Opinions on these treeless saddles?

[Sarah1710]

Hi all, a friend of mine has a rather rounded cob, and has been told by the saddler that he cannot fit a saddle to him as he is too wide. She has been told that her only 2 options are to drop as much weight as possible off him, or go treeless. She tried to get his weight down over the summer, exercising him everyday, sometimes twice a day, and he lost a little. As soon as he went over to the winter field, he put it all back on again:rolleyes:

She did not want to go treeless as she prefers traditional style saddles, and the more traditional treelesses are so expensive. However, I have found these two saddles, one for £400 (http://www.anything-equestrian.com/classic.htm), the other for £450 (http://www.anything-equestrian.com/classicpro.htm) and was going to suggest them to her, but was wondering if anyone has any experiences/opinions on them?

[No_Angel]

personally, ive stayed away from those saddles. They just look a bit dodgy to me, without being a large company or being a more expensive saddle the materials are less likely to be upto scratch.
how about the trekker saddles or the barefoot london?

[carrieh]

If she can raise approx £700, she could get a good second hand Heather Moffett Fhoenix or SBS on eBay. They are often in 'as new' condition and look very traditional.

[martini55]

Personally I wouldn't opt for one of those saddles. If she is on a budget of around £450 then a Barefoot London might be worth trying, I have heard a lot of praise about them :)

[hackedoff]

Has she thought about a Balance saddle (google it if you dont know the company) you can pickup a 2nd hand for 300 on e-bay esp the half-tree Soft Option will fit a wide cob easily.

[JustJas]

I know how you feel- we looked at treeless- the only one we like is made to measure and £1800. Saving up as maker said the saddle is made to fit your horse but can be changed to fit any horse if needed. The others I was not convinced about as they need a lot of fitting with pads. At your horse one saddle were sold as one saddle fits all by obviously non-horse people.
Is the cob beyond the wintec cob saddle?
My husbands cob has now at five filled out to a xxw saddle. Robinsons were selling the old griffiin dressge saddles and hers was £150. Thorowgood have a new cob saddle out too.

[carrieh]

Personally I wouldn't opt for one of those saddles. If she is on a budget of around £450 then a Barefoot London might be worth trying, I have heard a lot of praise about them :)

The HM Fhoenix is fantastic on my rounded heavy [i.e. overweight!] Fell pony who has little or no wither. Doesn't move an inch now that it has moulded to him properly. I love it and so does he. A friend of mine also bought an HM SBS saddle second hand on eBay for her rotund cob and she's very pleased with that too. Think she got it for about £730.

But yes, the Barefoot London is an excellent saddle, though I doubt it would be traditional enough looking for Sarah's friend by the sounds of her requirements? I tried the London and liked it very much.

The trick with any of these treeless saddles is to get the padding/numnah right, which really is personal to each horse as to what is needed. That can be a bit of trial and error.

[martini55]

The HM Fhoenix is fantastic on my rounded heavy [i.e. overweight!] Fell pony who has little or no wither. Doesn't move an inch now that it has moulded to him properly. I love it and so does he. A friend of mine also bought an HM SBS saddle second hand on eBay for her rotund cob and she's very pleased with that too. Think she got it for about £730.

But yes, the Barefoot London is an excellent saddle, though I doubt it would be traditional enough looking for Sarah's friend by the sounds of her requirements? I tried the London and liked it very much.

The trick with any of these treeless saddles is to get the padding/numnah right, which really is personal to each horse as to what is needed. That can be a bit of trial and error.

Just incase there was any confusion, the first part of my post was directed towards the two saddles originally posted :) By all means if she can afford to go for a Fhoenix or a SBS then I would say definitely go for either of those as they are fantastic saddles. I was just going by the prices posted and I think the London is a great saddle to suit that budget.

[ShariN]

"Nickers Sensation Treeless" saddle is very traditional looking.
Is a nice saddle. Not too spendy.

There is also the StarTrekk Dressage...but that is more money.

[Bay Mare]

I know how you feel- we looked at treeless- the only one we like is made to measure and £1800. Saving up as maker said the saddle is made to fit your horse but can be changed to fit any horse if needed.

Which one is this? I've never heard of a made to measure treeless. I thought that the whole idea of a treeless was that it could fit practically any horse (though it may not suit every horse).


The others I was not convinced about as they need a lot of fitting with pads. At your horse one saddle were sold as one saddle fits all by obviously non-horse people.

Some appear to need lots of pads and shims (see this months' article in 'Your Horse' which doesn't exactly promote treeless with all the padding and shimming :rolleyes: ) but most of them don't. I use my SBS with a sheepskin saddle pad, nothing else, no other pads required. If the horse has atrophy then shims are often required but that's as a remedial aid rather than a long term necessity. There are other more 'difficult to fit' horses that will need pads and shims but it certainly doesn't seem to be the in the majority with the ones that I've come across.

[carrieh]

Sorry Martini - I got a bit confused! :D :D Put it down to the wine I drunk last night! :D :D

The Barefoot London is a fantastic saddle and comes highly recommended by classical rider Heather Moffett as a good budget saddle that helps you sit in the correct position. The only thing to check is that it doesn't slide forward if your horse has a forward girth groove/large belly! The girth straps do not swing freely like those on the Fhoenix/SBS and because of that can tend to get pulled forward, taking the saddle with them. But that's only if you have a rotund horse, and I'm sure there must be a way of padding underneath so that this doesn't happen. I'm sure somebody who has a London will have found a way round this problem.

The Your Horse article - I haven't read it - but apparently they only looked at Ansur saddles? Sold under the name Solutions in this country.

[Afellpony]

I'm afraid I am rather suspicious of these treeless 'barefoot' saddles. Falcon has a non-leather very conventional saddle! It this was uncomfortable on him, he would buck, believe me!

[Showjumper]

I haven't heard much about the Liberty saddles yet. I've been promised a report on them by someone who's bought one from Ebay so keep an eye on my site! :) www.freewebs.com/alternativehorse :)

[martini55]

I'm afraid I am rather suspicious of these treeless 'barefoot' saddles. Falcon has a non-leather very conventional saddle! It this was uncomfortable on him, he would buck, believe me!

Just out of curiosity, what is it you don't like about the barefoot saddles?

[carrieh]

I'm afraid I am rather suspicious of these treeless 'barefoot' saddles. Falcon has a non-leather very conventional saddle! It this was uncomfortable on him, he would buck, believe me!


I understand that - I thought that too until I tried them. I think you have to be very careful to get a good one though, not one of those cheap copies on eBay from Pakistan. The Barefoots for example were designed by a German horse physio, Sabine Ullman. The Fhoenix/SBS by Heather Moffett. The Barefoots are made in Germany of good quality leather, the Fhoenixes in Britain at Nurseys Saddlers.

I have a Fell who bucks if he doesn't like a saddle too! Hence I knew there was something wrong with his old treed saddle. Turned out he had bad back problems, muscle spasms, the lot.

I did consider a new treed saddle but as you'll know Fells have a habit of putting on weight at the sight of a blade of grass, so his weight tends to vary a lot. So I thought treeless may be the way to go, so that it adapts to his ever-changing shape. There were a couple of treeless saddles that we tried that he really didn't like - those without a gullet mainly - but he loves the Fhoenix, he really does. In all the years we've been together, he's never gone better, strides out beautifully. I wouldn't go back to a treed saddle now.

I'm sure Falcon is very happy in your saddle though - as you say, he'd buck if he wasn't! :D And that's great. Whatever suits the horse and rider together is fine by me. :D

[carrieh]

I haven't heard much about the Liberty saddles yet. I've been promised a report on them by someone who's bought one from Ebay so keep an eye on my site! :) www.freewebs.com/alternativehorse :)

Oooo that will be interesting Chloe! I did consider one of those when I was on a saddle hunt but sort of got put off by the pictures of the pre-production models which were finished so badly, folds in the leather on the panels, all sorts. Be nice if they were good though, as they are traditional looking and in the price range of far more people than some of the traditional looking treeless saddles.

[Showjumper]

Absolutely - I'm looking forward to receiving the report! :)

[Sarah1710]

Ok, thanks all, very helpful:) Will have a look at those suggested, and will watch out for that report, showjumper:cool:

[Santi]

Hi,
i wouldn't dismiss the Barefoot Cheyenne just because it isn't really expensive. I have a Cheyenne and a Fhoenix and i like them both but on different horses. I have a barrel shaped horse who is lovely to ride in the Cheyenne (and it is a good quality saddle that is wearing well after 18 months use) but i don't like the Fhoenix on him. I use that on a much narrower horse with a prominent spine and high withers as the extra height makes it a better fit on him.
If you want the more conventional looking saddle then i would say the London was a great idea.
You can trial a Fhoenix which you can't yet with the Barefoots but maybe someone in your area will have one you can see?
:)

[Stella2]

Has she considered getting a second opinion from a different Saddler? I'd be suprised if a treed saddle couldn't be found to fit him, some Saddlers (most small independant ones) use only limited suppliers. She could try transporting him to a large retailer that supplies a wide range (various online). The qualified Saddlers there would have access to a greater range. Rideaway is good for this. They tried loads on a friend's horse and sent her away with three that fitted on trial!!!

[carrieh]

You can trial both the Barefoot London and the Barefoot Cheyenne through Mariaana at Better Saddles:

www.bettersaddles.co.uk