Steele Equi-Fit Flexible Tree

[saddles]

I was wondering if anyone has ever worked with the Steele Equi-Fit Flexible tree. Can you put a fiberglass ground seat in them? Can you attach the rubber ground seat any better? The way it is now the stirrup leathers have close to 8 inches of travel. We are trying to figure out a way to put blocks in there at least. Any suggestions?

Lacey

[oldtimer]

I have never seen the tree in question, but I would imagine that the fexibility of the bars and a stiff fiber glass ground seat isn´t a successful combination. In the long run I think a wooden saddle tree wins!

my two cents / Knut

[Denise]

Here is a thread from a few years ago that talked about them and the problems with groundseats and building on them from people who had tried. Blake espeically makes some good points about how it works with ground seats. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4947&st

My question is - if it is supposed to flex easily enough that it moves with the horse, then how can it not flex under a 150 lb rider and put most of that pressure in the center of the back right under the rider?

[oldtimer]

Here is a thread from a few years ago that talked about them and the problems with groundseats and building on them from people who had tried. Blake espeically makes some good points about how it works with ground seats. http://leatherworker...owtopic=4947

My question is - if it is supposed to flex easily enough that it moves with the horse, then how can it not flex under a 150 lb rider and put most of that pressure in the center of the back right under the rider?

Good question, Denise !!

Theory and reality are not always the same !

/ Knut

[saddles]

That's one of the problems she is having. This is one of the biggest PoSs I've ever seen. Thanks for the link Denise. I don't think we can really help her out but it will make for an interesting discussion on my FB page! And you are absolutely right, theory and reality definitely don't even come close to meshing here!

[mauifarrier]

I have worked with the EVO tree by Steele. It was to build a Trail Saddle. The finished saddle is actually the first one that I've completed. The tree barely flexes at all. You have to put the tips of the bars on the ground and lean against it really hard to feel perceptible movement. The color of the EVO is brown, they also make a flex tree with Black color, and I do not know which one is MORE flexible, but I would guess the Black. Since then I've built on wood trees, but did order another EVO tree to build a Portuguese style saddle as a muse.

I was content building on it, but I can tell you how it went AFTER the saddle was finished and a friend used it on her horse.

We were trying to fit a hard-to-fit horse. A short QH with tiny feet, short back, and a 180lb female rider that needed a 17" seat. Typical scenario of an overweight rider selecting a small or short horse to ride on trails. Makes mounting and dismounting easier, but not compatible otherwise. This horse had worn a series of saddles that clearly did not fit. Usually the bars were too long, causing pressure over the weakest part of the horse's back. Pete Gorrel's book on saddle fit makes a point of this challenge for saddlemakers.

The mare had muscle atrophy behind the shoulder blades. I selected this tree and checked it against the horse before building on it. Then when the saddle was finished, it put uneven pressure on the horse's shoulder initially because of the atrophied pockets behind the shoulders. I built temporary shims to fill this void and within a month or two, the horse had a well muscled back and we could go without the shims. The horse looked great, but was quite fussy about the saddle. Perhaps it was the flex properties, the shorter bars under a 17" seat, or the fact that the mare had such a history of back pain that things were chronic even with a well fitting saddle. In the early spring to keep weight on the horse she overfed it "hot" feeds and got bucked off one morning. She blamed the saddle (and me as it's maker) for everything. Very awful situation between friends. She sold the saddle to someone else who loves it but doesn't ride as often.

In conclusion, I would say the Steele EVO tree is not overly flexible. As a company, I like their measuring system with their fit forms that you can try on the horse. Their wood trees have received criticism in the forums here, and are in no way an apples to apples comparison with handmade, hand finished trees. For their price point, with the FTBS saddle fit measuring system, I think you can buy a tree (wood or Flex) and anticipate how it will fit for a fairly low amount of money. And to his credit, Ed Steele is personable, helpful, and will provide all the customer service you could wish for.

I hope this helps, click on this link to see a few photos of the tree, and saddle that I made with the flex tree: http://www.mauifries...xible_Tree.html

Gretchen

[mauifarrier]

Oh, and regarding ground seat details, with Steele's EVO tree, they have a built in ground seat. Made of the same material as the bars. It's all connected. (I don't know how that compares to the FitsRight tree mentioned in the other thread.) You glue your layers of leather against it and skive away to further shape things from there. I wonder if the production made saddles on trees like this have any additional leather over this ground seat at all. Who know's? But with the rigidity of the material, the leather seemed to bond fine with the glue and stay put. Heath Howe's trees (literidetree.com) also have a built in ground seat. It "bridges" the bars with a slot for the stirrup leathers to pass through.

It looks like new technology is here to stay. Not all of it will be good. Rubber bars (of the FitsRight) sound very bad. There are probably more Flex trees that Flex TOO MUCH than one's that are mostly rigid. I'm a farrier, and there is the same trend in the shoeing industry. You can always rely on the tried and true. But some customers will demand the fancy techno stuff. It's a personal choice whether or not to take the risk and play with the new inventions. No one is twisting our arms to try it.