tree fitting... I know, I know

[jenn]

Hello there,

first time posting- I've been a lurker for a long time but registered to see pictures here on this great forum.

Hope the OP doesn't mind me hijacking the thread and me bumping this ancient thread, my question fits right in, I'd say.

I have a question that has been hunting me for some time now. I have a very hard to fit mule that is downhill built (and a straight backline) with not much withers to speak of. I had a local saddlemaker fit the tree to her back as good as possible (as close as "perfect fit" as possible using a measuring device consisting of wire, looks like a rib cage made of wire), but the saddle kept moving forward. It only stopped when I got a saddle with a new type of adjustable panels (called Startrekk) and I used those to level out the saddle (lifted it up a little less than an inch in front). From then on the saddle did not move forward anymore.

This saddle is not something I want to ride her in for the rest of her life, I want a regular saddle with a regular tree in it again one day. This brings me to my question: using for example the Lang system, is it possible for a tree maker to take into account the downhill built? I hope I make any sense. A tree that fits her back but doesn't take the downhill built into account moves forward until it ends up being hold back by her shoulder (she has old white marks exactly where all tree saddles end up on her).

Edited February 26, 2010 by jenn