Gullet Size vs Tree Width

[wanabe]

I've been looking at, literally, hundreds of ads for saddles and I've noticed (in addition to the saddle length) that some refer to the gullet size (I assume the width) and give figures like 5" or 31 cm. (Although 31 cm = about 12 " so I don't understand that at all. ) OR they refer to the tree width being narrow or regular or wide or extra wide, etc.

But, I just saw an ad that gave a gullet size and a tree width, so I'm a little confused now. Are these figures independent of each other? By that I mean can you have 2 saddles with the same width tree and different gullet sizes? And, if that's true, shouldn't ever saddle specification include both figures?

 

[Shadowlark]

Oh dear, welcome to saddle shopping.

The simple truth is every manufacturer measures their trees, differently - they will have different twists, different gullets.. different different different..

You can get continuity within one company.. CAN even that is sketchy at the best of times.

Using a wester saddle as example. In theory my horse should need full quarter horse bars with a 7' gullet.. in theory. and that IS what she ended up wearing after trying on about 35 saddles all with those same to basic parameters.

Take them for what they are, a guideline only.. and GOOD LUCK!!

 

[KarinUS]

Some of the German saddle brands indicate the tree size in centimeters. Stubben stamps the tree size in centimeter like 28cm 29cm, 30cm, 31cm, or a 32 cm with 31 cm being considered medium tree. In earlier years they used the alphabet A,B,C,D etc. so anything smaller than 31cm is narrower, anything bigger than 31cm is incremently wider.
County stamps theirs with M, N, etc. So a medium tree might be a 31cm in a Stubben or a 'M' in a County and so on.
Some sellers (I assume you are still shopping Ebay) give a gullet width and it depends on how the person measures is. Tree point to tree point but I have also seen people measure it from D-ring to d-ring and then of course it depends where that d-ring is.

That's so crazy that your RI wants you to buy your own saddle. What's her reasoning behind this? With the budget you have in mind it's really very unlikely that you will find a quality saddle that's not damaging to the horse. Even the older Passiers and Stubbens go for at least $100/$150.
I think as an RI she should have a saddle available for her students and horses (until you buy your own horse in which case it's of course a totally different scenario).