I have a saddle with a tree specifically for a Tennessee Walking Horse – or so I was told. I’m just wondering what size do most people use on their walkers? Does a walkers shoulders make them need a wide saddle, a flared front tree, or is it really not any different than any other saddle fit?
Educate me oh great COTHers. 
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I do not know TWH well, but a horse is still a horse. How do you fit a saddle to a TB for instance? You fit the horse. Each TWH is very different. Yes, they need to be able to move their shoulders, but so does any horse. Take measurements and work with a saddle fitter to find a saddle fit your horse. I found that my dressage saddle fits a TWH that boards with me very well. It is a med=wide tree. He is inclined to pace, but that is another problem altogether. Good luck in fitting the horse. I know that other people will give you a better answer.
But I have been having trouble finding a saddle to fit my mushtang…he uses his back and shoulders greatly. WOW does he have movement. I finally found a good fit for us both. My paso takes a 6.5 wide gullet with a little flare to the front of the bars and fairly normal back. This is my impression anyways. The same dressage saddle that fits the TWH fits the Paso as well.
common misconception that a gaited breed NEEDS a gaited saddle. Just find one that fits your horse and disregard any “gaited” in front of it, unless it fits your horse …
I use a treeless heather moffit fpheonix dressage on both of my walkers. They are wide bodied with low withers, fits them great. My ASB I ride in a wintec with exchangeable gullets. He is narrow and slab-sided and needs the wither height. Good Luck. Saddle fitting is such a chore … 
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I have a 6 YO grandson of The Pusher and Coins Hard Cash. We tried every saddle this side of the Mississippi, or so it seems. Finally took him to Rocking R Saddlery where, after dragging out all the fit forms…lo and behold…a plain old SQH tree fit him beautifully. Like, no lie. The Rocking R ‘gaited’ saddle, built with the flare and such to suit a TWH…inhales him. Too wide. This horse is almost 2 dimensional to view him head on: narrow as a blade of grass, then built ‘up’ to his loins and broad hips.
You just ought to fit the horse, period.
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Mine takes a wide tree, but I tried multiple brands of saddles to find one that fits him properly and makes him happy.
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Get a treeless
No seriously, I have had three horses I had to fit with this particular saddle: a tank of a QH mare, a 15 h Haflinger gelding and now my 16 h Standardbred gelding (high withered), I never had a problem, the haflinger was maybe a bit tricky since he has no withers but my Bob Marshall truly came through on all three of them.
Good luck in your search, I know it’s tricky!
[QUOTE=CanterQueen;3342107]
I have a saddle with a tree specifically for a Tennessee Walking Horse – or so I was told. I’m just wondering what size do most people use on their walkers? Does a walkers shoulders make them need a wide saddle, a flared front tree, or is it really not any different than any other saddle fit?
Educate me oh great COTHers. ;)[/QUOTE]
Education, aye! 
Yes, I’m sure you were told you had “TWH tree.” What you had was a moniker that is a marketing tool. There is no TWH breed standard; so there can’t be a “TWH tree” as there is no standard against which to make one.
So the question of gullet width, height, rock, twist, etc. is not a “breed” question but rather a question of fit for the horse standing in front of you.
The most common tree seen here in TWH Land is a Western pleasure tree of some type. Many do not fit well, but that’s because the saddle was bought because it was cheap, not because it fit. Another very common tree seen is the Planatation tree. Google Steele Plantation Saddles for examples. Steele makes a good product, by the way.* Maybe third on the list would be one of the Tucker offereings. These “Trooper” saddles are largely based on the British Universal Pattern military saddle that goes back to the late 18th Century (and is still in use today). Tucker also produces a quality product; they are very popular with the Field Trial crowd. After this “Big Three” listing you’ll see English pleasure saddles, Lane Fox style cutbacks, McClellans, and just about anything else you can imagine!
I’d avoid the so-called “treeless” offerings. They do not effectively distribute weight and have a significant potential to sore the back of the horse.
What kind of riding do you intend? Your use will determine tree type more than the horse’s breed.
Beware of the “gaited horse saddle” hype. As a general rule the gaited horse does not need any special saddle features. The claims of “increased shoulder room” (both the need for and provision of) are largely bogus because EVERY horse needs adequate shoulder room (if you don’t believe me watch some of the Rolex or the competitions at Spruce Meadows ).
Searching for the right saddle for you and the horse is 5% inspiration and 95% persperation. Good luck in the project!
G.
*If anybody out there really has a “TWH tree” it might be Steele. They have been pitching to the TWH market (and the very similar Racking Horse market) for a very long time. They do make a good product (we’ve owned one and I’ve personally seen several dozen more). Give them a “hard look”!!! G.
Also Google Dixieland Saddles and Gaits of Gold so you can see and hear many other gaited riders opinions.
Good luck!
Our 2 TWHs go best in their Imus saddles. YMMV.
In addition to flared fronts, gaited horse saddles are also rounded at the back skirts and typically have less skirting behind the cantle. The reach of both the hind and front legs, is what a “gaited horse” saddle will provide.
That said… every horse is different. The “rock” (the dip from front to back) also affects how a saddle fits a horse. the key is to ensure that the saddle is resting on the muscles on either side of the spine, that the saddle does not touch the withers and that there is at least 1 inch when a rider is in the saddle, and that the saddle does not interfere with hind leg movement and is not digging into the loins.
Many saddles have the “Steele” brand tree in them. It has a good flare and rock and seats well on most horses. Including QH. That tree comes in several widths as well.
A trainer that I know will use a Bob Marshall saddle when training many, many different types of gaited horses; however, she also indicated to me that for one particular horse, it would not be a good fit and would probably pinch due to the front/back motion of that particular horse’s movement.
I have a wide racking horse and a narrow walker. I have a wide gullet Abetta Special trail, regular old ralide tree, just with a wide gullet, that works dandy on BOTH horses. The walker uses it with an inch thick felt pad, the racker gets a thin synthetic fleece pad with a tacky underside. They both do great in it. Both need a round skirt saddle if Western. I have centerfired the girth a la Imus. This keeps the saddle from bouncing around when they gait.
The walker is also ridden in a cheeeep cheeep, I mean cheapy cheap like under 125 bucks synthetic Paragon-type saddle and has never had a problem with it. It has a generic “medium” tree and is pretty comfy for me, too.
Both horse also get to go out from time to time under a buddy’s Ortho Flex. They do best of all in this saddle, but not so much better than my saddles that I am motivated to rush out and get one.
Definitely give treeless a try, and for those that say treeless will “sore a horse”, they have not ridden treeless, or used the proper pads. Treeless is excellent, but not for everyone or every horse. As for the TWH Tree, Dakota make a “Walker Tree”, its an awesome saddle and tends to fit more horses than not… but I do wish they would give it another name. It called a Walker tree because is has a wonderfully flared front (which EVERY saddle should have) and a tiny bit of rock in the bars, it also has a rounded skirt to accomodate the generally short backed gaited breeds…
But a horse is a horse… find what fits him best. If he’s wide, look for a saddle with a flared front and wide bars… The Dakota definitely is a well made saddle, built “Ford Tough” and as far as the test ride on the variety of horses that come in our shop, it fits more horses than any other brand we carry. Tucker is great too, but tends to run narrow and may make you feel a bit “perched”.
[QUOTE=GallopingGrape;3344519]
Definitely give treeless a try, and for those that say treeless will “sore a horse”, they have not ridden treeless, or used the proper pads.[/QUOTE]
Or perhaps they’ve researched it, done some experimentation, and came to their conclustion based upon experience!
In any event, fit the horse in front you, not the horse on somebody’s web site or in someone else’s mind’s eye.
G.
I ride both my horses in Bob Marshall treeless saddles. I don’t do endurance, just 2-3 hour trail rides and the BM saddles work wonderfully. However, this TWH is my hubby’s horse. Said hubby weighs around 200 lbs. and I really don’t want to put him in a treeless if I can help it (worried about proper support).
Guilherme - thanks for the information regarding Steele saddles. I went out to their website and I like what I see. I’m not against spending time or $$ to get the right fit – I just wasn’t sure where to go/look/ask for. Well worth the investment in the long run.
DairyQueen - Gaits of Gold is the saddle he’s currently using. It fits his horse well, but the quality isn’t what I was expecting. Hubby has worn the leather thru on a fender in just a year or so of not-too-regular riding. I’m trying to get/buy a replacement fender from them (wish me luck, I’ve contacted them, but nothing so far). So, I started this thread to find out what saddles/trees I should be looking for.
Thank you Oh Great COTHers!!!
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[QUOTE=CanterQueen;3345388]
Guilherme - thanks for the information regarding Steele saddles. I went out to their website and I like what I see. I’m not against spending time or $$ to get the right fit – I just wasn’t sure where to go/look/ask for. Well worth the investment in the long run.[/QUOTE]
Steele has a “try before you buy” program where they will send you a saddle of the type and size you’re interested in for a week or two (I’ve forgotten the time period). It will likely be a “beater” (it was when we did it) but allowed us to fully assess the suitability of what we thought we wanted. We did change a couple of things when we placed our final order.
One thing with Planatation saddles is that they tend to put the rider in a “chair seat” as that’s how most TWHs are ridden. That’s the “default” mode for Steele. If you want to ride a more balanced or equitation seat they will modify the seat and stirrup position upon request (but I don’t think they have many requests ). Just something to keep in mind.
Good luck in your search.
G.
NOT TRUE. 
Spoken by someone who has NO experience with treeless saddles at all. We’ve been over this 50 times on this forum. If anyone wants treeless saddle info, do a search. You’ll hear from people who use them and have first-hand experience.
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If the GOG saddle fits him and the horse, I STRONGLY recommend getting a Crates brand (using the Steele Equi-fit tree) gaited horse saddle.
This shop in Wisconsin has the best prices I’ve ever found for Crates:
West 20 Ranch & Saddle http://www.west20.com/
Their shipping is based on actual costs, not dollar amount and many times, they don’t even charge shipping.
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Gabz, so why do you STRONGLY recommend a Crates saddle?? Just curious. 
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Cuz I have one, after trying several others on my QH… and 2 of my friends have bought the gaited saddles for their horses and LOVE them too. (I hauled my horse to a saddle fitter - he tried several bare trees on the horse and gave me a list of saddles to choose - I picked a Circle Y which was the worst fit ever for the horse and me)
The front of the saddle provides the necessary flare to free up the shoulders; the tree has the right “rock” (dip) so that it sits on the horse’s back and doesn’t bridge; and the seat has a narrower twist - even though I have the 7" wide, full QH saddle!! It’s much easier on my hips and tush. I’ve ridden in several other brands and too many times when I get it the right width for my horse, I can feel the bars of the tree beneath my thighs.
I like the flexibility of the fenders and stirrups - for reining - it gives you forward back movement - but for trail riding - it allows you that same flexibility so that you can change positions without torquing your hips, knees, and ankles.
It’s a great value for the money. Not exactly top of the line - but not cheap either. Great leather, great construction - but most of all a fantastic fit to most horses.
There are many other saddles I like too, but for a full seated western style, the Crates is what I consider to be a great value and a superb fit.
I have owned Simco (still have one of them); a couple of Circle Ys; Big Horn; and Fabtron. I’ve ridden in several others - the Tennesean is another adequate saddle - but it’s not full leather (nor is the Fabtron).
Good luck on that! My saddle the breat collar tugs pulled out on it!!! They were held in by nails - not skrews like it appears to be from the top of the saddle. GOG would do nothing to repair the saddle and told me my ‘warrenty’ was over (less then a yr of ownership) so hubby and I put the tugs in with skrews. So far our repair is holding.
When we got his saddle (a used one, cuz yes I agree the quality of the saddles has slumped in the past 3 yrs) we immediately switched the nailed in breast collar tugs from nails to skrews.
When I called then initially they did not respond. When I posted the problem on their message board it was WIPED OUT and THEN I got a PM, not a call, about how my warrenty was over. :no: Their customer service is lacking, IMO.
I had one of her bits less then a year and it broke in the middle. Again they stated they would do nothing at first over the phone, but after I posted about the problem the post was WIPED OUT and then a PM said to return the bit for a replacement.
