warping tree

[rawhide1]

Howdy all

I have a question the wife wants me to ask. I hope it's not to silly? She has a saddle shes been using for about ten yrs. Her ? is if over that time frame she hasn't been sitting square in the saddle is possible to have warped the tree due to having more weight on one side. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

[jwwright]

Mike, I am just a cowboy and saddle maker, not a tree maker, but....I sure don't think you could warp a tree by riding it in any fashion. You can darn sure sore a horse by riding off center though. JW

[rickybobby]

Mike,

I have ridden with folks that cannot seem to stay centered on the back of a horse, they drift to one side or the other. I think it is just sloppy riding and as JW said it will sore a horse. That said, I have also seen stirrup leathers stretched on one side. Usually on the mounting side (left) happens alot with a saddle that does not have full stirrup leathers but I have seen it even then. You might check the length of both leathers. Pull both out and hold them side by side. That will give you the most accurate reading.

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Mike,

if lopsided riding is the issue, measure your wife's individual leg lengths.... some people are off enough that they always have more weight on one side. Sometimes adding a thicker stirrup tread on one side can help, other times the stirrup leather length needs ajusting on one side.

Darc

[Doug Mclean]

If you haven't already done this. It wouldn't hurt to pull the skirts off of this saddle and take a good look at the flare and shape of the bars. I have repaired some factory saddles on cheaper trees and even some hand made saddles on production line trees where the bars didn't match from side to side. It might not be the way your wife is riding at all. Just another thing to check into!!!!!

[rawhide1]

I want to thank everyone for taking the time and giving me things to check out and think about. I'll have to give everything on here a whirl and if it still doesn't work out I'll be back. Thanks again for your time!!

Mike

[Hidemechanic]

Mike I agree with everything suggested. When checking leg length, if there is an issue that can be corrected, your wife might want to go to the chiropractor a couple times then start retraining herself to ride centered and with proper posture. Off centered riding comes from finding what feels comfortable to the rider then they can get in the habbit of doing it wrong. It will be awkward at first to change but things will improve for her and the horse.

Might have her try a different saddle and maybe a different horse too, just to see if things change. Either way, as mentioned by others, she needs to improver her riding style for both their sakes. It's a matter of retraining muscles and eventually improving the riding experience for horse and rider. Good luck GH

[rawhide1]

Well after discussing all this with the wife and not really having time yet to check all the above mentioned. Thinking back she had a horse kick her in the ribs and break some. So she thinks she might have started kinda of riding off to one side not really knowing it to kinda protect them ribs when they were healing up. And just got in the habit of doing that. But I don't think shes ever had a horse sored up from it. So I reckon we'll look at that also. Along with everything mentioned above. I guess I need to take a little time and watch her ride. Once again I want to thank everyone for there time and advice. Y'all just keep proving why this site is so great.

Mike

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

I agree with the others and check other areas. I would doubt riding crooked would warp a tree, though a warped tree could cause the rider to be uneven. Both the person and the horse are moving when riding, so even if they tend to ride unevenly, it won't be a constant pressure. It will sure sore the horse before it damages the tree.

[kseidel]

All the above mentioned suggestions are important. Another item to check is the shape of the seat in the saddle. Some saddlemakers, even experienced ones, have a tendancy to shape more curve into one side of the seat and straighter on the other. this causes the rider to sit out of center, and feels like one stirrup is longer than the other, when it may not be. In any case, riding crooked will not warp the tree. But a warped tree can make one ride crooked.

Keith