i am riding a torsion treeless, trekker
model. as many of you know, this is the fourth saddle for my much loved
arab, artie. he and i both love it. his back has shown no sign of
soreness since we started using the torsion.
as catherine said, it does take some relearning to
mount without a block, but i seem to have mastered this. i do prefer a
block or a bumper or a rock as i feel it is better for my horse's
back.
yes, my balance is better than ever (so far...knock
wood). it does seem to throw me forward, so i have to concentrate on
sitting or standing up straight.
i have no problem holding onto the pommel at
the start of a ride, in case of bucks or jumps.
i added custom western fenders from a local guy,
and a sheepskin cover.
i use a mohair girth from sportack, as the billet
buckles are wider than most out there. it works fine.
i have done one 50 in it and lots of hills in
training. i've almost come off the back more than once, so i suppose it's
all a matter of getting used to it.
i will use this saddle for all my riding.
i'll let you know how it holds up on multi-days after the high desert
ride. i hope we love it, as if it doesn't keep working, i guess i'll have
to learn how to drive this horse.
I have one and used it on CTR once. It is
very comfortable. You definitely need to have good balance. I find
that it is forcing me to learn balance. If you are doing any steep hills
you will need a crupper because there is nothing to keep it from sliding
forward. It fits around the horse, not down into the groove behind the
withers. Also difficult when the horse is watering and the reins are not long.
I like where the stirrup leathers hang, very natural placement.
Definitely buy their stirrup leathers and girth because it is designed so that
nothing else will easily work.
Some people struggle getting on
without a mounting block because it can easily turn. I am 125 and find
that if I have it cinched tightly, I can mount from the ground if I do it
quickly and curve my body over her back putting as much weight on the other
side as quickly as possible. It is great feeling her back movement.
I would NOT recommend it for a horse in training because even though
there is a pommel, there isn't anything for your legs to press up against when
it gets a little "western". I found that if I pull the velcro underneath
the pommel away from the saddle, I can wrap my hand around the pommel and get
some security but that leaves me only one hand for the reins.
I am
having problems fitting my horse with any treed saddle because of her wide
ribs (see recent email with subject line ?Saddle for wide-backed
horse?). This saddle works for her, but is more of a fancy bareback pad
with nice stirrup setup.
I recommend you try one first. It
has its advantages but is not a replacement for a traditional
saddle.
