treed v treeless and why?

[Brychen]

i am really dithering at the moment. I have a trekker talent that I am now selling. it rested on my hroses withers and I didnt feel to happy with that.

I also have an albion selecta that i am keeping for now.

issues:

I could sit bolt upright in the trekker for the first time in my life and got a fab canter. I felt very secure and could hack happily on demented horse in it. Did an 18 mile ride no problems at all. Could feel his spooks and pratts before they happened and stop them. Could make him work forward as i could feel and influnce his back. bororowed a better rider than me and he looked ery good in it and tracked up.

Problems after a month horse started to buck in canter and felt reluctant. looks wierd and put my legs in a wierd postion and I want to do some dressge over winter. had my stirrups so short that boots stuck to bottom of saddle.

Horse rounds up imeadiatly in the albion and seems very loose in it. Legs in better postion. can jump in it. looks lovely so no issues at shows and dressage.

problems am afraid to hack out as I cant feel him properly, cant push him forward at the walk. I feel distanced from him. I tend to tip forward and also i do a wierd clinging up thing with my right leg.

Non horsey husband says he thinks treeless are a great idea he thinks i rode better in it, and compares it to an unframed rucksack you can shift about to suit v. a framed one that digs in the back.

Not sure if i should try a torsion or barefooot london any ideas?

[No_Angel]

the trekker type saddles are pretty useless when it comes to schooling, i love mine for hacking, really comfortable, but for schooling i prefer a more 'normal' saddle. I have an ansur classic, a gp fhoenix and a freeform at the moment, aswell as my trekker, and did have an ansur konklusion.
If you want to do dressage i would reccomend the fhoenix, its great, i like the ansur on my cob, but now i have sorted out the problems i was having with my hips in the fhoenix on him i prefer the fhoenix, only thign is no so good for feeling the horses back through it, well, not like the trekker, so a barefoot london may be a real good idea for you, tho i find saddles without a gullet alot better for feel.

[ShariN]

For everyone it would be different. You will just have to demo saddles to find one that both you and your horse would like. Sometimes doing that can be a royal pain.

For my two Icelandic's, lets just say they both hate treed saddles. Do not know why. One really round with no withers and very short backed, the other has some withers and not as round. On one I tried many different makes and models and even a saddle fitter said many of the saddles fit well. But my horses still did not like them. They would either not walk, or walk in a choppy gait and refuse to tolt...or would only pace. They sure where not happy.
After a lot of money and time I gave up trying to find a Treed saddle.
So on was the search for a Treeless saddle.
I like something with a little more security than the standard English saddle and I wanted the treeless saddle to have a self panel/gullet. The self gullet gives good clearance to both the withers and spine.
I feel with the Treeless I have more flexibility in the different kinds of horses it can fit and fit well. It will also give and take as my horse gains or looses weight. Where a treed saddle would not be able to handle those changes.

So I went through all I did, to find something they liked first and almost equally important, something that fit me too.

Sometimes I wondered if I did not have the most picky horses in the world.:rolleyes: :D

The two treeless saddles I ended up with are the StarTrekk Comfort and the Exmoor Treefree.
So I am now poor but my horses are happy.;)

[KateWooten]

I can give you a real good reason why ... I had to send the Fhoenix on today to it's next trial home, so I rode out in my perfectly fitting treed Kieffer Aachen GP.

OMG, I am so sore. It's like I have to relearn how to ride badly again before I can sit on the darn plank without bruising everything. Ouch.

[ShariN]

I can give you a real good reason why ... I had to send the Fhoenix on today to it's next trial home, so I rode out in my perfectly fitting treed Kieffer Aachen GP.

OMG, I am so sore. It's like I have to relearn how to ride badly again before I can sit on the darn plank without bruising everything. Ouch.

Yes, I have had that problem too. Rode in a friends very, very nice treed saddle on her horse, after riding in my Treeless saddles....same problem, felt like I was riding on a board and boy did it hurt!
Am very releaved to be riding on my Treeless saddle again.:D

[Showjumper]

Trekkers are great budget saddles but not great for schooling. If it was collapsing on his withers, there's a problem there as well.

I'd be inclined to throw a bit more money at the situation (easy to say, hard to do) and look at different pads and saddles.

Whereabouts are you located? If you're not too far from Bristol I'm happy to come out and let you try your Trekker with some different pads to see if that will solve the problem, and also bring my Fitform and Freeform along so you can try those too if you want :)

[Brychen]

Hi I am based in Brum so probably too far from Bristol but thanks for the offer anyway! I am seriously considering the barefoot London or maybe a free form (have seen one at a ride and it looked v.nice). I rode out in my Albion today and it definetly moves to the right. it also moves back and forth a little bit as my horses v.wide shoulders move which worries me. it fits 100% when he is still though!

[No_Angel]

oo, im not to far from brum:D If you can find your way to rodbaston college you would be more than welcome to come and see my saddles in the car park:D :D

[Brychen]

Hi Tasha

Thats very kind, are you studying at Rodbaston? what time are you there till? I work full time but am only 25 mis from Rodbaston have done several dressage tests there!

[No_Angel]

Im doing my degree at rodbaston:D
ill pm you:D

[Bay Mare]

I can give you a real good reason why ... I had to send the Fhoenix on today to it's next trial home, so I rode out in my perfectly fitting treed Kieffer Aachen GP.

OMG, I am so sore. It's like I have to relearn how to ride badly again before I can sit on the darn plank without bruising everything. Ouch.

Well put! I recently rode at my old riding school on a very good quality dressage saddle! I came away very sore and very rubbed. I know now why horse riders are always portrayed as walking bow legged :eek: :p :D

I couldn't wait to get my butt back into my SBS .... :)

[Brychen]

I am going to trail a Londodn Barefoot. i kept trying to convince my self to keep my Albion but it doesn fit the horse as it moves from side to side at the front. A less obsesive mate confirmed I wasnt halucinating about this tonight!it stayed sort of put with her armadillo pad on it, then when i took the pad of her had clear marks on his shoudlers from wher I had to crank the girth up to hold the saddle firm. ... when I look at my shadow in the school I am clearly tipping forward. I am hoping that the barefoot will be okay over his withers as from the photos they look like they are cut higher at the front, and that he will round up to school as it is slightly more conventional re the knee rolls ect for me.

[Yann]

It has to fit well and be right for the horse, but from my own experiences I don't think that you can beat a treed saddle with comfortable panels. Keeping a treed saddle fitting properly all the time is the crunch question though. I've always found stability to be an issue with treeless saddles, whatever the blurb says, and my horse is hardly flat backed.

[Lgd]

I don't think it is treed v treeless specifically - it is more what suits your horse and you.

I have WOW saddles which are essentially treeless but create a more traditional look. The younger mare got it because we could not find a conventional treed saddle to fit her well - I did get hold of an Albion Style that fitted her OK (but only OK, not 'very good' ) but absolutely crippled me with back pain and rubbed my niece's legs to bits. I have tried her in a Fhoenix (my old YO has them) and she went well but no better than in her WOW and I prefer the comfort of the WOW.

My older mare 'grew out' of a custom built Barnsby - third custom saddle she'd done that with (expensive habit!) so I tried her in the WOW and managed to get one virtually new from a friend (she'd sold her second horse but the folk didn't want the saddle). She has reacted quite badly to treeless saddles - stood up in an ansur and was very grumpy and backwards in a Fhoenix. She's fine in a conventional treed saddle but is going better than ever in the WOW.

Equally I know of horses that really don't like the WOWs - short answer is listen to your horse and your body.

[ShariN]

It has to fit well and be right for the horse, but from my own experiences I don't think that you can beat a treed saddle with comfortable panels. Keeping a treed saddle fitting properly all the time is the crunch question though. I've always found stability to be an issue with treeless saddles, whatever the blurb says, and my horse is hardly flat backed.

Have to agree, some treeless saddles are just not stable. But then I tried many well made treed saddles with the same problem.

Your equine sounds like my grey,, very table backed with no withers.
The two Treeless saddles I ended up with, both have been very stable.
Is a safey issue with me.

The prefect saddle is the one that fits both you and your horse, be it treed or Treeless.