I have a barrel saddle that I would like to sell as it doesn’t fit my horse?
I bought it on ebay and they told me it was full quarter horse bars but it lifts in the back and if I ride with it there are no dry spots as if it sits right on her spine. Does this mean it is too wide for her? She takes full quarter bars so does this mean the saddle is wider than that? Please help. Thanks.
It sounds like the tree bar angles are too flat so that the tree contacts her spine. Arab trees are flatter than full qh trees, and this could be an Arab tree. A tree also has a certain amount of bend from front to back, called rocker, like in a rocking chair, and it could be that there is also too much rocker for your horse’s back causing it to come up in the back. Some horses backs dip down in the middle more than others. Rocker is meant to bend to conform to the dip in the back, but on a horse with a table top flat back, it causes the saddle to only contact the midsection of the back. On your horse, the lift at the back of the saddle along with it resting on the spine could mean it is an Arab tree that is too flat for your horse’s back, with too narrow a gullet channel and too much rocker for your horse.
But it could also be a full qh tree built flatter like an Arab tree, because there is no consistency from one saddlemaker to another. Arrrrgh !!!!.
The problem is that one saddlemaker’s full qh tree may have a wider gullet and more rocker and another have a narrower gullet and less rocker. I know mule saddles have less rocker and I think they are narrower at the shoulder that most full qh bar saddles. Arab trees are usually narrower at the gullet but the bars are angled even flatter than full qh bars, but I’ve seen huge variations in Arab trees as well.
I’d say it is not likely to be an Arab saddle, since it might be hard to find an Arab barrel racing saddle.
Here is some information that may be helpful………
http://www.western-saddle-guide.com/saddle-tree.html
Good luck on this……it often comes down to tedious trial and error; that, or going into debt for custom made.
Charon Caldwell Discussing Barrel Saddle Trees