History of the Treeless Saddle

Wooden “trees” were first used on saddles to help soldiers remain on their mounts during battle. Even after the use of war horses died out, saddle makers continued to construct saddles with rigid trees. Italian cowboys designed and used treeless saddles as early as 1,000 years ago. However, they didn’t stick with the modern horse world until several years ago, when rider Peter de Cosmo worked with saddle maker Bill Huston to design a saddle without a hard wooden tree. The product was the Ansur treeless saddle, and it changed the lives of many horses and riders.

There are now many makers of treeless saddles, and they come in a wide variety of styles suitable for everything from trail to barrel riding.

Problems with Treed Saddles

Conventional saddles, both English and Western, are known to be the source of a host of issues with horses. Saddles can cause pain, overheating, discomfort due to improper fit, and pressure points along the spine of the horse. The horse reacts to the pain and poor fit with any number of evasive or angry responses, and riders believe they have behavioral problems with their mount when, in fact, there is a physical cause.

Saddle problems can manifest as bucking, reluctance to change gaits up or down, stubbornness when going out for a ride, puffing when saddled, moving off before mounting, stretching out the neck while riding in an attempt to get comfortable, early fatigue, poor posture, pulling on one side of the bit, among other behaviors.

As always with horses, the rider should consider first and foremost that a health issue might be the origin of what appears to be a behavioral problem. If a horse is undergoing saddle sores or pain from poor saddle fit, he will exhibit any number of the above problems as well as show physical signs, such as white hairs along saddle pressure points and the withers.

How a Treeless Saddle Can Help

Instead of resorting to intensive behavioral training, some riders have found excellent success with switching to a treeless saddle. Consider the facts: A horse in motion has a rolling gait, yet a wooden tree is immobile. A rider needs to have close contact with their horse’s back, yet most saddles perch us up too high to truly feel and correspond with our mounts using our seat and legs. Being able to match a horse’s motion, in the proper center of gravity, allows the horse to move more freely. A freer moving, pain-free horse is a happier horse. Happy horses are much more pleasant to ride and responsive to cues than those who dread even the moment of cinching on.

The treeless saddle conforms to the back of the horse much more than rigid saddles. It allows a greater range of motion for the animal. It places the rider a bit further back and does not encourage riding up on the withers, the incorrect location to sit.

Some cautions do apply: Treeless saddles have slightly less form (in terms of rigidity) than traditional saddles. Therefore, they are not for all riders, particularly those who are still green or as they say “require a saddle to stay on a horse.” It is somewhat like riding bareback, so if the rider is nervous bareback, they would need a longer adjustment period.

They allow the horse greater freedom of movement, which means that longer, more energetic strides will be taken. Again, the green rider, and even the seasoned rider, may find this situation uncomfortable as they are unused to the sensation of a horse moving with full power beneath them. Treeless saddles also tend to slip both when mounting and while riding. A non-slip pad is essential and should fix that problem, as will mounting from blocks.

A treeless saddle still requires the same degree of careful measuring for fit as a conventional one. However, many report that they are longer lasting and far more comfortable to both human and equine. They are an excellent choice for hard to fit or short-backed horses. They are highly customizeable in terms of stirrup placement and baffles.

Overall, the treeless saddle makes a great deal of sense when one considers the health and behavioral benefits to be derived from its use. I’d even go out on a limb and say that one is required to learn a “truer” style of riding due to its close contact with the horse and bareback simulation. Most manufacturers offer trial periods for their treeless saddles, so it is fairly risk free to try one out.

Rather than recreate the wheel, Icelandic Horse Connection has an excellent treeless saddle list with photos of various samples on their horses as well as a listing of vendors, as does Endurance Net. Give a treeless saddle a try! Your horse may forever be in your debt.