Re: RC: sound used saddle trees

[Laney Humphrey <laneyh@mbay.net>]

Hi Michelle,
    With english/dressage saddles, hold the cantle against your thigh or hip
and try to bend the pommel upwards & towards it with your hand.  Unless you
are superperson, there should be a little but not much flex.  If it flexes
easily, the tree is broken.  Western type saddles are harder to test because
they are bigger and the tree is quite different.  Try flexing the saddle
front to back and corner to corner.  If there is any flex at all, it is
probably broken.
    It is also really important to check the straightness of the tree of all
saddles, used and new.  Most saddles are built crooked!  Hold the saddle
upside down so you can look down the gullet (the clearance over the spine).
If there is anything on the cantle that is centered, make sure it lines up
with the center of the pomel.  If there isn't anything there, use your eye
to find the center of the cantle and pommel and line them up.  Also check
that the panels of an english/dressage saddle are equidistant from the
center of the gullet.  Often they are not parallel or evenly placed.  For a
western saddle, the curve of the skirting should be even all the way around,
like the inside of a barrel.  Reject the saddle if the curve is lopsided.
    Saddles are often sold because they "don't fit my horse."  And the
reason the saddle doesn't fit is because it was built crooked.  You don't
want that on your horse either!
Cheers, Laney

Michelle Fink wrote:

> Any tips on checking a saddle tree for soundness?  I found some tips on
> Charlotte's Saddlery pages.  How much should a spring tree in a used
> dressage saddle flex?  I got a cheap, beater Prix St. George to use this
> winter, perfect for riding on wet days.
>
> Thanks,
>
> m
>
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