Treeless Saddle Owners - Do they REALLY fit most horses?

[system]

Bob Marshall Treeless Sports Saddle

I have been seeking a treeless saddle and finally, after trying out a friends Bob Marshall saddle, purchased one. It was simple and I selected the exact features.

Can’t tell you how excited I was to receive the saddle but within minutes of looking it over I realized something was a miss. What was a miss was the pommel. The pommel was off center by 1/4". Might think that doesn’t make a big difference which is what the BM folks told me but I couldn’t agree because the ability to feel balance particularily when looking down on the saddle while seated on the horse was impossible.

After 4 weeks of discussion with the dealer, and finally having to deal with BM folks myself, I sent the saddle back. They offered repair. Brand new saddle ---- repair. So, being the person I am, I agreed that if they would tell me what they did to the saddle to correct the problem and showed me the repair, to the degree that I could believe the saddle was in tact and the integrity maintained, I would take the saddle.

Well, we are going on 3 weeks and no answer other than the saddle is ready to return to you.

Needless to say, I am not taking the saddle without being told how they repair the off centered pommel. Fortunately, I placed the purchase on a credit card and the credit card company is going to work to get a new saddle or refund.

sadly to say, as much as I believe a treeless BM saddle is a good saddle, I am seeking a total refund. I have lost my faith that the company will send me a new, not refurbished saddle.

One other note, the dealer did tell me when I contacted her regarding the problem, that BM had been having some problems. She also felt BM should give me a new not refurbished saddle.

Buyer be ware…

[pandorasboxx]

Has anyone tried a Sensation and a Freeform? I currently ride in a Bandos, and although it’s very comfortable, fits my horse well and is very, very secure, there’s so much stuff under my legs that I can’t put my leg on the horse. Do Sensation or Freeform allow more contact?

Thank you,
Erin

If you are interested in a Freeform that has less under the leg, go with the short skirted FreeWest base. The seats and bases are interchangeable and since I prefer to ride English, I put the Classic seat on the FreeWest base. It gives you much less under your leg and are easily able to wrap your leg around the barrel. The Classic is longer and gives you less leg contact.

[leheath]

The Sensation offers excellent close contact - it is very easy to get your leg on - but still offers plenty of support for the rider. My horse and I love our Sensation G4 dressage saddle.

[DistanceHorse]

Barefoot Cheyenne

I am 5’2" and I put aside my Wintec Pro Dressage and have been riding in a Barefoot Cheyenne size 2 for almost a year now. I use a Grandeur physio pad with inserts. It fits just fine on my gianormous KWPN, my pony sized Arabs and my daughter’s stocky AQHA. Actually, I also recently purchased a size 0 Barefoot Cheyenne synthetic for my daughter with a plain Grandeur pad and it works swimmingly well. It is even lighter than my leather version and is quite easy for my 9 year-old to hoist around. No rubs or slippage that I have seen and I ran LDs all last year with it. My kid even jumps in her Barefoot saddle. As far as getting bucked out of it I think it is a pretty secure saddle. I have good feel in it and can usually hang on in it OK. I have only gotten tossed off once while riding in it. Now just one thing----I must mention-when I first got the saddle I was not very happy with the ride. I felt all-over-the-place and like I was going to tip off the back over the cantle. Now I wouldn’t trade it for anything! It took me about 3 months of solid riding to break it in-not bad.

[dreamswept]

Got my Barefoot Cheyenne DryTex size 2. With my Skito pad. I’m quite frankly loving it, and my horse has a lot better movement in a treeless saddle than he did in my Abetta endurance. He used to sort of take short strides, but now, with his shoulders freer, he just strides out. His gaits have totally changed, much more forward and energetic.

I’m not saying it’s because of the treeless, because I think if he had a properly fitted treed saddle, he’s probably be doing the same thing. For me, going treeless was good because I have a hard to fit pony, and didn’t exactly have a lot of money for a custom saddle. I’ve got the good Skito pad, so it all works out.

I love the saddle, especially now that I’ve got a shorter girth so there’s no slipping (I went riding once, and my girth was just too long, so the saddle ended up slipping sideways and I had to extract myself and hop down to the ground, although we were turning/walking and in the dressage arena, so no harm done) I feel pretty secure and comfortable. It’s not a bad little saddle to have, although it’s not for everyone. To each their own, after all.

[chicamuxen1]

I have owned both Freeform and Sensations (plus others). If you want to stick with the english style saddle then I’d suggest one of the english models of the Sensation as they has minimal bulk under the leg, moveable/removeable knee rolls and really do break in and give you a nice pocket for you knees. If you are truly short then you may want to order a saddle with short flaps and they will do this for you. You can have the saddles completely customized.

The Freeforms do have better weight distribution IMO but I’m not crazy about the saddle base and flaps.But they have one model with adjustable knee rolls which will probably give you a better pocket for your knees. They are also testing entirely new models that I think will be a much better design than their current ones but the $$$ is quite high on these saddles, Sensations are lower priced.

I’m short and find that most saddles are made for people with longer thighs and the knee rolls are way out in front of my legs so I may as well have ordered a saddle without them. Many have bizarrely long flaps also. I demoed a couple of Sensations before ordering one. I got shorter flaps, cantle from one model, pommel from another one, etc. It was so nice to get a customized saddle at very little extra cost. These saddles also have pannels built into the underside and have a better twist than many treeless saddle do. and the seats are VERY comfortable. Not suitable for high withers but will work for medium withers with an appropriate pad.

Bonnie S.