Last month, we looked at one part of the saddle fitting equation:  tree width.  Many people think that if you get the width correct, you’re home free … and while width is a very important consideration when you’re determining saddle fit, it’s not the only consideration.  There are three facets to saddle fitting: tree width, tree shape and panel configuration.  This month, we’re going to look at tree shape.

The shape of the tree needs to agree with the shape of your horse’s back.  If your horse has a big wither or a dippy back, you’re going to need a tree that has some curve from front-to-back (what the western fitters refer to as “rocker”).

As in the rockers on the bottom – that shape.

For example, here’s the tree for the Black Country Eden:

And here’s the Eden itself:

However, if your horse has a lower wither and is flatter from front-to-back, you’ll need a flatter tree, like the tree for the Black Country Eloquence:

And here’s the Eloquence:

What happens if the tree shape doesn’t agree with the horse’s back?  Well, putting a flat tree on a dippy or high-withered back can cause bridging:

See the area where the panel isn’t making contact with the horse’s back?  That’s a LOT of bridging.  There are times when slight bridging isn’t a bad thing. Some saddles will bridge just a tiny bit when a horse is standing still, but may fit perfectly when a horse engages the haunches, activates the abdominals and lifts the back during movement.  That’s why active fit is so crucial in definitively determining whether the saddle truly fits … or doesn’t.

Conversely, putting a curved tree on a flat-backed horse will cause a lack of panel contact and / or rocking:

Doesn’t this saddle look a lot like the rocker on the chair in the photo above?  And note the lack of panel contact in the rear of the saddle.  Now, sometimes a lack of contact in the last inch or so of the panels isn’t a terrible thing (and in some cases that can actually be a help) … but this is too extreme.

Another possible issue with curved trees is the angle of the rise – that is, the part of the tree from about the stirrup bars forward.  If the angle of the rise is too steep for an individual horse – even if that horse has a generous wither – you can end up with a lack of wither clearance quite far back into the gullet, like so (the arrow shows the area of concern; with a rider up, there would quite likely be contact between the tree and the horse’s back):

NEXT MONTH:  The third piece:  Panel configuration.

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