New Series - Western Saddle Trees Demystified
Did you know you can change a tree nearly 60 different ways before incorporating a seat size? How does one keep up with all of the specs, the types, and even the names?
Maybe You've Seen It
You’ll see it posted all over Facebook, Instagram, sale listings, and everywhere in between. This saddle has a Buster Welch (BW) tree. This saddle has a Donn LeSon (DL) tree. Beyond that, there are Olin Young trees, Association trees, a Beau Gaylon tree, etc. You may be asking yourself is this the brand of the tree, is this a person that sells the tree, is this a trainer that endorsed the tree? You may see saddles listed with acronyms like SQHB or FQHB. Maybe you’re curious about the materials the tree is made from. What accounts for gullet widths, pommel height, swell widths, and cantle height when it comes to fitting your horse? You may have heard terms like rock, twist, flare, ground seat but don’t fully understand it.
Demystify and Debunk
Throughout the month we’ll be posting a series covering all things western saddle tree related. These blogs will include terminology, the history of the western saddle tree, all of the parts of the tree and which "parts" change the fit, all the available materials used on trees and which may be best for you, the different types or "names" (BW, DL, OY, BG, etc.) of trees, and finally we'll recap all of the information as it pertains to saddle fit.
Access
The blog series will be available to subscribers. New posts will be published every Monday and Thursday. Questions are welcome! Some questions will likely be answered throughout the series. At the end of the series, we'll publish a Frequently Asked Questions blog with answers and links back to previously published blogs to make finding the answers easier! Any outstanding questions will be answered in the Recap blog.
Over 20 years of passion-driven research will been poured into this series. I'm grateful I have the ability to share my knowledge and passion with the world. Stay tuned!
Happy Trails!
-Andrea