Barefoot Cheyenne, any info?

[Deleted]

I am thinking of buying a barefoot cheyenne saddle, have never owned or ridden on a treeless, so no idea of pros and cons! Can anyone give me any advice on their experiences if they have owned one.
Am thinking of one for Blossom as she is a typical dales table top shape!
What does anyone think about backing in one?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[The Moo]

Quite a few of us have tried out treeless saddles for various reasons - mainly pony shape!

I'm not up to speed with all the various ones available now but there are lots and I would imagine that progress has been made in design etc. I've also noticed that since the early treeless saddles have been out, the 'normal' saddle manufacturers have made more of an effort to make trees to fit our table tops, whether that was due to the competition from the treeless or whether the market for wide, flat, fatty saddles had grown enough for them to take notice.

I've got a Heather Moffett saddle for Moo as she only gets tootled out and I find it suits her table top shape, when she was in more regular work and a more consistent shape I used a Wintec wide in preference as I felt it fitted her better and it fitted me better.

My first treeless for her was a Trekker (looks like the Cheyenne) many years ago, apart from the fact it really was a cheap and cheerful saddle, I found the lack of shape (the twist) in the seat it made her feel even wider which was a strain under my thigh and on my hip joint. I understand the 'better' treeless saddles but similar in design are better quality and probably have a better shape to them.

If you are starting your pony (and expecting a few antics) in one then consider:

Are stirrup bars enclosed or do you have any quick release mechanism i.e if you were to get your foot stuck in a stirrup whilst coming off would you be dragged along?

Will you be able to get the saddle to stay in place properly, a shapeless saddle on a rotund pony just rotates, I spent £££££'s on non slip pads, non slip girths etc and none of them really worked.

When on a really flat topped saddle and your pony spooks, spins or lurches you tend to get flung off one way or the other even though your weight is central, it's like dropping something onto a spinning record player. You could save yourself if you manage to get weight into a stirrup but that could just cause the saddle to slip. If you had pony with shape then you tend to sit 'in' the saddle and not 'on' it and you are much more secure.

Also, on a young pony if they lack muscle along their back, your weight might be a bit concentrated in places, I know treeless saddles are supposed to spread the weight etc but....

I like the idea of treeless and I think they do have a role to play, if you do a 'search' then you'd probably find thread (from years ago) with everybody's comments.

[maggie]

I'm someone who really liked the idea (I've got 8 'good' saddles plus a couple of old 'breakers' and find that none of them are a perfect fit on anything!) so tried one - a Torsion and expensive.

I had one of the worst injuries I've ever suffered while riding in it, popped my very quiet and beautifully mannered Dales into canter on a corner, the saddle slipped round and I went under her, then came off, tearing tendons and muscle in my right thigh. I made light of it at the time, but it got worse over the next few days and years later, can still cause pain. On examination, that saddle could not have been girthed more tightly.

I've recently started riding again and having lessons on a Highland that is wider and more table-top than any Dales I've ridden. He has a treeless (don't know the make) and it moved around so much, I asked for it to be changed for a conventional. The instructor did this, also commented that my position, balance etc. were very good, it was the saddle moving, not me moving it. Last week I had a different instructor and the pony came in in his treeless. The lesson was already running 15 minutes late, so I decided just to get on with it. The pony didn't want to move at all, and put in lots of bucks rather than go forward. He does that anyway as he hates schooling, so I was told just to ride him through it and, to be fair, the saddle didn't move. When the lesson was ended, I was asked to take him back and untack, so the instructor could make a bit of time up. That saddle was girthed so tightly, I seriously struggled to undo it. No wonder the poor guy bucked, the girth must have been cutting him in two!

I'm sure they have their place, but I would certainly not use one again.

[Deleted]

Aahh, thank you! not so good then. I did wonder about slipping. We have a wintec wide on our other boy, so maybe that would be best after all.

[The Moo]

I like the Wintec wide saddles, they are a good shape and if fitted by a proper saddler should fit as well as any other saddle though there are people who don't like them.

I'd quite happily use treeless again but it has to be the right one on the right shaped horse with the right shaped pads and the right girth and not used for hours at a time, sadly they aren't the easy option that I (and probably others) had hoped for.

When treeless were 'new' many saddlers did trial periods so you could always ask.

[lucydales]

I have a Randol if you'd like to try it? Send me a pm. I'm near Ashbourne.

I have Heather Moffet treeless saddles which I think are great and haven't had any slippage problems.

[lyndales]

I've got a Barefoot Cherokee, I never use it. I used to a few times on my old boy Dandy (an arab shaped 15h) It was comfy but I never felt 'right' in it. I have never used it on Magic (Dales) I prefer my Wintec. Obviously I regret spending all that money on it, but if I had never tried treeless I wouldn't have know. I should really sell it but post would be horrendous from here. I could get it back to the uk if anyone wanted it and post would be less. Its black, size 1.

[harleydales]

Wintec Widefor me for backing as well - so adjustable and they do seem to fit the Dales shape very well.

[ponylass]

Hello, I'm probably a bit late in replying to this, but thought i would put my thoughts forward as well if you're still wondering about barefoot saddles, Maystar, - I've got a Barefoot Cheyenne, for my 13.3 approx, gelding, with a short back and quite wide girth (or a bit too fat really). I thought it would suit weight changes coming into spring and going into winter, but i'm looking into selling mine and will get a saddler out to get back into a good, properly fitting tree.
I found, like other people said, it would move about and feels unsafe. I don't use it anymore and started riding bareback for a while until i can sell it and afford another saddle.
It seems like such as great idea, as they are usually cheaper than treed saddles when new, and are meant to fit a lot of sizes, but i think they are probably better suited to horses with higher withers - arabs etc, endurance horses.

[harleydales]

There aren't many horses doing big endurance miles in treeless saddles - they are OK up to about 50km (as long as they DO fit) but beyond that people tend to use treed or things like Free & Easy or Reactor Panel. I know a few who loved treeless, but once up the miles and speeds they found they had problems with them, such as pressure bumps and white hairs appearing. Which you can get with treed saddles too....