The absolute best treeless is.......?

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Does anyone know what the best treeless/ part treed saddle is for showing dressage? I need to buy a dressage saddle and am trying to keep my options open. Also, which one looks most like a conventional treed dressage saddle?
And is it true that if you aren't having problems with a treed saddle to just stick with it and not risk messing things up?

[No_Angel]

how can you mess things up with a treeless? it always fits correctly and imo is more comfortable for them.

i love my ansur konklusion, and if you want a dressage saddle id look into the ansur carlton, similar to the kk but dressage version.
lots of people swear by the fhoenix/sbs. looks comfy but a bit too squishy looking for my taste.

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I have just heard that if you're not careful the treeless saddle can sit on the spine and create pressure points on the spinal colum, so it isn't suited for horses with high withers.

[No_Angel]

most people think treeless saddles dont have a gullet, some do, and these are better suited to high withered horses, but with padding a treeless saddle without a gullet can be used on a high wihered horse, i know because ive done it.
my ansur kk is being used on this horse http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/maddie2resized.jpg, i think youd be hard pushed to find a horse with bigger withers who didt have muscle wastage!
ive also used a trekker talent on her, and alot of other x racers, with the correct padding without a problem.

[MadWoman]

I don't know about other makes, but the Fhoenix and SBS Flexion both have gullets so there is no danger of pressure on the spine. They also both look conventional enough for competing - I have used my SBS for dressage, showing, eventing and hunting with no comments whatsoever.

[Bay Mare]

I have the SBS dressage and LOVE it. I feel really secure in it even when madame is doing her haut ecole stuff. I have jumped some small cross country fences in it too but would, personally, prefer a more forward cut saddle for hacking and jumping. Most horses are fine with it but like anything even a treeless doesn't suit every horse. The SBS and Fhoenix are dressage legal. There's also the Kay Humphries though to be honest I don't know much about it. The other option (though I'm loathe to say it as I wouldn't buy anything from them) is Ansur.

The best thing for you to do would be to see if you could get a trial of different saddles and see which suits you and your horse the best.

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Thanks for all the feedback! I live in the USA, is it possible at all to get a SBS saddle here?

[claire hodgson]

the sbs is no longer in production, you would have to find a second hand one; the fhoenix is now being sold over there, go to enlightened equitation and check it out ...

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So, the website said that the saddle is an approved saddle for showing dressage but is it approved for use in the US?

[freebs]

hi imm new to this web page so hi everyone,i have followed some of the opions about the ansur saddles,i event and for the last 7 years have had major problems with saddles and horses changing shape at great exspense etc,i have aways paid out lots of cash to try and give my horse the best,i had a loan of a ansur classic and the transformation both mentally and physically has been amazing,there was a lot of chat about ansur verses heather moffitt but instead of getting into that i went for what did my horse not me the best chance possible.i didnt care if it was ugly as it wasnt for me to show off it was to help my horse,they arnt cheap but neither was my anky saddle £1,000 which i also paid to have flaired or all the saddles i have bought over the years this is a saddle for life for any horse so if you cut out the saddlers costs every 6 months etc you save money in the long run.at my yard now 4 of the girls have got ansurs and are really chuffed for the first time in years i feel 100%that imm doing the right thing by my horse.i now own a konclusion and a classic which i got second hand so didnt work out any more than a new treeded saddle ,i hate sitting in a normal saddle now it feels like a concrete slab

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What is wrong with the ansur classic, Bay Mare? :confused:

[dotsanddashes]

...... try and give my horse the best,...... i went for what did my horse not me the best chance possible.


YAY!! Someone who doesn't care about who promotes what or whose name is on what....:D

Whatever you get, just make sure you get a decent and qualified person to fit it properly - there is a great deal of jargon out there, and the 'newest, latest design that will do wonders' - well they may well do everything they claim on the advertising, but if it isn't fitted properly then you are on a road to ruin regardless of who makes it or who promotes it.

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Thanks Dots, I don't care about names because nine time out of ten I can't afford it anyway :D The problem now is deciding which one to get!

[Pinto mad!]

riding horses is alot like nuts and bolts, the riders nuts the horse bolts!lol