Checking the Fit of your Saddle

Goal of Fit: Bar Contact to the Horse’s Back

The bars protect the spine and distribute pressure from the rider’s weight evenly across the horse’s back. Larger riders and performance saddles need longer bars to give more contact area to distribute pressure.

Checking the Fit of your Saddle

The tree has two main factors that determine the fit; gullet width and bar angle. The combination of the two factors makes for slight variations in the saddle industry. There are not any standards or definitions of specific tree sizes, but each saddle builder provides a description to give an idea of the size of horse the tree should fit.

Gullet Width or sometimes referred to as bar spread is the measurement 2 inches below the narrowest part of the gullet, even with the side conchos. This is the most common factor because we can measure it more easily. When measuring, make sure you’re underneath the bars, not in front of the saddle.

A narrow gullet width will keep the saddle perched higher. A wider spread will drop further down on the horse’s back.

Bar Angle is not often measured but the angle needs to be as close to the angle of the horse’s back as possible.

A narrow or tight angle will make contact at the bottom of the bars, not the top. A wide angle will make contact at the top of the bars, not the bottom.

Approximate degrees (+/- 3 degrees):
86 degrees - Normal/Narrow Angle
90 degrees - Wide Angle
94 degrees – Extra Wide Angle

Other Factors

Bar Flare: The bars will flare to some degree in the front and back of the saddle. The front will flare away from the horse to allow for shoulder movement. The back may flare to keep the bars from digging into the croup.

Bar Slope or Rock: The curve of the horse’s topline should be as close to the shape of the bars as possible.

Bridging: When the bars make contact in the front and back of the saddle, but not in the middle. It causes what looks like a bridge across the dip in the back. The weight of the rider is carried only at the ends of the bars causing a lot of pressure that can result in white hairs and sores.

Rock: when the bars bend more than the horse needs. This is the opposite of bridging and less common. The saddle may tip forward, though that could also be from a saddle that is too wide in the front. Rock is found on horses with a flat toppling.

Tree Sizes

Semi-QH: Semi Quarter Horse can be referred to as Medium, Regular, or QH bars. This tree size has a higher pitch or angle to the bars. It’s for the horse with a more defined wither. (1/2 Arab, Appendix, Thoroughbred, etc).

Full-QH: Full Quarter Horse or FQHB can be referred to as Wide (usually 7” gullet). The angle is flatter compared to the Semi-QH tree. This is for horses with a broad shoulder. They’re considered mutton withered or a less pronounced wither. (Quarter Horse, Paint, etc)

Arabian: Have a narrow front (usually 6.5" – 6.75" gullet) similar to the Semi-QH bar but the back of the saddle has a flatter pitch angle. So the saddle goes from a little narrow in the front to flatter or wider in the back. Can sometimes fit non-Arabian horses.

Gaited: The gaited tree has a higher gullet to accommodate the higher withered horses. They usually have a wider or flared front to allow for shoulder movement. The tree narrows toward the back where the bars have more pitch. The gaited saddles usually have more rock to the bars. (Tennessee Walker, Fox Trotter, etc)

Haflinger: Short backed, mutton withered – these trees have a flatter pitch to the bar angle and very little rock. Usually a 7.5" gullet, they’re often used on other large horses needing an extra wide tree.

Draft: Usually an 8" gullet to fit on large draft horses.

Flex Tree Frequent Questions

1. Can flexible trees warp or cave in?
We don’t know where this myth came from, but quite frankly, it’s preposterous. Flex trees are relatively new to the equine industry (in comparison with the age old wooden tree), and we suppose that if someone only heard the term “flexible tree” without knowing what it is, this myth would be easily spawned.

Many people hear the term and assume that a flex tree is bendable like a piece of plastic or rubber. In reality, flex trees only “flex” about a centimeter in either direction, and only under pounds of pressure. You would probably find it hard to even see a flex tree “flexing.”

This centimeter of movement, however, is what makes the flex tree more comfortable for the horse and allows the saddle to conform better to his movement. We’re not going to recommend flex trees for roping or ranch work, but we’re willing to say that under trail and pleasure conditions, there’s no way a flex tree is going to warp or cave in.

2. Do the neoprene bars cause the saddle to flatten out on the horse?
No. Flexible bars made out of neoprene are made out of very heavy neoprene; think about the rubber sole of a work boot. The bars will not flatten out on your horse because they are connected to a ground seat, which forces the saddle to hold its shape.

3. Will the flexible bars help the saddle to fit better?
Yes and no. It depends on how good of a fit you have, to begin with. If you have a bad fit, to begin with, the flexible bars may make the fit tolerable, but by no means comfortable for the horse. If you have a good fit, to begin with, the flexibility will allow the horse to work with the saddle, giving him more freedom of movement in the shoulders.

4. The flex trees above are made differently. Is one better than the other?
If you want the highest quality, go with the flex trees that incorporate a wooden cantle and swell with neoprene bars. You get the benefits of strength and durability of a traditional wood tree with the new flexible technology. We don't see these saddles wearing out very easily.

Circle Y Flex2 Tree

Many people ask about the Circle Y Flex2 Tree.  We decided to go inside the saddle and show you some of it's great features!  It's one of the best trees on the market; great for trail riders and running barrels.

Circle Y Flex2 Tree

The tree has a two part system that provides flexibility and stability.  The edges of the saddle (black bar) will flex to eliminate pressure points and allow better movement.  This flexibility makes your horse feel more comfortable and confident.  The center area underneath the rider has a thicker bar (white bar) that does not flex.  It helps distribute the rider's weight and gives strength to the tree.

The Flex2 Tree also has a wood swell, which helps keep a consistent fit that doesn't widen over time.
The ground seat on the saddle will prevent it from over-flexing and gives support for the rider's weight.

The black coating on the swell is DuraHide which adds strength and seals the tree from the elements.  It can even withstand temperatures from -50 to 350 degrees!

We get asked time and again, are flex trees bad for my horse?  Can a heavy rider use a flex tree?
Circle Y has been making these trees for years with great results, just ask Kelly Kaminski, Julie Goodnight, Martha Josey, and many more that use the Flex2 Tree!  They even make many models in 17inch and 18inch seat sizes specifically for larger riders to use.

The Flex2 comes in Regular size for the average build, higher withered horse and Wide size for the broader, mutton withered horse.  They even make a few models with an Extra Wide, Gaited, Arabian, and Mule fit.

Don't be afraid of a comfortable saddle!  Your horse will thank you for it!  Check them out right now at Horse Saddle Shop, #1 Circle Y Dealer!

Reverse Auction 101

What is a reverse auction?

Most of us have been to an auction before or watched one on TV. My favorite just happens to be the Barrett-Jackson car auctions which I usually happen across on a lazy Saturday morning. 

The essence of the auction is to bid the price higher. This largely benefits the seller. If they have a great item, chances are, they are bound to make a good deal of money. 

With a reverse auction, the idea is to start at the asking price and gradually lower it until someone purchases the item. The beneficiary in this case tends to be the consumer - YOU!

Our Saddle Auctions

Have you ever had a brand new shirt in your closet with the tags still on it and you just knew you'd never find the right time to wear it? Believe it or not, the same is true for saddles. We carry a huge inventory of saddles (with the tags still on them) which help us deliver them within days of your order instead of the typical 4,6,or 8 week wait to manufacture it. 

That also leads to a massive amount of saddles sitting around the shop! As I write this, there are at least 16 saddles sitting in my office because there just isn't enough space to store any more! (I'm not complaining. I love the smell of leather)

Proof! There are 16 saddles beside my desk!

Our solution? Sell these to our Facebook fans at prices they can't pass up - reverse auction style.

How to Participate

We're planning on running a Facebook auction every business day for the rest of the month (Jan 2013)

How can you get a great saddle at a rock bottom price? 

1. "Like" us on Facebook
2. Sign up for our weekly email so you can see what saddles are coming up that week
3. Find the saddle you want, do your research, and wait patiently for it to go on the block
4. On the auction day, claim your coupon before someone else does! 

Every hour, we will updated the price of the coupon on Facebook. It's a single use coupon, so the person who uses the code first is the one who gets the deal. The idea is to use the coupon before someone else does! 

Send an email to support@horsesaddleshop.com with any questions. We'd be happy to help you out with any of your saddle auction questions. 

Happy auctioning! 

Reverse Auction 101

What is a reverse auction?

Most of us have been to an auction before or watched one on TV. My favorite just happens to be the Barrett-Jackson car auctions which I usually happen across on a lazy Saturday morning. 

The essence of the auction is to bid the price higher. This largely benefits the seller. If they have a great item, chances are, they are bound to make a good deal of money. 

With a reverse auction, the idea is to start at the asking price and gradually lower it until someone purchases the item. The beneficiary in this case tends to be the consumer - YOU!

Our Saddle Auctions

Have you ever had a brand new shirt in your closet with the tags still on it and you just knew you'd never find the right time to wear it? Believe it or not, the same is true for saddles. We carry a huge inventory of saddles (with the tags still on them) which help us deliver them within days of your order instead of the typical 4,6,or 8 week wait to manufacture it. 

That also leads to a massive amount of saddles sitting around the shop! As I write this, there are at least 16 saddles sitting in my office because there just isn't enough space to store any more! (I'm not complaining. I love the smell of leather)

Proof! There are 16 saddles beside my desk!

Our solution? Sell these to our Facebook fans at prices they can't pass up - reverse auction style.

How to Participate

We're planning on running a Facebook auction every business day for the rest of the month (Jan 2013)

How can you get a great saddle at rock bottom price? 

1. "Like" us on Facebook
2. Sign up for our weekly email so you can see what saddles are coming up that week
3. Find the saddle you want, do your research, and wait patiently for it to go on the block
4. On the auction day, claim your coupon before someone else does! 

Every hour, we will updated the price of the coupon on Facebook. It's a single use coupon, so the person who uses the code first is the one who gets the deal. The idea is to use the coupon before someone else does! 

Send an email to support@horsesaddleshop.com with any questions. We'd be happy to help you out with any of your saddle auction questions. 

Happy auctioning! 

We Touch Our Products

We have over 500 saddles in stock, and we don't hesitate to let it be known. Why, you might wonder, is this important? Well, not only do we enjoy having a brick-and-mortar store where we get to help local customers, but we owe it to our customers to know our products.

Many companies online are only dropshippers. This means that someone put up a retail website and is simply acting as the middleman between you and the manufacturer. These companies do not have an actual store, and they do not have any products. Most likely it is a person with a computer and an extra phone. When you place an order, they have the manufactuer ship it to you.

We do use drop shipping with our manufactuers if a customer orders something that we do not have in stock. However, our inventory is always being rebuilt, and we see, touch, and handle our products. Our saddle experts are not a joke; we know the saddles! I was recently browsing the subject of dropshipping and found a very interesting article proclaming how easy it is to become an online saddle dropshipper. These are actual quotes from this article:

"We have the saddles dropshipped so we never actually touch the product."

"We are not horse people at all. We have each ridden on a horse once or twice. You will need to do a couple of hours of research to find out a little bit about horses before you can start taking phone calls."

Is this the type of company you want to buy your saddle from? Our saddle experts are not only handling the products all the time, they're answering complicated saddle fit questions daily. Fitting all shapes and sizes of horses for people all across the globe is a constant learning process (not something you can glean from "a couple hours of research"), and our experts are always expanding their knowledge. Saddle dropshippers? Give us a break.

Signs of a Low Quality Saddle

You usually get what you pay for when it comes to buying a saddle. Dale, our senior saddle expert, manages the shop and often has customers come in bragging about their latest $200 find. Inside, he’s wincing. Dale has twenty years of experience repairing and rebuilding saddles from the tree up. He’s seen all of our manufacturer’s products from the inside; in fact, we’ve rejected selling many different brands because they didn’t earn Dale’s seal of approval. “The only way to lower the price on a saddle is to skimp,” Dale says. “Some companies skimp on the leather, some on the tree, some on the fleece.”

The saddle market is flooded with cheap Mexican and Indian imports that look good and are priced even better; unfortunately their flaws not only make for a short-lived saddle, but can often lead to a dangerous ride. After rebuilding so many of these cheap saddles for disappointed customers who fell for them in other shops, Dale can spot an imported saddle from ten feet away. Here are the trademarks for the rest of us:

1. Cheap or Imitation Leather:

Many imported or cheaply-made saddles have imitation leather that is usually a vinyl. There is no breaking in imitation leather. You can oil it all night and day; the saddle is going to remain stiff. But what is most shocking to most people who fall for the imported saddle is that many times the bottom layer of “leather” is made out of paper. Yes, you read that right. On a well-made saddle, two layers of leather are used to make the skirt. Many sketchy manufacturers, especially in Mexico, are now using pressed paper in between the top layer of leather and the fleece. This is unidentifiable from the side of the saddle. This material is actually 50-100 sheets of thin paper compressed together, then sewed to the top leather. How safe would you feel if your D ring was resting between leather and paper? How long does the saddle last when what your horse is sweating into is slowly disintegrating? Dale has had customers lose their D ring the first time they cinched up their new saddle.

2. Cheap Trees: Many of these inexpensive imports have trees that are made with sketchy materials. Dale has seen two combinations more than others. The first is a Styrofoam tree that has been dipped in fiberglass. He discovered this while doing repair work and a nail simply would not stay in the tree and was sliding right out. Upon investigation, he found that the tree was made of Styrofoam. This is scary for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, styrofoam can easily warp under pressure. The second combination is a low grade wood covered in plaster of paris, then wrapped in cheesecloth. This doesn’t sound too terrible, until you find that the plaster of paris succumbs to pressure and becomes powder. The more you ride the saddle, the more the tree is slowly disintegrating into a powdery mess. Because these companies are creating such generic trees, 50 to 60% of horses can’t even fit into them. The measurements are so generic that you’re lucky if it fits when it arrives. These saddles usually fit a large pony or small horse. Why? Because the trees are so cheaply made, the bigger the tree gets, the more likely it is to just fall apart. 3. Bad Hardware: The hardware is made of steel or low grade nickel, which will quickly rust. 4. Thin Fleece: The fleece is so thin you can blow on it to see the cheesecloth underneath. Our biggest concern over these cheap imports is not that you’re getting ripped off and will probably have to buy another saddle sooner than you planned. It’s that these saddles are usually unsafe. Pressed paper? Styrofoam? Buyer, beware. Your safest bet in buying a saddle is to know the manufacturer. Where are the saddles made? Ask questions about the materials. Most cheap imports do not have a return policy or a warranty. A question that usually comes to us after this explanation is What about Dakota? Dakota Saddelry is our lowest priced manufacturer here at the saddle shop and because their prices are so low, some customers jump to the conclusion that Dakota saddles are low quality. Not so! Dakota saddles are just as well-made as our Circle Y and Tuckers, using premium materials and great craftsmanship. The reason why Dakota’s prices are significantly lower is because Dakota does not have a working inventory. All Dakota saddles are custom made to order, which means you’re not paying any overhead. Fortunately, we have a large inventory that Dakota keeps filled for us so that most of the saddles online are ready to order. Here at HorseSaddleShop.com we pride ourselves on not being the Wal-Mart of saddle shopping. You’re simply not going to be ripped off. All our products pass our standards for high quality, and we keep our prices competitively low. You can buy with confidence knowing that you’re getting saddles and tack that are American made and will pass the test of time.