This is a new type of treeless saddle that is making riders and horses more comfortable.
The newest generation of saddles is clearly the flexible tree saddles. You can’t open a magazine without seeing an ad for a new model. Some have trees and bars formed out of materiels that bend with pressure. Others are treeless and their shapes are formed around layers of leather foam ,felt, and other padding materiels.
The Kuda Leather-Flex Saddles are in this new category of saddles. It is not a truly treeless saddle, but has tree bars made of leather and foam for flexibility. The pommel and cantle are made of stiff materiels and the bars are attached to these. At first glance they look very much like treed saddles.
The original Kuda Leather-Flex saddles were made for the Paso Fino Horse who is gaited and needs wither and shoulder relief. It has a rigid pommel to raise the gullet up and away from the wither so the Paso Fino has freedom to raise the head and neck up. Because there is no hard bars, there is no pressure on the shoulder blade; thus letting the Paso Fino move and gait freely. The flexible bars extend back to a rigid cantle that keeps the rider pushed forward and seated properly. Those flexible bars raise the rider up to keep the seat bones from making pressure spots. Thick wool felt on the under side of the saddle is cut away down the spine area to provide a nice air channel.
It was quickly determined that what is good for the Paso Fino also works great for other gaited breeds. Islandic Ponies, Tennessee Walking Horses, Fox Trotters, Rocky Mountain Horses, Andelusians, and more are now benifiting from this new leather-flex technology.
The Kuda Leather-Flex Saddles are now made for a large variety of horse breeds gaited and non gaited. One great reason to choose the Kuda Leather-Flex over other treeless brands, for any breed, is the gullet and spine relief feature. Any horse with a protruding spine and high wither can be very uncomfortable with a conventional treeless saddle. The flexible bars of the Leather-Flex form to the back of horses with atrophy and slight deformity issues.
With 3 gullet widths; narrow, medium, and wide, the Kuda Leather-Flex saddles can fit small horses like the Paso Fino up to wide flat backed horses like the Quarter Horse and short back like the Arabian. It also comes in 5 Styles; English, Flex Trail, Endurance, Western, and Premier. We offer a choice of high quality leather or synthetic saddles.
PFL Inc. , Blanchard, Id. 83804 208-437-0416 info@pflus.com, www.pflus.com
Tags: Arabian, Endurance, Fitting, Gullet, Paso Fino, Quarter Horse, Saddle, Saddle fit, soft saddle, treeless saddle
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gail Springer. Gail Springer said: Post Edited: The New Treeless Leather-Flex Tree Saddles, by Kuda Saddlery and Tack http://cli.gs/4rgvh [...]
The Synthetic Flex Trail, , shown on my site weighs in at 12 pounds. The Western would be a little more, but not much. I have a question about the westerns weight in to the manufacturer right now.
Gail
How much do these saddles weigh? I have a friend that is looking to buy a western saddle for her two Paso Finos. But she is very short and cannot handle any of the heavier saddles. She would only be using it for trail riding, so the lighter synthetic saddles would be fine. She has two non-negotiable rules, it must fit both her Pasos and it must be light enough for her to tack her horses herself.
Appreciate your input.
Judi