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Member
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| Which one has the straighter tree and more flare for shoulder movement? Any feedback on these saddles are appreciated. |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
 
Location: NC | I have never used a LM so I can't judge, but Meleta Brown recently developed a tree for her saddles that has flatter bars. I havn't gotten to try it yet but want to. It only comes in a 15" right now. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with. |
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Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | GLP - 2014-09-19 9:31 AM I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with.
Which LM tree did you have the Wide, Special or Nueva? |
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Member
Posts: 13
| Flatter bars, as in less rock or wide angle? My horse is not real wide in the back, sort of in between a regular and full qh bar, but just has real wide shoulders. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:38 AM
GLP - 2014-09-19 9:31 AM I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with.
Which LM tree did you have the Wide, Special or Nueva?
The special. If Meleeta's tree doesn't work I am going to call Double J and see if I can bring Jim up for a saddle fitting since I am only about 3 hours from them. |
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Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | GLP - 2014-09-19 9:54 AM HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:38 AM GLP - 2014-09-19 9:31 AM I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with. Which LM tree did you have the Wide, Special or Nueva? The special. If Meleeta's tree doesn't work I am going to call Double J and see if I can bring Jim up for a saddle fitting since I am only about 3 hours from them.
LM has videos on her website about her saddle fit. Looks like her 'wide' has flatter bars for a flatter backed qh type.
its at the bottom of the link.
http://www.lmbarrelracing.com/
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Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | CoronasJoe - 2014-09-19 9:52 AM Flatter bars, as in less rock or wide angle? My horse is not real wide in the back, sort of in between a regular and full qh bar, but just has real wide shoulders.
less rock. I think it has same gullet width but I am not certain. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:58 AM
GLP - 2014-09-19 9:54 AM HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:38 AM GLP - 2014-09-19 9:31 AM I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with. Which LM tree did you have the Wide, Special or Nueva? The special. If Meleeta's tree doesn't work I am going to call Double J and see if I can bring Jim up for a saddle fitting since I am only about 3 hours from them.
its at the bottom of the link.
http://www.lmbarrelracing.com/
Yep I think one of her saddles would probably work for him, but Meleeta has the try before you buy thing and she is so knowledgeable. I really wanted her opinion on this. Also, he is not built like a QH, more like a TB.
Edited by GLP 2014-09-19 10:04 AM
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Member
Posts: 13
| My horse is definitely not built like a TB. He is just built like a small cowbred qh. I had watched Lynn Mckenzie's video on her page and sort of turned me off. That new tree she puts on that dark bay horse that she says she uses on it looks like it has waay too much rock for that horse, she sets her hand on the pommel and the rear of the saddle goes popping up. |
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Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | GLP - 2014-09-19 10:02 AM HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:58 AM GLP - 2014-09-19 9:54 AM HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 9:38 AM GLP - 2014-09-19 9:31 AM I am getting a loaner Meleeta to try next week! I am so excited. I had a Lynn Mckenzie that I LOVE for me, but it didn't fit my horse. He had long withers and shoulders and well sprung ribs. The LM would get pushed back to far so Meleeta is sending me a loaner to try it. It's the new tree. I thought my horse needed more flare because the saddle, any saddle, always rode back on him, but Meleeta said she thought this one would work better. I sent her pictures of him and she is a joy to work with. Which LM tree did you have the Wide, Special or Nueva? The special. If Meleeta's tree doesn't work I am going to call Double J and see if I can bring Jim up for a saddle fitting since I am only about 3 hours from them.
its at the bottom of the link.
http://www.lmbarrelracing.com/
Yep I think one of her saddles would probably work for him, but Meleeta has the try before you buy thing and she is so knowledgeable. I really wanted her opinion on this. Also, he is not built like a QH, more like a TB.
very true I love the trial period option! I use to have a MB and it was reallly comfy. I thought it wasn't fitting my horse at the time and sold it but now looking back I think it was a different issue. Wish I would have held on to it, but it was her other tree with more rock. the two I have now have flatter backs and I want to try her new tree on them. I am on the waiting list now to try one. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1930
 
Location: Not where I should be... | I went from Meleta's older tree to the LM Nueva as my horse's back was healing. As he filled out, the gullet just wasnt wide enough. Meleta's new tree wasn't quite right on him for some reason we never figured out (rubbed his loin on one side) plus wasn't available in the 14 that I needed, and that's when I found the Nueva. The nueva was a great transition and now I have him in the LM Wide since his back has filled out even more along the gullet. The wide is a bit flatter bar, but still has nice shoulder room. I would like to have just a smidge more flare at the very front of the tree on the wide, but it fits him pretty good and I think will be perfect once I get his back fixed all the way (saddle with crooked tree and EPM did a number on him). You cannot go wrong with either of these saddles.... No others have I found that give so much shoulder freedom. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Thank you for this thread. I hope Meleta's saddle fits but if it doesn't ya'll have definitely given me some ideas!
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 507
Location: Lost in the corn of Iowa. | I was in a saddle fitting dilema earlier this year, and I got one of the new MB saddles and love it. This nice thing was that there really wasn't a set time from to try the saddle out in. And I was able to buy the demo which was amazing, saved on the waiting game of having one made. |
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Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | my only worry is I am gonna want the MB after I try it and wont be able to get it in a 14", so wonder if it is worth it. or if I should find a inexpensive used LM wide and try that first..... |
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 No Name Nancy
Posts: 2715
Location: never in the right place | I have a Kelly Kaminski model 1539 wide tree and it fit my low withered wide backed horse great, I tried the Meleta wide and it sure didn't fit him at all but the saddle was very comfy. alas the KK was too snug for my liking- I like more room and I put the horse down in May so it is sitting in a box with only 10 rides on it. My other horse is more TB built so I know it won't fit him. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 12:57 PM
my only worry is I am gonna want the MB after I try it and wont be able to get it in a 14", so wonder if it is worth it. or if I should find a inexpensive used LM wide and try that first.....
I would go ahead and try it that way you will know for sure if it fits your horse and use it for a guideline to something that works gor you both |
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Member
Posts: 13
| Do the Tod Slones have much flare? They appear like they go from pictures, but never tried one and I can't find much info on them. |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Her new flatter bar saddle is a good one. It's something you almost have to try on just to see how it fits. I would have never guessed that would be the saddle to fit my 2. It fit both the 3yr old 16.3 1300# HUS type and my ranchy 9yr old that is 14.3, big shouldered and maybe 1000#. |
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 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | HorsesNHarleys - 2014-09-19 12:57 PM my only worry is I am gonna want the MB after I try it and wont be able to get it in a 14", so wonder if it is worth it. or if I should find a inexpensive used LM wide and try that first.....
Good luck. I've been looking for nearly 2 months. |
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Member
Posts: 13
| I guess what most of you are describing is a horse with big shoulder, but also well sprung wide rib. My horse is not built like that, he has big shoulders then narrows up behind his shoulders and has a narrow rib/barrel all the way to his hip. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | CoronasJoe - 2014-09-20 7:05 AM I guess what most of you are describing is a horse with big shoulder, but also well sprung wide rib. My horse is not built like that, he has big shoulders then narrows up behind his shoulders and has a narrow rib/barrel all the way to his hip.
I would imagine that either Meleta's original tree (unless it has too much rock) or the LM Special would fit your horse. My gelding is too wide behind the withers for either of them and we think the new tree would work, but I haven't tried one because of the seat size issue. My mare doesn't have the wide, bulgy shoulders that he has, and a Crown C works great on her--I have to use a huge wide gullet and shim to make the crown c work for him, because what fits his back doesn't accommodate his shoulders.
I love riding the Meleta on a horse it fits. It's balanced and comfortable. |
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 Goat Giver
Posts: 23166
| Meleta's |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I own both. I love both. I prefer Meleta's! |
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Member
Posts: 13
| ^How are your horse's built that use the saddles? I certainly prefer the look of meleta's but worried it might have too much rock. Hes not super straight through his whole back. He has a bit of wither, then is straighter towards the end of his back. If you watch Lynn McKenzie's video he is built a lot like that little sorrel horse, maybe a tiny bit more slope to his wither.
Edited by CoronasJoe 2014-09-21 5:36 AM
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Her latest & greatest tree, I believe has little to no rock. Would have to ask to be sure, but these are the 2 horses of mine that it fit. The first picture is my 16.3 gelding. And the 2nd is the 14.3 gelding. They are pretty flat backed from wither to loin, the sorrel has some dip, but her saddle did fit him great and there may be some atrophy from poor fitting saddles.
Edited by wyoming barrel racer 2014-09-21 2:20 PM
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Member
Posts: 13
| My gelding's back looks more like the sorrel, slightly lower wither. Thank you for posting those photos.
Edited by CoronasJoe 2014-09-21 6:17 PM
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