Treeless saddle for jumping? Anyone tried it?

[HappyGirl77]

Hello all,
I have a hard to fit pony that I was thinking of buying a treeless saddle for. We’re still in the brakes and steering phase of training, but I do eventually hope to jump him. Unfortunately I don’t see my budget stretching enough to be able to afford a saddle for flat work and a saddle for jumping, so do you think a treeless saddle could be jumped in?

Although I’ve not heard or seen anyone doing it so far, I’d assume it would take a slightly better seat to stay with the horse with that much movement under you, then again maybe not with some of the padding on those saddles! And perhaps a breast collar for additional stability.

Right now I’m in the ‘career-phase’ of my life, so I don’t realistically have time to get a horse fit and ready for competition. My goal is to get him good enough to avoid public humiliation at schoolings and clinics, so the saddle does not have to be ‘show suitable’.

Any thoughts, comments or brand recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[TheTwinTiersHorse]

I ride in a Freeform Classic and I love it. It’s OK for small jumps, but not recommended for higher than a couple feet since it’s not set up to put you in a good position for jumping higher.

I ride two very differently sized mares in my Freeform and they both go very well with it. No sore backs.

Sensation makes a treeless jump saddle and has a trial program, I believe. I have been wanting to try it.

[TBPONY]

I jump 2’6 at home in an Ansur Classic. It’s probably not recommended but my jumping saddle no longer even remotely fits my mare and she just loves the treeless, as do I! No sore backs for either of us

[Twisting]

I have the sensation jump saddle. Love it. It is super comply for me and the horse. Horse is too young to jump yet. I did have to fiddle with the padding, and eventually hand make and add some lexan panels to the saddle to be really happy with its wieght distribution abilities. I tested it by two pointing, to mimic post jump stresses. No pressure points with the lexan panels installed.

I actually stuffed the lexan panels into the saddle itself, under all the padding when the saddle is upside down, so closer to me than to the horse. It makes my seat a little less squishy that way and I like the firmer base. I also cut up an old thinline pad and stuffed that in there, along with the manufacturers poron foam inserts.

I do dislike that I am limited in what pads I can use. I hate doing laundry, and the treeless saddle pads are all super expensive.

[HappyGirl77]

Oh wow, these are great answers. Thanks everyone!

So it looks like Ansur makes a jumping saddle; the Ansur Elite but you can also jump in the Ansur Classic (little over a thousand dollar difference there! )

Twisting why can’t you use a regular saddle pad? Are all treeless saddles like this or just the Sensation? I had just figured on using my Thinline pad.

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

So I just want to note that there are a lot of non-treeless wool flocked jumping saddles you might consider. Ponies are a pain in the butt to fit generally because most saddles sit on their immobile vertebrae (I went through all of this with my last pony). Amerigo has a fantastic line of jump saddles each designed to accommodate different back shapes. I purchased a Vega Jump barely used for around $1000 that I love! It’s practical as a “one saddle” situation.

And I do have stability concerns with jumping in a treeless. There is an awful lot of movement for needing to be steady and present and out of the way over a fence.

[Twisting]

The sensation doesn’t have a gullet, at least not one elevated enough to make me happy. Using a special pad creates the gullet. My ansur had a gullet, and didn’t require a special pad to create the gullet. But ansurs hare horrid at retaining their resale value.

My treeless doesn’t move much at all, and trust me my three year old mustang has definitely tested its stickability. She has some serious concerns about the large decorative rocks scattered around the property. They are a perfect hiding place for lions.

[TBPONY]

I definitely wouldn’t recommend jumping in an Ansur Classic. It is a really deep seated dressage saddle but I love riding in it and nothing else fits my horse currently so I hike my stirrups up about 6 holes and rip out the knee rolls when jumping. Not exactly pretty but it gets the job done and my horse and I have a ton of fun! Isn’t that what it’s all about!?

Ansur used to have a jumping saddle called the “Konklusion” but I guess the Elite replaced that. I’d look into that or perhaps one of the other treeless makers. Just curious, what is your reason for wanting a treeless saddle?

[HappyGirl77]

Why don’t the Ansur’s retain value? Do they not last as long? I like the way they look, and they seem to be common enough that I can find them on the used market (ie ebay! lol).

TBPONY, well as I said he is a very wide backed pony, with a shoulder that really lays back and being a pony, its also a very short back. So he really needs a wide tree saddle. I am rather petite and apparently have very narrow . . . hips? I really like a narrow twist. Any saddle that I’ve found to have a narrow twist and a wide tree ends up with me 6 inches above his back, lol.

The saddle he’s in right now fits him well, but its a honking huge western saddle, I swear that thing weights 70 lbs. Ugh. And it doesn’t fit me at all, I can only ride about 30 min in it but I can ride comfortably alot longer on him bareback (possibly this is because he’s a greenie and I am much less inclined to work on canter departs while bareback, lol) .

So my general thought process was that if I don’t like the way he and I fit together with a saddle, but I like the way we fit without a saddle, maybe a treeless saddle is the middle ground that fits just right

[Twisting]

The used ones retain their value, it’s just that first step out the door that is such a far drop. 2/3rd of their retail value seems to be lost when you “step off the lot”. I would never again buy one brand new. Used, it’s not as big a deal. Their jumping model can be difficult to find used and is there for a touch more expensive used. I do prefer my sensation over the ansur hands down. It’s so much more adjustable and tweak able and the adjustment and tweaking is part of making treeless work. You can have a custom made brand new sensation for what you will pay for a used ansur jump saddle. That includes getting a special pad. They also have a trial program. And with your situation I would definitely do a trial. Treeless saddles can still feel like wide saddle, and may not solve your problem.

[GreyDes]

I had an Ansur Konklusion (found it used) for a while. My personal experience is that it wasn’t great to jump in. Even with a breastplate, I’d get some lateral slipping. Maybe it would work better for someone with incredible balance, but I always felt like I was slipping in it, especially when landing.

I haven’t ridden in the Sensation, but have heard good things about them.

I ended up getting a treed saddle in a wide enough tree size for my guy, and that’s worked well for me.

On a slightly different note, the Ansur was an awesome trail riding saddle - it was super comfortable, and I ended up selling it to an endurance rider.

[HappyGirl77]

Hi all, turns out a friend of mine has an Ansur and she’s very willing to let me try riding in it (no chance of trying in on my pony as he lives to far away from her) AND I looked up the Sensation trial information. Really excited about that, it appears that they charge you $30 for the use of the saddle (plus ALL fittings, breast collar, girth ect whatever your horse needs) and shipping both ways to the nearest dealer. You get to ride in the saddle for 10 days (extensions were mentioned but not priced) and the $30 is then taken off the price of a saddle if you buy one.

So I hope to ride in both saddles here in the next few weeks, and hopefully I will remember to post the results on this thread so the next person that looks it up won’t be left hanging!

[TBPONY]

[QUOTE=HappyGirl77;7184643]
Hi all, turns out a friend of mine has an Ansur and she’s very willing to let me try riding in it (no chance of trying in on my pony as he lives to far away from her) AND I looked up the Sensation trial information. Really excited about that, it appears that they charge you $30 for the use of the saddle (plus ALL fittings, breast collar, girth ect whatever your horse needs) and shipping both ways to the nearest dealer. You get to ride in the saddle for 10 days (extensions were mentioned but not priced) and the $30 is then taken off the price of a saddle if you buy one.

So I hope to ride in both saddles here in the next few weeks, and hopefully I will remember to post the results on this thread so the next person that looks it up won’t be left hanging![/QUOTE]

Very cool about the $30 fees. Let us know what you end up with!

[RillRill]

Why don’t you get a treeless for flat work & a cheap well fitting treed saddle for jumping? I did this when I was eventing. I ride in a barefoot Cheyenne & have done everything in it, flat work, jumping, chasing cows etc. But nothing beats a good treed jumping saddle when it comes to higher fences.
Have you looked at the heather moffett saddles?