Need Advice On Selecting A Tree For My First Saddle - Its Also For My Daughter

[rmr]

I have decided to build my 11 year old daughter a saddle- will be my first one- but I have been doing leather cases for 10+ years. Im trying to collect all the tools that are specific to making a saddle that I dont already have. I finally got the draw down stand decided upon- Josh on this forum was very helpfull and I will be ordering one of the stands he makes next week.

I have read all 3 of Stohlman's books in the last week- need to re-read them several more time before I get started on the actual saddle construction. It looks to me like one of the next biggest decisions I will need to make is getting a tree. From what little I know- but from what Im reading a hand made tree sound like the best way to go. Unfortunately we dont own a horse- she rents the use of a horse at one of our local horseback riding schools - so I cant make all the meausrements like what is advised in the Stohlman books to have the tree made. She currently used a "medium" youth western saddle at the school. She is about 11 (or will be when I get this thing done- hopefully by christmas 2011).

Can anyone steer me in the right direction on who I should contact to get a youth tree made and is there a generic model that would fit most horses and a small frame 11 year old girl??? Im hoping that the saddle can be made large enough to last her a few years also

Thanks

RMR