When fitting a saddle, there are some things that you can’t always see that you need to take into consideration such as the length of the tree points.  In this photo you can see that the length of the tree points in these two trees is significantly different.  This will affect how the saddle sits on your horse.  For rounder horses, you need a shorter tree so it won’t poke into their shoulder or hold the saddle up above their withers.  For narrower horses, you can use a saddle with a longer tree point as it will sit down onto their withers.  You still want to make sure you are fitting the horse’s shoulders as opposed to their withers.  It also helps explain why measuring the “dot to dot” measurement isn’t reliable.  Just something to take into consideration when looking at saddles for your horse.

Adrienne Hendricks is a team member of The Equine Expert LLC, a multi-discipline equine expert witness and consulting firm with expert equestrians offering legal expert witness, consulting and appraisal services in legal and business matters. Adrienne is an expert in saddle and tack fitting, repairs and production.  She owns her own saddle making and repair business  in Boise  Idaho and travels around the country fitting and repairing saddles for individuals.  
 www.theequineexpert.com,  www.adriennehendricks.com, adrienne@theequineexpert.com