Treeless Saddle Question!

Hello! I am buying my horse a treeless saddle, I am looking at getting a Double T to see if I like it and if I do I am going to invest in a Bob Marshall in the summer. I know most people don't like Double T's but I just want to give treeless a try. My question is do you have to use a special pad? I have seen a lot of people not use the special pads but I don't want to risk it and hurt Ben's back. When I was doing some research someone said it was like riding your horse bareback and that is the reason you need a special pad but people ride bareback all the time without hurting their horses back, would someone clear this up for me? At the moment he has this pad,

Charmayne James SMx Air Ride Barrel Saddle Pad

But I am buying him this pad.

Professionals Choice SMx OrthoSport CJ Pad - Statelinetack.com


Would these pads work? Or would I need to buy him a special pad? Thanks!

Bump!!

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Everyone I talked to who owns a TreeLess Saddle uses a special Pad, most use a Skito Brand.

I will say quite a few who who tried TreeLess had problems, I could only imagine with a Double T or Hilson, what problems could arise.

Some of the people love TreeLess

Of course only hearsay as I have never actually rode in or tried to fit a TreeLess.

Just from an engineering standpoint I think TreeLees is a gimmick

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You do need special pads..
But, you want to be careful about getting just any brands, some do not offer correct support for your horse and you can hurt their spine. I would really stick to the higher quality brands.

Also, from personal experience they don't all feel the same. I had a barefoot and a free form. The feel they give are completely different. I preferred the freeform and it had a lot for support you and for your horse. If you get one and hate it you can flip it fairly quick. They are still very new and expensive even if you get a used one.

Good luck, I hope this helped you. :)

After a few hard to fit horses - I love treeless. I have a Rebecca Underwood Softrider and are now waiting for my husband's. Also love the fact these come with the pad already.

But don't waste your money on junk! Save up for a good one. If you get a good treeless and decide you don't like it you can sell it for almost full price. The good treeless saddles hold their value very well. When you spend money on the crap saddles you will be out that money because you won't be able to resell it decently and you will chance hurting your horse - not to mention yourself since the cheap treeless saddles really lack the security of the better quality ones. And you will still have to cough up the money for a good one if you do decide to get a good one.

As to the pad - most people do not ride for hours bareback. That tends to be for shorter rides which a horse can handle occasionally for short term ( and some horses can handle bareback better than others). You want the spinal clearance and weight distribution that the proper pads offer for any real riding.

When most people ride bareback it's usually for less than an hour as a sweaty horse is not pleasant. Put a saddle on, treed or treeless and people may ride for several hours or more. The rider of a treeless puts pelvic pressure on the horse's back. That is basically two small points creating a lot of pressure with no tree to distribute the weight. I was watching a Liz Graves dvd and some of the riders used various brands of treelesson their walkers and I must say their riding style is different. I need to add that with a treeless you can't put any pressure in the stirrups as that narrow band can also make the horse sore.

Yes this!!
Cat explaind it much better. :)

Thanks. :)

Would someone please explain how a more expensive treeless protects the horse better than an inexpensive one. I can see that there may be differences in rider comfort. Think of the old tale the Princess and the Pea. No matter how many mattresses she could still feel the lump. No matter how thick the padding under a treeless, the pressure of the bones will still create pressure spots on the horse.

I can't say about other treeless but the Rebecca is much more structured than the cheap one we tried. The cheap one you could pick up and it did not hold shape and flopped more like a thick bareback pad. You can pick up the Rebecca and it holds it shape. Its not that the padding is thick, but much firmer and structured. It still moves with the horse better than a treed saddle, but the firmness still helps distribute weight much better and leave spinal clearance. I always have very nice even sweat spots with the Rebecca and have used it on everything from a haflinger and draft cross to a TB and they all ride well in it.