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| For those that have them, do you and your horses love them? I can't decide if it is something I want to try or not. I'm currently looking at the Deb Sibley ultra flex but having a hard time visualizing exactly what the tree does. To me, I keep thinking that if my balance is off or I'm sitting incorrectly or trying to get the horse to do something so have shifted my seat in opposition to the horse, that it will cause the saddle to flex in opposition to the horse/horse's movement and that would cause irritation to the horse. Also if you are a heavier rider (thank you old age!!) does that cause any issues with the ultra flex tree? Someone mentioned in a previous thread that her ultra flex, flexes in the middles when she is carrying it, wouldn't a heavier rider make the tree constantly be flexed it the middle and cause the horse to be sore in that area and also result in the rest of the saddle not being in good contact with the horse's back? Am I picturing it wrong? Anyone not like them?
I really need a light weight saddle, with smaller rounded skirts. I'm running out of ideas and google search isn't helping. I looked at the team Steinhoff but production time is way to slow, people saying it can take up to 4 months and the size I need is never in stock. The big name synthetic I bought is thankfully going to a new home, so I'm back to the saddle search.
Anyone try a Cashel lightweight trail saddle? Not a barrel saddle but lightweight and small skirt, anyone know about the quality? |
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Posts: 119
Location: lost and confused | i am on the heavy side (200ish), barrel race, and i have owned Sibley saddles, and I loved them. It fit my hard to fit horse. When rode in the saddle I felt one with my horse, she moved free-er, and i was able to stay with her, securely in the turns. The next morning I would get out of bed with no soreness. My knee and ankle did not bother me when I was riding. It was the most comfortabel saddle I have rode. I had to sell my saddle only because I had to buy hay, but i will get another.
I had a 16" seat with a 5" cantle
Edited by SandyB 2015-04-18 8:13 AM
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
 
Location: Opelousas, LA | I have a couple of Circle Y Flex2 saddles, the newer ones are a little bigger and heavier than the older ones but they are still pretty light. They have some flex to the tree but still distribute your weight like a treed saddle. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 4Horse - 2015-04-18 7:24 AM For those that have them, do you and your horses love them? I can't decide if it is something I want to try or not. I'm currently looking at the Deb Sibley ultra flex but having a hard time visualizing exactly what the tree does. To me, I keep thinking that if my balance is off or I'm sitting incorrectly or trying to get the horse to do something so have shifted my seat in opposition to the horse, that it will cause the saddle to flex in opposition to the horse/horse's movement and that would cause irritation to the horse. Also if you are a heavier rider (thank you old age!!) does that cause any issues with the ultra flex tree? Someone mentioned in a previous thread that her ultra flex, flexes in the middles when she is carrying it, wouldn't a heavier rider make the tree constantly be flexed it the middle and cause the horse to be sore in that area and also result in the rest of the saddle not being in good contact with the horse's back? Am I picturing it wrong? Anyone not like them? I really need a light weight saddle, with smaller rounded skirts. I'm running out of ideas and google search isn't helping. I looked at the team Steinhoff but production time is way to slow, people saying it can take up to 4 months and the size I need is never in stock. The big name synthetic I bought is thankfully going to a new home, so I'm back to the saddle search. Anyone try a Cashel lightweight trail saddle? Not a barrel saddle but lightweight and small skirt, anyone know about the quality?
If you move around alot and do some bouncing while riding then a flex tree would not be for you, you could cause alot of sore/back problems for your horse. You need to stick with a treed saddle. The good saddles are going to be on the heaver side, theres not really many treed saddle's that are light weight. Maybe look into the Circle Y's and see if they have any lighter saddles. The saddles that I have are not light weight, heck even my Deb Sibleys are not light, my older Sibley is a bit lighter then the new one that I got. |
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| I don't bounce or actually move around but I will shift my weight and use my seat as an aid, I didn't know how to better explain my concern about the ultra flex without over explaining it. My mare is a bit sensitive so I'm not completely sold on the idea of it working for her. She is the hard to please because she doesn't like western saddles per say, she's okay with lightweight ones. It has to be something light with shorter/round skirts. That's my problem, not so much tree v/s flex but her comfort with the saddle. I thought the newer Sibley's weighed about 24 lbs. I'm still considering the Circle Y's Kelly Kaminski Blaze Flex2 Barrel Racer, just not sold completely on the flex idea.
Anyone familiar with the Cashel? They are made by Martin. I'm seriously considering it, though it won't be good for running barrels it will be good enough for riding everyday. |
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Posts: 2457
| I have a circle y flex tree2. I love it.
These trees are an interesting concept - The circle y tree only flexes on the wings portion that fits through the shoulders and over the rear back. The "middle" portion is a wood tree and the "flex" part is a plastic type material. Our local saddle shop builds saddles on many different trees and can get some of the flex trees from circle y to build with ... thus, we got to fit the trees to my two horses without issue.
I can't speak for all flex trees, but the circle y flex2 trees are nice and I do like them. They are lighter - but, I probably wouldn't reccomend them for a heavier rider. The larger the body/ weight, the more support that horse needs to distribute the weight evenly and correctly. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 4Horse - 2015-04-18 3:29 PM I don't bounce or actually move around but I will shift my weight and use my seat as an aid, I didn't know how to better explain my concern about the ultra flex without over explaining it. My mare is a bit sensitive so I'm not completely sold on the idea of it working for her. She is the hard to please because she doesn't like western saddles per say, she's okay with lightweight ones. It has to be something light with shorter/round skirts. That's my problem, not so much tree v/s flex but her comfort with the saddle. I thought the newer Sibley's weighed about 24 lbs. I'm still considering the Circle Y's Kelly Kaminski Blaze Flex2 Barrel Racer, just not sold completely on the flex idea. Anyone familiar with the Cashel? They are made by Martin. I'm seriously considering it, though it won't be good for running barrels it will be good enough for riding everyday.
What type of saddle are you using now? I will go check out the cashel saddle..  |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I like the looks of this one.. Are you just trail riding?
 (15-16-17-roughout-cashel-trail-saddle-reg-or-wide-tree-13.jpg)
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 15-16-17-roughout-cashel-trail-saddle-reg-or-wide-tree-13.jpg (27KB - 180 downloads)
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| I don't trail ride at all. That's the exact saddle I was looking at, I thought it would be good enough for everyday riding/training, just need to change out the conches and ditch the latigo's. I don't compete that much and am past being competitive, I just do it more for the enjoyment. I have a custom Cactus saddle, currently on consignment because it weighs too much and I have an ancient Circle Y my DH bought me when we got married 36+ yrs ago, seat is a tad too small now that I'm old and the saddle has seen better days, kinda like me.
Edited by 4Horse 2015-04-18 7:47 PM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 4Horse - 2015-04-18 7:44 PM I don't trail ride at all. That's the exact saddle I was looking at, I thought it would be good enough for everyday riding/training, just need to change out the conches and ditch the latigo's. I don't compete that much and am past being competitive, I just do it more for the enjoyment. I have a custom Cactus saddle, currently on consignment because it weighs too much and I have an ancient Circle Y my DH bought me when we got married 36+ yrs ago, seat is a tad too small now that I'm old and the saddle has seen better days, kinda like me.
I wonder how much this one weights I didnt pay much attention to what it said about the saddle, I just like the looks of it if I was going to get a trail saddle.
And yept getting old really sucks, LOL
We got good taste |
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| Says it weighs 24.5 lbs |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 4Horse - 2015-04-18 8:10 PM Says it weighs 24.5 lbs
Thats not to bad, most of the treed saddles are 28 to 30 lbs. And I swear my new Deb Sibley is pretty close to 28 maybe a tiny more. |
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada | Does your saddle keep the spine free of contact with the saddle. I have an older mare who does not fit a normal saddle anymore but an english saddle kinda works with a memory foam gel pad. Just curious!
Coastal Rider |
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| coastal rider - 2015-04-19 12:05 AM
Does your saddle keep the spine free of contact with the saddle. I have an older mare who does not fit a normal saddle anymore but an english saddle kinda works with a memory foam gel pad. Just curious!
Coastal Rider
Yes, she just hates bigger heavier western saddles, she will literally drop her hip almost to the ground when you put one on her. I think in her mind a lion has just pounced on her, once its one she is totally freaked out about it. She came from a barn that was strictly English, she did a lot of jumping and lessons, so western is still a bit foreign to her. She is totally fine with an English saddle or a lightweight smaller dimension Western, even with a heavier rider, just something about the big/heavier western saddles that scare the crap out of her; even the bigger/heavier saddle pads do that to her. Rather than try to work thru it, I'd rather try to accommodate her, so we can both be happy and get some riding done. Thank you for the suggestion of the memory foam gel pad, I might try one just to see if that would help. However, I still have to get a saddle, I can't keep using the ancient one that fits me a bit snug. |
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| Southtxponygirl - 2015-04-18 8:25 PM
4Horse - 2015-04-18 8:10 PM Says it weighs 24.5 lbs
Thats not to bad, most of the treed saddles are 28 to 30 lbs. And I swear my new Deb Sibley is pretty close to 28 maybe a tiny more.
To clarify, the ones that say they are made by Martin, those show 28 lbs; however, all others of the same saddle show 24.5 lbs. I guess I should call and see what the true weight is. My Cactus is supposed to be 28 lbs but I would swear it's far more. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I just remember seeing this saddle in my Barrelhorse News magazine, its The Pocket Racer, says were the english meets Western, I'm thinking this could work for you. Here is their web site..... thecorrector.net check it out...
 (13InchPocketRacerCloseGreat.jpg)
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13InchPocketRacerCloseGreat.jpg (44KB - 243 downloads)
PocketPadFrontQt.FontWEBB.3.jpg (36KB - 179 downloads)
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Are just google Len Brown's, Black Mesa Custom tree & saddle. I'm thinking I saw that they weight 20 lbs. Now that's a light saddle and they look pretty cool. |
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Veteran
Posts: 146
| Cool looking saddle, I'll check that out. What's your opinion on the Brazilian? I mentioned in another thread my experience but I'm still wondering if it might still be worth keeping. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 4Horse - 2015-04-19 11:09 AM Cool looking saddle, I'll check that out. What's your opinion on the Brazilian? I mentioned in another thread my experience but I'm still wondering if it might still be worth keeping.
I have never seen one in person, but I just dont like the looks of them, looks kinda cheap, I'm old school I like the leather if its good quality and I dont know if they make them in different size gullets, but you never know it might work for you, but I'm really liking the looks of the Len Brown saddles. |
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Location: Wisconsin | Have you thought of trying a Merrill? They have a flex tree, are lightweight and have a round skirt. I love mine and also have one for sale, since I decided I don't need two of them. |
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