>>> There £780 here. I am considering one. They just look so good. There is >>> a warning that they 'are not for novice riders who rely on a saddle to >>> stay on a horse'. A saddle never stopped me falling off in the past.
When Gracie first developed her back problem (about 8 years ago) she bucked me off hard from a treed western saddle. I got slammed around on that hard pommel several times before I hit the ground, and my thighs have never been so bruised. I guess I was just lucky that I didn't land on the horn. I'm pretty sure it would have been better to have hit the ground sooner in that case. Personally, I have found that treeless saddles slip a lot LESS than treed saddles that don't fit. You may have more trouble if you brace off your stirrups, but we shouldn't be doing that anyway. (That was a hard habit for me to break.) >>> Then there is the decision re which model for an icey. Pretty much whatever is comfortable for you. I have two Hybrids, an English Trail and a Dressage model and they work pretty much equally well on virtually all of my Icelandic's. That's not to say that they might not fit a few Icelandic's in the world, but mine is more than a random sampling of 2-3 horses. Robyn Hood uses a lot of them for her Icelandic's, I think even for starting them, and many of us list members use them with great success. >>> Might be a good spare to have around. I have a Sensation for a spare...that I use when someone is using my other Sensations. ;) Seriously, I also have a couple of Torsions that I like pretty well, but of all the treeless and treed saddles I've tried (too many to count), the Sensations are our favorites...and more importantly, they work for our horses. Karen Thomas, NC
