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Wooden Trees
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Trees made of wood are frequently found in vintage saddles, and in saddles designed for heavy use and ranch work. Roping saddles often use wooden trees, as do saddles used by ranchers and working cowboys. Wooden trees are very durable and almost impossible to break, even if the rider and horse fall with the saddle on. After the wood tree is prepared, the saddle maker wraps the tree in rawhide, bullhide or fiberglass.
Flex Tree
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Flexible trees use a rigid fork and cantle, just like a traditional wooden tree. But unlike those wooden saddle trees, the bars on a flex tree saddle bend and flex with the movement of the horse. A flexible tree saddle can be a particularly good choice for horses who are hard to fit, including horses with sway backs and very large or small horses. Since many saddles are made to fit the typical Quarter Horse or Arab body style, horse owners with other types of horses can have trouble finding a well-fitting saddle. Those owners might want to try a flex tree saddle to see how well their horses adapt to it.
QH Bars
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Saddle advertisements often include terms like "QH bars" and "Semi-QH bars." These terms refer to the width of the saddle tree and the body style of the horse it is designed to fit. Quarter Horse bars, or QH bars for short, are designed to fit the old stocky-style Quarter Horse, sometimes referred to as the foundation Quarter Horse. Semi-QH bars are slightly closer together, and they are more appropriate for horses with a more slender build, like the Quarter Horse and thoroughbred crosses.
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Types of Saddle Trees
No matter what style of riding you do, your saddle is a critical piece of equipment. Saddles are designed to keep the rider in the proper position, which reduces the chances of injury and increases the likelihood that the rider stays mounted if the horse spooks or bolts. The tree is an integral part of the saddle, and the materials those trees are made of will impact everything from the saddle's weight to how well it fits the horse.