Riding Treeless, Part 2

The interesting and totally unexpected side effect of riding treeless is that MY body doesn't hurt anymore.  I found this out kind of by accident.  I had loaned my treeless saddle  to a friend to try before she ordered hers, and I was riding my English Ovation.  One of the most comfortable all purpose saddles I've ever ridden - yes, it has a tree.  We just dinked around for a couple of hours, and when I got off of my horse that day, I could hardly walk.  My back was sore, my hiney was sore and my knees hurt.  I got my  treeless saddle back, and I haven't been in that beautiful Ovation since...

Riding treeless has been described as being as connected to your horse as you can possibly be, and still have a saddle on.  My saddle weighs 8 lbs. without fittings.  It fits everything from a pony to a percheron, and everyone from a kid to a 350 lb. man.  Heavy riders do very well in the treeless saddles.   There are special pads that provide all the protection to the horse's back that is needed, and from the horse's standpoint - it has to beat that same 350 pounds on a rigid tree.

A couple of years ago, Deacon and I competed in our first Competitive Trail Ride together.  It was my first CTR in 15 years.   My gelding came in with a perfect score, winning the Novice sweepstakes  - meaning his condition was good, no back or other soreness, pulse and respiration checks all good, etc.  I knew we had done the conditioning for the ride with no soreness, but actual competition is much rougher riding and I knew that would tell the true story.

Here's the biggest deal - before this saddle, I was ALWAYS the one doing tack adjustments.  I mean, get off the horse, scoot the saddle back or forward, dink with the pad placement, tighten it up - you name it.  I rode this CTR with no breast collar, no crupper and the saddle never moved.  I go straight up and straight down , and my saddle is still positioned over the correct vertebrae when I'm done.

Treeless saddles aren't for everyone.  They ARE for people who struggle with body pain in either the horse or themselves.  They are for people who trail ride for pleasure, they are for people who start young horses, they are for people who love to jump their horse, chase cows (as long as you don't try to catch one), team pen, sort, distance ride or do speed events (can you say "Extreme Cowboy Race"?).  They are for gaited horses as well. 

All treeless saddles are NOT created equal, there are some inferior products on the market.  But the great gains in technology that has given  us tiny cell phones has given us beautifully engineered saddles that are light, distribute the rider's weight over the horse's back, and enable us to ride long distance or short, all pain-free.

Riding Treeless

My friend Ren Hurst of Renegade Horsemanship & Hoof Care (more on her later, in the meantime you can Google her) suggested that I back up and tell the "WHY" of riding treeless, so for those of you that are new to the technology and/or the concept, I'll start back at the beginning:

I came to my favorite saddle out of desperation.  I had two young Spanish Arabian horses to start and condition for their career as distance horses, and nothing at all in my barn, leather-wise would fit them.

Nothing that my network of riding girl-and boy-friends had in THEIR barns would fit them.  I know, because we all gathered at a local arena one night and everyone brought me saddles to try.  I'd take saddles off of complete stranger's horses to try.  I'd take saddles off a complete stranger's HUSBAND'S horse to try...no luck.

I'd been riding with a girlfriend that owns gaited horses, and she rides a treeless saddle.  I really liked to look of it, so I borrowed it for a ride to try it.  I liked the seat well enough, but there was just an immense amount of "stuff" between the horse and I - knee rolls, padding, more pads, you name it.  And the stirrup hangers put my legs in a funky position (I'm sure this is a professional term...). 

Yet another friend knew I was in the hunt for a treeless, and sent me to a website where I promptly ordered the least expensive saddle they had.  The saddle arrived and I immediately went out and placed it directly on my gelding's back with no pad.  It fit like a glove.  No extra padding, no knee rolls, no extra stuff.  So far, so good.  I put the pad on and attached all the fittings - I chose english leathers and a dressage girth, although you can choose western endurance fenders and cinches as well.  Got on.  I was a little concerned about the saddle slipping since there isn't a tree, but had no problem at all.  That was it.  I've never looked back and have been hooked ever since.  The fun part of this is seeing my die-hard,  cattle-raising, showing and roping girlfriends riding THEIR treeless saddles - also a move born of desperation because of an inability to fit a traditional saddle to hard-to-fit horses.

The difference in my horse's way of going was immediate.  He stopped bucking down hills - well, can you imagine doing really steep grades with a rigid tree (and 120 lbs. on top of that) gouging you in the shoulder muscle?  I could immediately feel him round his back up underneath me when I went to collect him.  I can feel his heartbeat, I can feel him sigh, and I can feel his back hollow when his head comes up to stare down that dang turkey hen...


TO BE CONTINUED...

Decisions

This is my good friend Alice, on her elegant Tennessee Walking Horse, "Music".

We're just back in from one 4 mile spin on the trails in a Black Forest Treeless Shasta (size two, although we'll be placing her in a size three because of the length of her leg from hip to knee, not because she has a big hiney)...and now she's in the Black Forest Aspen to go out and do another short but intense ride.

I've got her in english leathers and irons here just so that she can feel the difference in the ride, but once out on the trail, she could definitely feel the stability in the Western Endurance Fenders and stirrups that she rode on the Shasta model the first trip out, and she thinks she prefers that for the body position that she rides in on her big-moving horse.  I have to agree.  The cutback on the Grandeur Suspension Pad was exactly what we needed for her slightly higher withered horse.

And here she is on my 14.3 hh Arabian mare Lucy in a black Shasta, size two w/english leathers and Stubben offset safety irons - my personal favorite in the safety iron class.  Note the same Shasta model going from the 17 hh TWH, to the 14.3 hh Arab, and fitting them both.

I love my work. 

I'll keep you posted on which one she chooses.

The Day After...

My trusted riding buddy John and I braved the blustering winds and did 9 miles along the lake yesterday.

I was riding Lucy in a black leather Shasta saddle that had become my personal saddle through default - because it didn't sell. My main market in these saddles are the brown nubuck Shasta models, and they sell like hotcakes. I just don't have a real niche for black saddles, so, since I can't stand to have anything sitting around not working, I rigged it as my personal saddle, and hit the trails. Yes, grumbling under my breath about how it will probably be slick-seated (since it's smooth leather finish) and hot in the sun...that was about a year ago, and as I rode the lake on this morning, I was quietly thinking how much I like the saddle, and now that it's going to live with a good friend of mine, how much I'm going to miss it.

This saddle is much like our Jack Russell Terrier "Daisy" who was the puppy not chosen. She was born white, without the obligatory spots...also, long-bodied, short-legged and roman-nosed - you get the picture. Not the dog I would have picked out of a crowd either, but I brought her home on trial, and it took about 7 minutes for her to have the household in her power.

Anyway, we rode our way up alongside the lake, hit the lodge for a cup of hot tea and a bathroom break, stretched our legs a bit and then ate our granola bars while wrapped in the wonderful leather chairs in the lobby, then headed back out to the paddocks to reclaim our ponies.

We did the return ride at a pretty good pace, and returned to the trailers feeling like all had to be well with the world since we had the privilege of starting the day on amazing horses, and with the entire park to ourselves.

I don't know about you, but I'm 50, pretty fit, but after just about any excursion I do a mental check of myself to see how I'm holding up - lower back, knees, neck - no pain anywhere. I'm so appreciative of good, quality equipment, and I'm grateful for the miles I've had in this saddle.

I think I'm going to order another one just like it.

Ride treeless!