>>>> However, there's a piece I just read in a magazine by the Society of >>>> Master Saddlers which says treeless is not necessarily better, and may >>>> be worse, for the majority of horses.... : (
You should hear the other side of the coin on that discussion - regarding "Master Saddlers" in the UK - from Carol Brett! Keep in mind that Carol Brett promotes and mostly sells TREED saddles, and she is British herself. But, when she was searching for a maker of her Balance Saddles in the UK, she'd take molds of actual horse backs to the makers, and some of them actually made the saddles she requested...on their old standard trees! Not using the molds she provided at all! She'd be livid and ask them why, and they told her that horses aren't made like that, that they've been making saddles from the same trees for decades... Then she'd ask them what kind of horses they owned...and most didn't ride or own horses at all... Their "master saddlery" title, at least at that time, mostly referred to their skill with leather-making, not with knowledge of horses. Remember, in this example doesn't bring into play the "treed versus treeless" argument. It's not a USA versus UK/Europe thing either. This is a report from one British horsewoman who took on the widely-respected UK "master saddlers"... :) She was mostly trying to get saddle-makers to make WIDE saddles, not make the huge jump to treeless. And, I think this was happening probably less than 10 years ago... As Janice would say, follow the money. Do you think saddle-makers with decades or even centuries of vested interests in making saddles one way would jump at the chance to discredit their own business, and their own reputations? SOME might, but obviously not all will. Karen Thomas, NC
