Title sums it up. I’m in dire need of an XW or Hoop tree for a roly poly “hony” with a table top back and no withers. I had been hoping for a Hoop tree but have a tippy top budget of $600 and am not having luck finding one for less than 1k. I was sent a Bates with an interchangeable gullet that looks nice and is priced reasonably but am unsure of how “Wide” the XW plate actually is. I had bought an XW HDR and was very disappointed in how narrow it was. I just need something somewhat comfortable that I can trail ride, do low level dressage and occasional light jumping in. Thanks!
Wintec and Bates make a saddle that is built for very wide horses (i.e. the model is “wide”) their gullet plates go up to XXW, so they are really wide. You might look for one of the wide versions.
I have the XW plate in my Bates CC saddle. I think it’s kind of dumb. Still very narrow at the withers and ridiculously wide lower down. Very A shaped. I’d look for one of the Thornhill saddles used. I believe they have a few dressage models that have hoop shaped trees. I believe Windswept Horse and Hound has good descriptions on their website so you could figure out which models might work for you. If you scoured for used saddles, I believe you could find a used one in or very close to your budget
