October 2004

Lighten Your Load With A Flexible Tree

There’s no middle ground: You’ll love ’em or hate ’em.

Flexible tree western saddles may be right for you if you ride several different horses, want a traditional look but less weight, and your pocketbook can withstand the sticker shock.

What sets flex-tree saddles apart from their rigid-tree counterparts is the use of lighter bars. Typical wooden bars have been replaced by high-density foam firmed up with armor coating (yes, the same stuff used to line and seal truck beds). The result is a lighter saddle, and the manufacturers’ theory is the flexibility of the somewhat moldable bars will make the saddles fit more horses. …