The cheapie treeless saddles on ebay?

[sublimequine]

I know right off the bat folks are gonna tell me ‘STAY AWAY! BEWARE! BEWAREEEEEE!’, but if I just want to try treeless, and not invest a ton of money in a saddle I might not end up liking, would getting one of the $100 treeless saddles on ebay really be a crime?

I know a lot of places say you can test ride one of theirs, but dang, by the time I pay all the shipping, and the time going back and forth from post office, etc, it hardly seems worth it.

So, anyone have experience with the cheapie treeless saddles on ebay? Probably won’t bother with a Hilason, but some of the no-name ones? Would it be worth it, to just give treeless a try, knowing I might end up hating it? :lol:

[Huntertwo]

Can you really buy them from Ebay that cheap? Don’t forget you’ll also end up paying a shipping fee from the seller.

IMO I’d still try to get a better one on a trial basis. It’ll still be cheaper in the long run. Probably more of a hassle, but I think cheaper.

Have you tried www.Tacktrader.com? Lots of saddles on there too.

[Auventera_Two]

I have one of the $100 ones and I love it. I bought it to be an extra for the days we condition in the river. I don’t want to be saturating a good leather saddle over and over again.

In any case - it’s great! Definitely worth the 100 bucks. The seat part is terrible. Very stiff and unforgiving. I took it off and just ride with a sheep skin.

I have doubts on the d-rings holding up for long term use though. They’re attached by little thin leather loops.

But for 100 bucks - I got the saddle in just a few days, it’s extremely comfortable, my horse loves it, and it will serve my purpose well. I also bought another more expensive treeless, and honestly, yes, the craftsmanship is obviously much better, but they ride exactly the same.

[saratoga]

I have a friend with a Hilason and a friend with a funky looking blue suede one from “Sydney Saddleworks” that cost about $250. They both do lots of trail riding and are satisfied with the saddles. My friend has ridden in my Barefoot and thinks that the SS one is actually more balanced. They are definitely not the best in quality but you may end up liking it.

[secretz]

Why don’t you just demo the treeless saddle from either torison or free form (action tack offers demos), it usually just costs 50$ plus shipping. I think it’d be cheaper than buying one of those knock-offs on ebay.

[Bogie]

If you monitor ebay and endurance.net you can generally pick up one of the better brands of treeless saddles for not too much $$. Yes, it would be more than $100, but you can generally resell them for at least as much as you paid for them. I bought a Barefoot Cheyenne used and actually resold it for $75 more than I paid!

I have both a Torsion EL and a Freeform. I bought each of them used for $700 but both were close to new. I see Torsions selling on ebay in the low 500s and at that price, you could resell them.

Problem with the cheaper saddles is that they might be more difficult to resell as you can buy them new for not too much. That said, the Sydney Saddleworks saddles seem to get reasonably positive reviews and they certainly aren’t too expensive.

[gothedistance]

SE -

I have heard too many unhappy stories from people who bought cheap, even just to try something out, or to use only occasionally.

If you want to throw $100-200 of your money away on a cheap-o Ebay buy, which you won’t be able to get rid of to recoup your money, by all means do so. But I consider that totally stupid when you can take that money to try out some really nice, well designed treeless saddles that will last. And I know some dealers that will put the cost of the demo towards the purchase price of a new saddle. You can’t beat a deal like that!

And if you don’t want to pay for a demo of a decent treeless, why not just go to a local endurance ride in the spring and talk to some of the riders that have treeless saddles that you like. Many endurance riders are incredibly passionate about their saddles and I’ll bet they will be happy to let you sit in one to try it out, and will tell you the pros and cons that they’ve discovered from using it on the trail and for conditioning rides.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;2859218]
I have one of the $100 ones and I love it. I bought it to be an extra for the days we condition in the river. I don’t want to be saturating a good leather saddle over and over again.

In any case - it’s great! Definitely worth the 100 bucks. The seat part is terrible. Very stiff and unforgiving. I took it off and just ride with a sheep skin.

I have doubts on the d-rings holding up for long term use though. They’re attached by little thin leather loops.

But for 100 bucks - I got the saddle in just a few days, it’s extremely comfortable, my horse loves it, and it will serve my purpose well. I also bought another more expensive treeless, and honestly, yes, the craftsmanship is obviously much better, but they ride exactly the same.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your input. That’s kind of what I was thinking.

secretz; Because at $50 for shipping, I could buy half a cheapie ( :lol: ). And at least with the cheapie, if I decide I don’t like it, I can sell it. If I pay all the shipping for a demo and decide I don’t like it, I don’t get any of that money back.

gothedistance; I’d love to talk to some endurance riders, but there’s nothing like that around here. I live in the middle of nowhere. :lol:

[gothedistance]

@sublimequine;2859653

gothedistance; I’d love to talk to some endurance riders, but there’s nothing like that around here. I live in the middle of nowhere. :lol:

Guess you’ll need to trust our opinions then, huh?

What are you planning to do with this treeless? Hack around locally? Long trail rides? CTR? Dabble in endurance? Jump? Do dressage?

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=gothedistance;2859678]
Guess you’ll need to trust our opinions then, huh?

What are you planning to do with this treeless? Hack around locally? Long trail rides? CTR? Dabble in endurance? Jump? Do dressage?[/QUOTE]

Light arena work (no longer than 45 mins) with the occasional short trail ride? I’d probably switch to my treed saddle for the especially long trail rides, more for my sake than my horse’s. :lol:

[Jess1]

Well if it makes you feel any better I will purchasing one of those as well within the next few months. I’m sure my abetta will fit my mare Kandee, but I just want to try another treeless and it’s cheap enough for me LOL

[gothedistance]

@sublimequine;2859700

Light arena work (no longer than 45 mins) with the occasional short trail ride? I’d probably switch to my treed saddle for the especially long trail rides, more for my sake than my horse’s. :lol:

You may find the treeless so much more comfortable than your treed… that you’ll be using it more often then not --but only if the cheapo is decent. Many are not. They are, as a rule, poor construction, poor materials, and poor design.

Just remember – you get what you pay for.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=gothedistance;2859864]
You may find the treeless so much more comfortable than your treed… that you’ll be using it more often then not --but only if the cheapo is decent. Many are not. They are, as a rule, poor construction, poor materials, and poor design.

Just remember – you get what you pay for. ;)[/QUOTE]

Oh, I don’t mean comfort, I mean more stability for meltdowns, explosions, sideways leaping, etc. My mare can be a liiiiiiittle dramatic.

[gothedistance]

Hmmmm. It could be your mare is “dramatic”… because her back hurts from the treed saddle. So maybe even a cheapee treeless might make the difference.

Good luck with whatever you buy.

And…if you find you like riding treeless (it does open up a whole, new world of comfort for the horses and their riders) and want to do it full time, look into the better treeless. All of them will go along beautifully with that bright pink tack you are lusting over.

[Auventera_Two]

My mares go much better, even in the cheapo treeless than they do in the Abettas, and I thought they did pretty good in the Abettas. Hmmm. I love the Abettas, I really do, but I’m really digging the treeless too.

I borrowed a Barefoot London from a lady on this forum for a couple of days, and while I did like it, I could feel the stirrup buckle hard under my left thigh, and the saddle left me in such extreme pain I was on Ibuprofen for days. I just felt twisted and strained. I had to hold my back and hips tight in order to stay balanced on the horse. I had to get my hips adjusted at the physical therapist (twice!), and do message treatments. :eek: The saddle was well made, and the lady who owns it likes it, but it just did not work for me. I think maybe the stirrups being set a little farther back and the straight flaps forced me to pull my hips farther back than I’m used to.

The cheapie I’ve ridden in for several hours already and not had any pain. But like I said, I have the Bandos now, which is by Freeform, and I love it too, but honestly, it doesn’t ride any different than the cheapie. The workmanship and materials is much better, obviously.

I’m not sorry I bought the cheapie. For $126, it will suit my purpose fine. And if it falls apart in 2 years - who cares. At least that was 2 years of riding, versus paying $100+ for a demo that you get to ride in for one week. :lol:

I would not rely on the cheapie as my sole saddle for doing all training and competing in. But for light riding, and a backup, sure. For giving the treeless thing a test whirl, sure. For going in the river, or to do a short ride, sure.

One thing I’ve figured out, is that you really should use a breast plate. It helps with stability.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=gothedistance;2860516]
Hmmmm. It could be your mare is “dramatic”… because her back hurts from the treed saddle. So maybe even a cheapee treeless might make the difference.

Good luck with whatever you buy.

And…if you find you like riding treeless (it does open up a whole, new world of comfort for the horses and their riders) and want to do it full time, look into the better treeless. All of them will go along beautifully with that bright pink tack you are lusting over. ;)[/QUOTE]

What pink tack? What are you talking about? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nope. No idea. Not me. :lol:

And I’ve been told by multiple people my treed saddle fits her well, but of course that’s never a sure thing. That’s kind of another big selling point for me, there’s a LOT better chance of the treeless fitting her, whereas finding a treed saddle to fit her was a nightmare (super-wide, downhill, broad shoulders, long-backed, mutton-withered, etc).

[Auventera_Two]

Be aware - treeless saddles come with a fiberglass pommel and cantle that can cause pressure. I took the pommels out of both mine and stuffed them with foam and old cloth. If you do it carefully, you don’t get lumps or hard spots in your stuffing.

There was no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that either of those saddles were fitting my mares the way they came to me. The pommels are so narrow and it propped the front of the saddle up about 7" off their backs. I was surprised at how narrow the Bandos pommel was. It’s like it’s built for razor back TBs. But it’s a very simple fix to unzip the pommel, take it out, and stuff with whatever you want.

Mounting from the ground is a big problem though. I have to use a block, or get the horse in a ditch. Even a big rock is a major help.

[winona]

Even if you get a cheap treeless saddle, remember to get a good pad that keeps the saddle off her back. Skito makes a good one…but a good one will run you more $$ than your cheapo saddle.

[Auventera_Two]

That’s definitely true Winona. I paid $100 for my pad. I also have a couple of nice thick sheepskin pads that work fine for short rides or arena work. I don’t think you need a ridiculously expensive pad unless you’re spending many hours in the saddle, or if you’re a very heavy rider.

[Willobeasty]

Yup. I had a blue suede one and it was perfectly serviceable. And quite comfortable. We sold a couple horses and also sold that saddle to a lady who just loves it too. If I dig around on my hard drive long enough, I have pictures of us on a camping trip in the Flat Tops Wilderness - I rode that little saddle for a week because my “proper” saddle was a touch wide on the mare I was riding. So I switched to the backup and I’d have to say, although I was a little leary of attaching a whole days worth of provisions and then riding over 10000’ a day of elevation change, it did beautifully.

I did have a HAF pad for it. But you don’t need a $200 pad to try it out with, or for a short series of rides to get the “treeless feel”