Sensation also makes a western model: http://www.freedomtreeless.com/G4Western.html.
This is the one I demoed. Also from Melissa. It was a nice saddle.
[QUOTE=PRS;4639927]
I have to say this…most people who are adamantly against treeless saddles have either never tried one, have tried one that wasn’t right for them or their horse or are just regurgitating things they’ve heard from others who have a predjudice against treeless saddles. Just like treed saddles a treeless saddle has to fit your horse, it has to be properly padded to create a spine channel and no one saddle is going to fit every horse. That being said any given treeless saddle is going to fit a wider range of horses than any given treed saddle.
EDIT: My saddle, including everything probably doesn’t weigh much over 10 or 15 pounds so it is much lighter than any treed saddle out there too.[/QUOTE]
Or they’ve researched them, tried them, found them seriously wanting, and wonder about those who claim otherwise. 
G.
Ditto to what G. said about Treeless.
If you want comfortable and fairly cheap I like Fabtrons.
Steele’s are pricey but NICE.
Eli Millers are nice, too. If you can find one.
Bighorn went out of business. There are saddles out there but they are out of business. Just FYI.
Tuckers are well made and pricey. I had a River Plantation model I loved but it promoted a chair seat.
FWIW not all gaited horses gait, anymore than every QH has a perfect pitty pat jog or pretty, head down, slow lope. And ain’t no way any rental gaited horse gaits- If they do it’s a rack or a step pace- they are more likely to try to save themselves in a hard pace.
Once again I want to thank everyone who has posted here trying to literally help me save my butt! :lol:
I’m still a little ouchy here, several days after the ride. 
All your posts have given me information to google and search the forums here (hard to search if you don’t have a search term…) I have spent lots of time reading up on old threads and reading various websites selling many kinds of saddles.
I DO like that Steele will send you a demo saddle that they warn you beforehand that “our demo saddles have seen many miles on the trail.” Boy- that would be a perfect demo to have, not brand spanking new so if you scratch it or a drip of something drips on it there is a spot, or whatever- no worries, it isn’t brand new. I also found a tack shop that isn’t too terribly far from here that carries Tuckers. So that is one I can go see in person. The shop doesn’t have a site so I don’t know yet if they do demos on the Tuckers but found another shop that does relatively nearby so shipping wouldn’t eat me alive.
My weight varies but I will admitt I am often a bit heavy for the treeless varieties. I’d like to blend in more than stand out, so if I ride something treed I will be less of a stand out.
I guess I have to go Google Fabtrons now, haven’t looked at them yet…
The quality of the rental horse’s gaits are what I am going to be stuck with at least for now as the boarding possibilities here are abysmal at best. So until I can find a place to keep a beastie of my own, I am going to have to make do. They are good natured at least… I cannot say that about my former beastie. At least I get to ride! 
Supracor Seat (bone) Saver
Ouch! I feel your pain regarding the seatbone issue. I have the same problem with any treed saddle. A fellow board member recommended the Supracor seat saver and it IS an amazing difference! I’ve tried the others (fleece, gel, etc), nothing compares to the Supracor!
Get yourself a Supracor and take your time finding a saddle you love. You may want to use it on the new saddle too.
Honestly, I think riding gaited horses is harder on our pointy seatbones than riding a trotting horse where you are posting and in two-point at least some of the time. If you are on a smooth gaited horse (mine is a very glide-ride Foxtrotter) there is still movement (and friction) in your seat, just no bounce.
FWIW I have been searching for a treed saddle that I am comfy in because my horse gets sore from my seatbones through a Bob Marshall, thinline and a Skito pad. (I am 5’5" and about 140 lbs but apparently my butt is not well-padded.) I got a synthetic english to tide us over until I find what I really want, and the Supracor made it so I didn’t get bruised from the tree. With that I thought maybe if I couldn’t feel the tree on my seatbones, maybe Jakey wouldn’t feel my seatbones thru the Supracor with the treeless saddle. Yesterday I tested the theory…we rode 15.5 miles in the treeless…at all gaits, including a 14 minute canter stretch…and he never complained :). This morning, no tenderness :). I think we might be onto something! Supracor rules!
I know you’re looking for one without a horn, but I saw the Tennesseans mentioned, and had to add in my 2 cents. I just bought a Tennessean for my horse (he’s a Paint who hasn’t figured out he’s not a gaited horse yet) and I LOVE it. Its comfortable, beautiful in person, and sat me in a really good position. My horse obviously thinks its more comfortable too, because he completely changed how he moved, so much so that I had several people ask me which horse I was riding. The seat is also much better designed for a woman’s shape than many other western saddles I’ve tried. Mine has the double c plate rigging, which is also very nice, since I can position it differently depending on the horse without the girth intefereing with movement.
Anyways, thats just my experience. Good luck on the saddle search!
I stopped riding endurance after many years over the past year or so, but I didn’t sell my competition arab. But I did buy a rocky mt horse, gaited. I am using the same saddle for both horses. Both horses are a wide width. I have a crosby med width but it doesn’t fit either horse. Love that saddle too.
I am riding in an Arabian Saddle Company Solstice. Not a gaited saddle. I will never ride with a horn. Hate horns.
You have to find a saddle to fit you, and your horse. Just because a saddle says “gaited” doesn’t mean it only fits a gaited horse. No you need a gaited saddle because you have a gaited horse.
It is all about the fit. The fit of you. The fit of your horse. The fit of you both together.
The solstice is an english saddle. My filly gaits really well in this saddle. I have tried with NO success many other saddles. I was looking and thinking oh need gaited saddle. Nope. They do not fit my horse, and they were horribly uncomfortable for me too. This saddle fits us both, so we will stay with this one for now. It is a deep saddle but not too deep. Very cushy feeling. Also I can have it custom stuffed if need be. Gaited, endurance, or western saddles you can not. No horn on english either YEAH. I don’t like the rise of the fronts of western/endurance/gaited either.
I have ridden many endurance miles on all kinds of terrain with this saddle. Now I have ridden many miles on my gaited horse in this saddle.
Gaited horses come in all conformational sizes, widths, and movements. Not all fit in the same saddle. Just because it fits one horse doesn’t mean it fits another one. Keep your eyes open, you will find the right one.
Good Luck
Some good news-
My daughter took another lesson and I skipped - I still needed to heal, and it was good for her to have to pilot her own horse rather than fall in line and follow. She had to work a little harder…
This gave me the opportunity to talk to the Wrangler that was doing the lesson and when I told him that the saddle had damaged my seatbones he laughed and said he could get a different saddle for me to try, to let them know when I make my next ride reservation to tell him it was me coming and he’d get something better out for me. I might mention here that I tip the Wrangler when we ride and I am thinking maybe it is about to pay off! I am thinking that the wranglers that spend hours leading trail rides probably know which saddles are the best, and I am really hoping he is going to pull out one of the “special reserve” saddles.
Part of my daughter’s lesson included grooming and tacking up this time, and my suspicions about how well the tack is (not) fitting the rental horses was confirmed by the white patches (indicating bridging) on her lesson horse. I used them as a teaching opportunity for my daughter, pointed out the difference in back shape between her lesson horse and the horse we had previously, explained how different backs need different saddle fits. And I told her it was hard to keep a rental stable with perfect saddles for all the horses all the time. But even so, I feel bad for the rental horses now…
I have tried treeless…
And I wouldn’t recommend them for anyone who isn’t a pretty secure and in-shape rider.
Honestly, if you did get a treeless, from what I’ve heard the Sensation saddles are pretty good, but I’ve never tried one in person.
It worries me that you’re riding at a barn that is regularly letting tourists ride a 3 yo horse. My concern (aside from for that horse’s wellbeing) is that this sounds like an environment where you might end up having more experiences that are scary/unsafe/disastrous. If you sold your nutty TB to focus on trail riding, it sounds like the best solution might be to find another place to ride–where the saddles are a bit nicer and the horses are over 3.
I know that sometimes though, we just don’t have a choice; it might be the only place you feel is affordable (although buying a new saddle ain’t cheap) or the only place within driving distance. If, for whatever reason, you really feel this is where you can ride and it’s your only choice, I would maybe try out an Abetta Trinity endurance saddle. There’s no horn on them, the seat is a special gel cushion, you can put your own stirrups (english or western) on it, and I believe they run about $499. If these horses are using such horrible tack you could get a full Q/H tree and call it good I think? Not really a western rider here, but from what I remember gaited horses run wide? I think?
Riding shouldn’t = bruises! Hope in the future it’s a little more pain free–for you and the horse.
Have you told the wrangler/owner that you want to use your own saddle? They might not want that. I could see some liability issues (what if something happens to your saddle while you ride and you get injured?). I agree with Tollertwins, get your self a sheepskin seat cover, or something like that. Much cheaper, and it will fit all saddles.
I’ve never heard of a place that rents 3 year olds.
Erin
Why wouldn’t you recommend them for anyone who isn’t a secure rider? My treeless saddle, (a Sensation Hybrid) is hands down the MOST secure saddle I’ve ever ridden in. I’m 49 years old, have ridden most of my life and owned my own horses for the last 18 years. I’ve almost always ridden in western type saddles thinking they offered the most security until my horses started having issues with it. In my quest to make my horse more comfortable I started to investigate treeless saddles, demoed and purchased my hybrid and will never go back to a treed saddle. My horse is happier and my butt, legs, knees and hips are happier. I weigh 175 lbs use a mounting block when I can but I can and have mounted from the ground in this saddle.
Just as with treed saddle there are many, many different treeless saddles of varying quality utilizing different technology and styles. Some offer spine relief on their own but most should be padded with a pad made specifically for treeless saddles. Some offer closer contact than others (all Sensation models offer close contact). Some offer a better twist for the rider than others do. The Sensations have a good twist but should someone need more they offer bolsters to apply under the seat in that area. They offer excellent, secure balanced, seats in all of their models.
I understand that everybody is different and to each his own but I’ll never put a stiff treed saddle between me and my horse again when there is such a nice comfortable alternative.
BTW, I’ve never heard of a 3 year old in a rental string either…poor baby.
Riding at this place is a driving distance thing added in to having tried everywhere else I could and meeting some exceedingly STRANGE people:eek: and one place that was nicer (though still rather odd) but they don’t ride if it is below 50 degrees.
So if I pick my daughter up after school and she is looking forward to riding, we haul a$$ to get there in time only to find that, nope, not riding today, temp has just dropped to 49. :no: So we have burned lots of gas and put many miles on the car for NOTHING and a disappointed kid to boot. :mad:
Add that to the fact that I am allowed to co-teach in the lessons and it is a very low stress environment which is reeeeeally good for my DD at this point in her riding, well, it is where we have ended up.
I’m trying to make the best of it, because - at least I get to ride. My kiddo gets to ride. It’s not perfect. It is what I have to work with. Darling 3 yo does not buck, so he’s got the 12 yo TB beat. The little guy is a doll…
I understand your situation completely. The things I would put up with just to ride when I didn’t have a horse! There’s some weird people out there. One couple was happy to have me ride, but didn’t want me to use the horse’s saddle, bridle or grooming supplies, since they didn’t want anyone messing up their stuff (but putting a stranger on their horse was okay). Another lady didn’t tell me her 16 year old had never been on a trail (he was an ex-show horse). Ten minutes off the property he dumped me. She was surprised, because he behaved so well at the shows, so why would he have a problem on the trail?? I still suggest using some sort of a saddle cushion, that’s what I did when I rode different horses.
50 degrees? Heck, I still wash my horse’s tail in that weather.
[QUOTE=Minerva Louise;4660065]
Riding at this place is a driving distance thing added in to having tried everywhere else I could and meeting some exceedingly STRANGE people:eek: and one place that was nicer (though still rather odd) but they don’t ride if it is below 50 degrees. So if I pick my daughter up after school and she is looking forward to riding, we haul a$$ to get there in time only to find that, nope, not riding today, temp has just dropped to 49. :no: So we have burned lots of gas and put many miles on the car for NOTHING and a disappointed kid to boot. :mad:
Add that to the fact that I am allowed to co-teach in the lessons and it is a very low stress environment which is reeeeeally good for my DD at this point in her riding, well, it is where we have ended up.
I’m trying to make the best of it, because - at least I get to ride. My kiddo gets to ride. It’s not perfect. It is what I have to work with. Darling 3 yo does not buck, so he’s got the 12 yo TB beat. The little guy is a doll…[/QUOTE]
There are not any riderless horses in your neck of the woods? Have you checked that thread?
Kat, have checked the thread. There isn’t a one.
