Western treeless question

[Jessey]

Hey all :D Jess is changing so quickly that her treed western saddle, the one that is only 6 months old, no longer fits her :( I have tried almost every other treed western saddle on the yard to try and get an idea of what will fit her so I can order her another one - but none seem to be as good a fit as I would like and as she is only just rising 4 I know she will probably change shape again very soon so am thinking treeless might be the way to go.

So does anyone have pictures of their western treeless saddles on their horses to share? - I want to be able to compete in western classes this year (first show is 15th April :eek: ) so it has to look reasonably conventional.

Also, I am worried about the solid swells and cantle, my concern is if my baby had 'a moment' and I accidently landed on the solid bit, is the leather/fabric of your brand/style of saddle tough/ridgid enough to offer any protection from that digging into her sensitive baby back? I could stuff the cantle of some brands with flock, but I have to have the horn to comply in most classes so can't really get around the front bit :rolleyes:

And just to note, I sat on my friends saddle on her horse, not sure if its hilason or Bob Marshall but I got into the saddle and due to the very high front and back and the fact that I have tiny short legs I couldn't get back out of the saddle - glad it was on her well behaved horse as I had to kind of half drag, half bai out the side door :o How do you manage with these ones?

[No_Angel]

I have a hilason barell racer and a barefot arizona.
Hilason is very high front and back but i manage to get in and out with a problem really, my dad who is learning couls get in and out but felt a bit squashed, and my mum actually got stuck half way down (thank god she was on murf:eek: )
Ive only sat in the arizona and done some walk/jog for about 5 mins (unusual for me) but my dad has ridden in it and mum has done a 13 mile fun ride in it, she seemed to like it. I dont really trust the horn on the arizona, i feeel it might come away in your hand if you had to grab hold of it, but i have actually wrapped my reins around the horn on my hilason to anchor myself when trying to stop shay.
Shay seems to actually prefer his hilason to his fhoenix.
Ive also found both of thema bit slippy when mounting, but ive swopping my rigging over onto the right side and they stay put nicely now.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0041-1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0024.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0014-1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0013.jpg

ill try and get some pictures of the arizona, should really be going to uni now optherwise ill be late:o

[Jessey]

Thanks NA, your hilason doesn't look as high at the back as my friends - maybe hers was the BM :p
Is the material on the Barefoot very soft? and the whole thing very flexable? I've only sat on my friends and also trialed a regular torsion which I found was very bendy and the material didn't offer much protection from the cantle blocks at all :(

[No_Angel]

the barefoot is made of nubuck, and is floppy compared to the hilason. the hilason does hold you in alot more than the barefoot, i feel quite exposed in the arizona after riding in my hilason.
dartmoor treefree do a western treeless aswell, similar sort of shape to barefoot i think.

heres a pic of the arizona, not on a horse tho
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/saddles/barefootarizona-tasha3.jpg

[No_Angel]

you might be able to see the barefoot on a horse on our fun ride pictures

www.bobturnerphoto.co.uk

photos, march, cannock chase funride, file _DSC7165.jpg

[Esther.D]

We have the barefoot arizona in brown

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/EstherD/Alfie1-1.jpg

[Harry Hobbes]

My, my Macita!

That buckaroo in the batwings is packin'!

Esther.d,

Just a suggestion, but you may want to use a longer girth on that pony, as the girth buckle is right behind its elbow. Should the elbow strike the buckle, it may sustain an injury.

Best regards,
Harry

[Shadowlark]

BM have several differnt heights of Cantel etc. Hilason has one higher then the one No_angel and I have (we have the exact same saddle so no point reposting) - They sent me the heigher one by accident and I sent the damn thing back NOOO Thanks! That poor hip of mine can't handle that!

I have ridden both, they are very similar, leather quality is better on the BM.. for the price gap it better be! Structure wise they are built the same. Dealing with Hilason can be tricky english is a second language, so I wouldn't try and do anything custom with them again as that was just a three ring circus - but my stock one was just fine.

I have ridden the bejeebers outta my hilason and it holds up like a dream I couldn't even guess how many hours and it still polishes up nice - I Have can chased on both.. my friend has one for her appy which was what first turned me onto them - We both like both.

If I get another treeless I will probably get a BM - I REALLY want a royal blue seat.. like REALLY bad and it's one of thier options :D

http://www.sportssaddle.com/
Thats dealer direct to BM and not a reseller - they nick you on every little thing tho.

As to the last bit - Yes if you come down wrong you could "kidney punch" your horse - But to get there hunny you are already going to be in serious trouble.. it will be the least of your worries!

I suspect you are too serious about showing to consider the Arizona - I discounted it right away due to the decoration only horn - not that I can rope with my saddle.. but that horn has saved my hide more then once turning a barrel... hahaha and on a sliding stop I wasn't expecting!!

[BeachRiding]

I will say my experience with western treeless' were horrible. I found them extremely uncomfortable, my horse hated it, and it was hard to get on as it would slip. Just to play Devil's advocate here...

[Shadowlark]

Which did you have/try Willie?

[BeachRiding]

I tried Hilason.

[Jessey]

Wow thanks everyone :D
I borrowed my friends at the weekend, hers looks like the hilason/BM but I think it might a be a rip off :p I don't like the look of the particually huge swells and cantle but if it worked I was game to try as no doubt Jess still has lots more growing to do, but I put it on and didn't even bother doing it up
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y291/Jessey129/JesswithTreeless.jpg
No way was I going to ride on that!
I have considered the barefoot and Dartmoor and also the torsion western, but think they all have the same problem with soft leather which offers no support.
As to the last bit - Yes if you come down wrong you could "kidney punch" your horse - But to get there hunny you are already going to be in serious trouble.. it will be the least of your worries!
I doubt I would get there with Jess she is such a good girl, but if I brought one I would want it on Bo too if possible, and unfortunatly he is a serious rodeo bucking horse at times (very excitable) and also very sensitive so I simply cannot take that risk :o Its been the standing joke for a long time if I can ride my 8 seconds :o normally he gets over it pretty quickly once he settles but if I caught him like that I think I would die!