Hi Pam >Karen, actually he would benefit if horses had sore backs cause he works on >them. I wouldn't think a high level dressage horse would perform well if >they hurt. That is why I will have a very good saddlefitter who doesn't >sell saddles tell me if it does or not.
>Those that use treeless exclusively, do you have your horses checked >for back problems regularly, or do most of you have the experience to >tell if something is wrong. For the past 30 years we have been working with people to teach them how to identify and help horses with sore backs. I use both Treed and treeless saddles and my experience has been very different from your vet/chiropractor. Like anything it definitely depends on the horse, rider, type of riding and the treed or treeless saddle. While some saddlefitters don't sell saddles they generally have in common that treed saddles keep them in business and treeless don't. I have met more and more saddle fitters who are looking at treeless and even have a master saddle fitter whose wife has bought a treeless saddle because they couldn't find a treeless saddle that worked on their cob. He is a completely different horse in the treeless saddle. I would agree with Karen that most of the treed saddles I see are too narrow for horses and the stirrup bar is often the cause of a major pressure point. I think like treed saddles not all treeless saddles offer helpful support. I also think that no matter what type of saddle (treed or treeless) you ride in that the rider's way of sitting and carrying themselves in the saddle makes the biggest difference to whether a horse gets a sore back or not. I check our horse's back regularly and also have regular visits from our vet who does TCM - acupunture and chiropractics and yet for me the biggest thing is to watch for the attitude of the horse - are they easy to catch, stand quietly for grooming, being saddled, to mount, do they rush off after mounting, are they cooperative under saddle - if thing change then the saddle is definitely something I look at first. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
