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> ... and there is no flexibility in a solid-wood tree.
I wish that we could all dispense with the myth that "solid-wood" is not
flexible. I need only go out and look at my garage door to know that this
just isn't so.
A master saddlemaker chooses his wood carefully understanding fully the
way that it flexes under pressure. This is why great attention must be
paid to type of wood, age of wood, and the grain patterns.
The wrong piece of wood can indeed make a mess out of your horse's back.
And saddle makers that carve a tree out of just any old hunk of wood are
to be avoided at all cost. Indeed you would be better off with and
inflexible hunk of fiberglass than the wrong piece of wood.
But the right piece of wood.....
Ahhh, that is what makes the perfect saddle.
Unfortunately, this art is being lost, because manufactring some high tech
sythetic material is much more cost efficient than hunting around for the
right piece of wood (especially since one of the best woods for making
saddle trees out of is teak...now on the worldwide endangered species
list, so very hard to come by).
Don't be decieved into thinking wood doesn't bend. It most assuredly does
(which is why I spend hours at the lumber yard when picking out even my
pine shelving in search of the perfect grain pattern so I don't end up
with warped shelves).
Curing is also important
Before buying a saddle with a wood tree, assure yourself that the saddle
maker knows how to pick a piece of wood. One with just the right amount
of rigidity and just the right amount of flexibbility...in the right
directions. After all, the purpose of having a tree in a saddle is to
provide some rigidity.
kat
Orange County, Calif.
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