A few weeks ago, I had a new chiropractor adjust my horse. She pointed out his usual areas of soreness, how his right hip wasn't sitting where it should be, and how his left hock seemed a bit sore. All normal (except for the hock, but he had also just bashed it pretty hard on a jump standard about a week earlier).
However, he came up pretty sore in his withers and low back, so she asked to see my saddles. My dressage saddle is the traditional wooden tree with wool flocking. She thought it may need adjusted again since it has been several months and his back has changed slightly, but overall was happy with it. My jump saddle is brand new and has a spring tree, also with wool flocking. She was not impressed with the fit of the new saddle. To be fair I had only put about three rides on it at this point, but it still appeared to be perching quite high off his back. I explained to her it was a spring tree, and her response was a little shocking, honestly. She went off on a minor tangent about how they should fit their back before adding all the bells and whistles (pad, girth, rider).
I talk to the fitter and she asks me to keep riding in it to see how it breaks in and changes. Makes sense. So I put several more rides (conditioning, jumping, XC schooling, etc) on it, oil and roll the flaps religiously, etc. To be clear she is the one who adjusted the dressage saddle (which fits).
Last night I had my horse adjusted again, but by his normal chiropractor. Usual areas of soreness were not bad, but his left side was locked up, no soreness in either hock. Yet once again, sore on withers and low back. She checks my saddles and is happy with the dressage saddle, but not with the new jump saddle. It has broken in quite a bit since the other chiropractor checked it, but it still doesn't fit his back without "bells and whistles". She flipped it over and you can see a very small difference in sides of the saddle. She also flexed it and it flexes VERY differently on the left vs. the right. She also went off on a minor tangent about spring trees (not a nice one, but it was too long for me to remember). Overall she thought the jump saddle was a decent fit over his withers but believes the unequal flexing of the tree is causing the soreness in his back.
These are two different chiropractors who do not work with each other. My regular go-to vet was also there at the second adjustment and agreed about the fit but didn't really have an opinion about spring trees. I'm frustrated. I do not in any way blame the fitter because it sounds and looks like the new jump saddle was made crooked, essentially. She has not seen it since I got it (only a few weeks ago) so we still need to do the follow up evaluation.
Has anyone else had issues with spring trees? Are there even saddles out there with traditional trees and wool flocking anymore? I've been browsing and spotted a nice County and Albion that I would love to try out, but now I'm worried about spring trees causing problems that can't be fixed.
However, he came up pretty sore in his withers and low back, so she asked to see my saddles. My dressage saddle is the traditional wooden tree with wool flocking. She thought it may need adjusted again since it has been several months and his back has changed slightly, but overall was happy with it. My jump saddle is brand new and has a spring tree, also with wool flocking. She was not impressed with the fit of the new saddle. To be fair I had only put about three rides on it at this point, but it still appeared to be perching quite high off his back. I explained to her it was a spring tree, and her response was a little shocking, honestly. She went off on a minor tangent about how they should fit their back before adding all the bells and whistles (pad, girth, rider).
I talk to the fitter and she asks me to keep riding in it to see how it breaks in and changes. Makes sense. So I put several more rides (conditioning, jumping, XC schooling, etc) on it, oil and roll the flaps religiously, etc. To be clear she is the one who adjusted the dressage saddle (which fits).
Last night I had my horse adjusted again, but by his normal chiropractor. Usual areas of soreness were not bad, but his left side was locked up, no soreness in either hock. Yet once again, sore on withers and low back. She checks my saddles and is happy with the dressage saddle, but not with the new jump saddle. It has broken in quite a bit since the other chiropractor checked it, but it still doesn't fit his back without "bells and whistles". She flipped it over and you can see a very small difference in sides of the saddle. She also flexed it and it flexes VERY differently on the left vs. the right. She also went off on a minor tangent about spring trees (not a nice one, but it was too long for me to remember). Overall she thought the jump saddle was a decent fit over his withers but believes the unequal flexing of the tree is causing the soreness in his back.
These are two different chiropractors who do not work with each other. My regular go-to vet was also there at the second adjustment and agreed about the fit but didn't really have an opinion about spring trees. I'm frustrated. I do not in any way blame the fitter because it sounds and looks like the new jump saddle was made crooked, essentially. She has not seen it since I got it (only a few weeks ago) so we still need to do the follow up evaluation.
Has anyone else had issues with spring trees? Are there even saddles out there with traditional trees and wool flocking anymore? I've been browsing and spotted a nice County and Albion that I would love to try out, but now I'm worried about spring trees causing problems that can't be fixed.
Our first event is coming up in March (entries already sent in), so I feel like I'm stuck. 
I guess so. Considering that at the time we spent the US equivalent of $125.
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