I started the treeless yahoo group back in Nov.
when It became apparent the Bob Marshall sport saddle was not going to work for
my young mare. The pommel is too narrow at the base, and was pinching her
behind the shoulders. These saddles are wonderful when they work (I had no
problems I could discern for about 13 years, on a wide variety of horses), but
the "one size fits all" pommel can be a real limitation. The endurance
pommel; compared to the reiner pommel has a slightly different angle and so
might fit a slightly wider horse, but again, for a really wide horse, it can be
extremely uncomfortable.
The literature claims the pommel sort of "floats"
above the shoulder of the horse;but while this is a lovely concept; it seems
more logical to me that it can get jammed down on that shoulder pretty tight,
especially if people over tighten the girth.
I was able to ride with a relatively loose
cinch, perhaps due to using a split foam skito pad, or maybe just how I
ride....
Other problems I have seen from the sport saddles
are no spine clearance, which can cause some really bad spine rubs in the loin
area, or loin scrubbing, no wither clearance on some horses.
In any case, I no longer see the sport saddle as
"treeless' since it does have that substantial, totally solid pommel which aids
in stability, especially at the front of the saddle I have categorized it
as "semi treeless."
Other truly treeless saddles I have tried seem to
be pretty unstable, especially when mounting. This worries me; even if one
mounts from a rock, or trailer fender initially, we get on and off on the trail
frequently, and then there is the worry about saddle stability if the
horse bucks or spooky suddenly. Saddle stability is pretty important to
me.
I'm developing opinions on treeless
saddle design and features I believe would help with stability and
distributing weight; such as, but not limited to, some sort of substantial, but
flexible pommel structure; some sort of panel sysmtem under the saddle (a plus
if it is adjustable), some sort of effort or design to distribute weight from
stirrup and girth pressure, clearing withers. Some folks get away with a
good split pad, which raises the saddle off the spine and withers, but padding
will not work for all horses. Many of the new treeless saddles on the
market have adressed some of these issues, but not all of them. The
treeless group website has links to many new treeless saddles that have come out
in the last year that many folks may not be aware of....exciting stuff.
Some simple treeless designs might work fine for an
hour dresage lesson or schooling, but totally fail when used on a rugged trail
where they might be moving on the horses back, rubbing withers or back of spine
for liong hours.
I haven't myself seen much evidence there is any
more heat build up under a treeless, than a treed saddle; I think pad material
makes more of a difference to the horse.
For those who have not visited the treeless group,
here is a brief list of some of the treeless and semi treeless saddles we have
listed.
Ansur,
Awareness (New Zealand)
Barektk
Torsion
Trekker
Startrekk
Freeform
Ffoenix
Barefoot
Sensation Pad
Dartmour Treefree
I personally believe it's best to find some sort of
saddle that fits the horse (as far as not restricting movement or jamming down
hard anywhere)obviously, ...but it also makes more sense to me to have some sort
of saddle system that has some sort of flexibility in the tree or panel
system. I still find it hard to believe a totally rigid tree and
unyielding panel is comfortable at all gaits over rough
terrain.....
Another alternative to treeless is the flexible
panel system saddles (Orthoflex, Timberline, Reactor Panel, American Flex and
many others), that attempt to support the rider on a modified tree with panels
that flex with movement of the horse.
There is more info, and again, more link on the
flex-saddle group on yahoo also, which is
