Does anyone have experience with them? Pros/Cons?
How do you find the support? Is it comfortable for you and your horse?
Does anyone have experience with them? Pros/Cons?
How do you find the support? Is it comfortable for you and your horse?
I have not used one but understand a tree does a better job of distributing the riders weight over the horses back. Some treeless function just like bareback pads. They are also less stable.
If you are the heavier returning rider with a green horse from the other thread I would go with a very well fitted treed saddle. Safer all around.
^^Couldn’t have said it better myself!!
I had one years ago. The brand doesn’t even exist anymore, so I can’t give you useful feedback on the specific saddle. In general, some of them are fine for some people on some horses doing some things. Yes, I know that’s entirely too vague to be useful, but it’s the truth.
Broadly generalizing, they’re better for lighter riders than for heavier ones, more comfortable on narrower barreled horses than on wider barreled horses, and less stable on the horse’s back than a properly fitted treed saddle.
There is a ton of information available online. If you’re really interested in trying one, do your research first and then look for a used one. People seem to either love them or hate them, so you should be able to find some used ones sold by those who discovered they hated them.
Treeless saddles can be a great option for hard to fit horses, but it’s still important to ensure that the saddle is properly fitted to the horse and rider. We’ve made many different treeless saddles over the years, including the current line of Tammy Fischer treeless barrel saddles (she has several videos on our YouTube page explaining her saddles, and why she prefers treeless).
As others have mentioned, there can be some downsides to treeless saddles, which we have mitigated by using wooden swells and cantles to help the saddles keep shape, creating deep seats with high cantles, and adding liners in the skirts for stability. This way the saddle can move with the horse and rider without compromising on stability, comfort, or weight distribution.
It is still important to note that there will be a change in the feel from a tree saddle - you’ll be much closer to your horse, which some riders prefer to be able to better feel their horse’s movements. The fenders will be shorter on a treeless saddle because there is more give to be accounted for.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re using the correct pad with a treeless saddle, it’s important to remember that the pad also needs to conform to your horse’s back, so the saddle can conform to the horse and not to the pad.
Overall, treeless can be a great choice - one that many riders and horses enjoy.
My friend has a few treeless dressage saddles that she likes. I think the company is out of business now as they were not really popular in the dressage world but they worked for her horses. It was easier for her to get padding to fit the horse than to get different saddles. She went through a few horses before finding ones that worked for her and her family. Going from thoroughbred to drafty horse was less costly when just saddle pads were involved!
She has a few drafty horses now and they seem to appreciate the treeless saddles better than the treed ones. She only really walk/trots around but I have cantered and jumped small jumps in them without issue. Trail riding around isn’t an issue, either.
You do want to make sure you use the correct pad - her smaller horse with a bit of wither uses a pad with more of a channel than the big ole couch of a horse.