Are treeless saddles more likely to slip?

Rhein

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Nov 19, 2005
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Do you think a treeless saddle is more likely to slip, especially on a rotund horse?

I know of someone who has sadly sustained serious head injuries after falling from her horse.
An experienced rider, she was riding one of her slightly overweight horses out, in a treeless saddle. The horse spooked at something and her saddle slipped sideways depositing her on the ground.

Now of course any saddle can slip if the girth is not done up sufficiently, but it set me wondering whether a treeless saddle might be more prone to slipping :confused:
 
Yes, I think so. My friend has a treeless and has to do it up REALLY tight otherwise it slips on any of her horses.
 
I think that you really need to find the best pad and girth to use with them. I have tried a treeless and never had any slippage problems. I know people who have who seemed to solve the issue by either changing the girth/pad they were using.
 
I think it depends what treeless you have. In my experience (having had 7 treeless saddles) that the more traditional looking ones done slip as much. My trekker talent (endurance shaped) can slip sometimes, especially when mounting, but my fhoenix, freeform, ansur classic, ansur konklusion, iceline and trekker dressage saddles havent slipped at all. I have been hanging off the side quite a few times off the side of my 16.3 tb ex racer attempting to get on when she decides its time to go and my fhoenix and my ansur konklusion didnt move.
I have 3 very round horses, a hw cob, a section a and Ted who is like a little rhino, and my saddles dont really slip, a good non slip pad usually helps as an extra stickability aid, and i use a breastplate, but most of my rides involve quite a few hills so I use the breastplate and non slip pad as an extra measure.
 
Even as an avid treeless user I would have to say that yes, a treeless is more likely to slip but it depends on the treeless and the fit on the horse.

I have an SBS on Saff and it's slipped only ONCE even through her unchoreographed airs above the ground and a sideways spook at gallop :eek: Oh, it slipped because I hadn't fastened the girth properly :rolleyes: and all we were doing was cantering around a corner (leaning a bit anyone?). I won't tempt fate but I have to say that it's been incredibly stable so far :D
 
I have to agree Stella, I borrowed a Fitform for my old horse & if I didn't do the girth up incredibly tight, it would slip when I got on. If I could get on successfully it was nice to ride in though & my horse seemed to like it. My Ansur Konklusion doesn't slip at all & I love riding in it, however it doesn't fit my horse so it's no good to me. Can't win!
 
If the girth has to be done up "really tight" on some treeless, doesn't that rather defeat the reason for having them? Just a thought, I admit that I don't know much about them.

I do my girth up the same as I would a treed (aka not REALLY tight). When I say that I didn't do the girth up I mean that I didn't do the girth up .... got on, got chatting and forgot to check the girth .... then SPLAT!

I found that the SBS was more stable as it softened and moulded to her. I also used to take it on riding holidays to the Equestrian Centre and used it successfully on everything from a 14.2hh spotty, rather chunky, pony (adorable Rory) to a 17.2hh skinny (adorable TallBoy).
 
I have a Fitform and a Freeform. The Fitform is more likely to slip than the Freeform but with the right pad and girth combination it's pretty stable!

My Freeform is such a stable saddle! I can mount from the ground, sit Dolly's bucks, spooks and spins and catch my friend's runaway horse while mounted without it moving :)
 
On my roly poly mare, my Fhoenix slips less than best-fit treed saddle I could find. The difference is that the treed saddle fit her ok, but the Fhoenix when warmed up fits her perfectly because of the way it molds to her shape. So, after 5 minutes or so, I'm more confident of the treeless not slipping. When cold, it's fine to mount from the ground, so I guess it doesn't slip then either.
 
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