These photographs show one huge reason to have a truly adjustable saddle. This is a Schleese saddle belonging to a wonderful client in Mexico City who had the unfortunate experience of her horse flipping over on top of the saddle (no rider). She had the saddle x-rayed and there was no damage to the saddle (or the horse) other than the tree angle and width was now extra, extra wide. I have never adjusted a saddle that wide for any horse – this was extreme!
Here’s the beauty of it – I adjusted the tree back to the original measurements (onsite and in a few minutes) and the saddle is back in full use!!
Even I was amazed – if the saddle had not been built on the flexible Adaptree it most certainly would have broken the tree, forcing the owner to replace the saddle or having the tree repaired.
Moral of the story is that yes, there are less expensive saddles on the market but over the years you actually save money by never having to replace the saddle (no more buying/selling!) because of this type of accident (hopefully never happens) or just the fact your horse has changed or you have changed horses – It is Saddle4Life following the Saddlefit4life philosophy!