I read somewhere on the stubben website that their trees are made from steel. Has this always been the case? And how do I find out what kind of tree mine has? It is an older saddle, but I suspect no older than late 80’s, early to mid 90’s. It’s been very well taken car of. My reason for asking is I’d like to have the tree adjusted to fit my horse better. If it has the steel tree then this should should be fairly easy to accomplish I’d think. If it isn’t then id rather not risk damaging it. That also means Id have to look into getting an adjustable saddle (like wintec) to fit him while he is still growing. Any information or insite would be appreciated.
Contact Stubben USA, give them the serial number, and I’ll bet they can get you the answer.
G.
Where do I find the serial #?
IIRC, serial # is under the flap - not on the underside of the flap, but the leather beneath.
I’ll check mine next visit to the barn (10P night check… if I don’t forget…)
Sounds good. I’ll see if I can’t find it on mine tonight as well.
Stubben makes a pretty traditional tree-- steel headplate, wood frame, rails “springs” and linen stretched over all that. But I think the company discourages putting their tree on a tree press. That’s how everyone else is modifying the steel head of the tree, I think. Note, too, that the rails aren’t being widened or their angle changed. The extent to which you can change the fit of the saddle by widening the tree is limited, IMO. That said, I really like the Stubben tree. I think they make a pretty horse-shaped tree, one that’s comfortable for man and beast.
You will get a definitive answer by calling Stubben North America in VA. Or call Kate Athanas/Duchess Saddlery in NY. I believe she does their repair work for them. Or at least she used to.
The serial number is always found on the off-side billet cover. If you see a number between 27 and 32 (usually) and it’s on a line alone below the serial number, that’s the width of the tree in centimeters.
Hope this helps!
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On mine, the serial number and tree size are on the off side billet guard. Hopefully they can help you, but when I emailed them with my serial number a while back (saddle I suspect is from early-mid 90s) they said they didn’t have records from that long ago.
D’OH!
In my defense it was fairly dark in the barn, but I did not see the serial # where I thought it was.
Did not check the billet cover, so…
get a definitive answer
… might be easier and quicker to use a large magnet to see if it attaches to or is attracted to the saddle
My experience with Stubbens, as well. We have gaited horses and while they offer a “gaited tree” I’ve yet to have a problem with our Marchadors, and didn’t have problems with Walkers before that.
Good design engineering is a joy forever!!! 
G.
Perhaps these links will help: https://stubbennorthamerica.com/tidbit-tree-width/; https://stubbennorthamerica.com/crafting-a-saddle/ (# 8 & 9 show the tree); https://stubbennorthamerica.com/tidb…ching-saddles/;
And this one, too: https://stubbennorthamerica.com/custom-fitting/ – scroll down and the tree is explained.
Over half a century ago, we liked Stubben saddles because those trees had a bit more rock front to back, which made them easier to fit than the flatter ones.
The bigger riding centers had their own saddler for repairs and making basic halters and bridles and such.
They could change the panel flocking to fit better in the rocking saddles.
It was harder to fit if a tree tended to bridge than if it rocked a bit too much, especially in the larger sizes.
As a horse moves and a rider moves, a rocking saddle will put more weight on one area, but that area will move around.
In a bridging saddle, the weight will be more distributed between two points, but the same two all along and at times one or the other carrying most of the weight.
Flocking can help, as pads and shims can, but best to have a saddle that fits as close as possible, acknowledging that a horse’s back conformation and changes as it moves different parts of it’s body and rider’s weight and their changes will make that a challenge.
More rock than other brands is one more reason why many riding centers used Stubbens for their general saddles, but there were not that many choices then as there are today.
