Steele Saddle Trees on Crates/Fabtron Saddles

[ellaecman]

Hi everyone! I am looking to see if anyone here is a bit of an expert on Steele saddle trees, more specifically ones used by Crates/Fabtron currently. I am trying to fit my young mare with a saddle from them and I just need a bit of guidance from someone more expert on these saddles than myself. Ideally  I would like to have their Cheyenne Ranch Roper with Cantle Roll on her #7211-CR, but the website says it has a truefit reining tree in it, and from my understanding those trees are narrower through the bars, which my mare is wider. Any help would be appreciated!

[bruce johnson]

The narrow bars just means that the bars are not as wide through the middle (waist) as other trees - theoretically for closer contact. We could get into a big discussion of whether that is true in real life, but that is another rabbit hole. The narrow bars should mean less contact surface and again - theoretically less weight bearing surface. The front and rear of the tree bear weight and the area overall is what controls pressure. A narrow waist on a tree is a minor factor fit. Bar angles, bar length, twist, rock in the bars, gullet/ handhole width, and relief at the bar edges are all bigger factors for fit than that narrow waist.