Stubben saddle tree question

[onlyTBmares]

Last night I had the Stubben rep out. She is also an independent saddle fitter and does reflocking for any saddle. I was overall a little underwhelmed. I expected her to behave more as an independent saddle, fitter less as a Stubben rep but obviously she would like the commission so I don’t blame her and I do think it’s an option. However, she said some things that had me scratching my head a little bit, the main thing she pointed out is that it doesn’t matter if a Steuben saddle is bridging because they have a flexible tree. It was severe, maybe an inch or more of open air. Does anyone have any information or educated opinion on this comment?

Cross posting in eventing as I know they’re more popular in eventing.

[hj.eq.xc]

not a stubben fitter but a stubben user/saddle nerd, yes some bridging is okay because of the construction of their tree and how they tension it. the bridging you describe however, sounds like it would be too much even on a stubben. was it girthed up and bridging like that? couldn’t really say without a picture but over an inch sounds excessive