gentle amble but no more in my opinion
 
I have a solution saddle and love it! Well worth the money and made such a difference in both my horses way of going especially my stupidly sensitive chap. I do dressage, xc hacking etc in it. The only thing I do is chuck a breastplate on for lots of hacking up hill in case it does slip back. Not had a problem yet but you never know.
 
Just like treed saddles, treeless have to be fitted, don't suit all horses/riders and generally you get what you pay for.

Do some research and think very objectively about both of your physiques and what you want to do. Generally, not in every case, the stability issues come from not balancing up the saddle correctly or from the rider being lopsided (lots of treeless models can be quite unforgiving of rider faults) - but hey, that's the same with all saddles!
Some will suit, some will not. Horse and I are currently very happy in one very good brand of treeless, we were a complete disaster in another well-thought-of brand that suits lots of other combinations but just doesn't work for us and our foibles.
 
Love mine , but some dont. Some are like riding bareback so you need to be confident in your balance , but it does mean that you do things a little slower , which isnt always a bad thing ! The ones that look like a conventional saddle you shouldnt have much problem with . Yes use the pad to spread the weight. Some of the girth straps can be a little wide , Aerborn girths( with the roller buckles so they do up easily and dont cut into your girth strap ) seem to be a tad wider and fit the Torsion etc girth straps easier.
I wouldnt go back to a treed saddle , I rode in one the other day , I felt so perched on top of the horse and vulnerable to come off as not sitting closer to my horse so I could feel what was happening under me .
 
Although there are exceptions with most saddles you get what you pay for and the more research the better.

I've tried and owned quite a few including Dartmoor treefree, barefoot something, HM fhoenix but the only ones I've been 100% happy with are the Solution saddles.

Which fulfill all your criteria and for XC have the brilliant if rather morbid advantage of if your horse has a somersault over a fence you won't get a broken tree and much less likely for your horse to have a damaged back.
 
Another vote for a Solution treeless saddle. I have a Freestyle and both of my horses go really well in it and it is good for my bad back. The other advantage of a Solution is that you can have one on trial to see if it suits you and your horse.
 
I had a treeless for a very wide pony with no withers or shoulders and it was the only saddle that ever stayed put. We had a real problem with them slipping forward. Mine is quite old now with no knee rolls so not the best for jumping. Newer models are better I think.
 
I have the heather moffat saddle, it needed fitting as the padding underneath varies from horse to horse but I really like it, I ended up buying the other types of padding incase my horse changed shape a bit as he grew. I still have the saddle and hope to have it fitted to my new horse.
 
Love my Solution saddles. No hesitation jumping in them. It does still need fitting, but it's easier to change yourself once you get the hang of it :)
 
I have a cheap n cheerful one for a little 'happy hacking'. It's basically a glorified bareback pad IMO, and I use it as such - no stirrups. I wouldn't hesitate to go treeless again, and spend more for something better to use in a 'competitive' manner. It is more like riding bareback, it makes me sit deep and balance properly, which can only be a good thing - treed feels perched and weird now.
 
I have a fairly cheap one. Equestrian wholesaler on ebay. Anyway i've stripped all the endurance padding off it and I do everything in it. Hack school jump xc dressage on both my little coblet and my big tb. Both go so much better in it than a well fitted treed saddle.
 
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