• Quarter Horse Bar or Semi Quarter Horse Bar (usually 6 1/2" for semi - 6 3/4" for regular gullet) is by far the most common tree. It is for the medium back, decent wither and often mixed blood descent (1/2 Arab, Appendix or other mixes). Most of our saddles are semi qh/qh bars.
• The FQHB tree (usually 7" gullet) is often used for the "Bulldog" Quarter Horse or horses with broad backs and sometimes mutton-withered Quarter Horses.
• Arab saddles are for Arabians they have a shorter (usually 6 1/2" - 6 3/4" width) gullet.
• Gaited horse bars have a higher gullet for high withered horses.
• Haflinger saddles (7 1/2" gullet) are great for Haflingers or short backed mutton withered horses.
• Draft Horse bars (8 1/4" gullet), are for the large Draft Horses.

*NOTE - The gullet size is determined from the raw tree. It cannot be accurately measured once the saddle is assembled. There is no industry standard to gullet sizes so a Circle Y qh bar is not necessarily the same as a Big Horn qh bar. Not only is the gullet width a factor but also it's angle and height. In general, a ralide tree has a 6 1/2" gullet width and the wood tree has a 6 3/4" gullet. Often times, changing the thickness of the pad greatly affects how a saddle will fit.

Horses are majestic in their form.  They run with strength, agility and speed.  There is no doubt that God gave us horses to enjoy through watching and riding.  For most people, riding bare back is not the epitome of fun, in fact, it can be downright painful on your rear-end.  It is crucial to have a saddle that fits both you and your horse.

The foundation of the saddle is the tree. Today saddle trees are made of a choice of different materials. By far the best tree to go for is the "bull-hide covered wood" tree. This tree is made out of Ponderosa Pine with one or two layers of wet Bull-hide or raw-hide stretched over it. As the hide dries it shrinks forming a vice-like covering. This makes for a very resilient and strong tree which however has an element of "give" in it. Inferior trees are often covered with canvas or cheesecloth or poorer quality hides and are suitable only for light pleasure use.

Saddle trees are also made out of molded fiberglass and other plastics but again these generally are suitable only for pleasure use and not for Ranch and Rope work.

The correct tree needs to be selected for the saddle to fit the horse an ill fitting saddle makes for at the minimum a discontented inflexible horse. At worst the horse may suffer permanent injury. One of the key components of the tree are the "bars". The bars are the load bearing surfaces on the horse's back. Some horses are high withered, some are flat backed; some have long backs and others have short backs. Such conformations determine the shape, length, set angle and flare of the bars. The secret to the fit of a saddletree is the way the bars conform to the curves of a horse's back.

The Set angle of the bars is too often ignored by saddle buyers. If the set angle is too narrow then only the edge of the bar is making contact with the horse. If the set angle is too flat then only the top inside of the bars is making contact with the horse. The weight of the rider is not distributed evenly over the horses back. 

The set angle of the bars on high and low withered horses (angle exaggerated) The horizontal measurement is the Gullet width

The flare of the bars is another important factor. The shoulder below the wither and the back are on two different planes. The bars must be shaped so that they lie flat against these two points and against as many points in between. A common example of poor fit is a Quarter Horse tree on an Arabian horse. The bars may appear to rest OK front and back but under the center there can be as much as 1-2 inches clearance. NO SADDLE PAD CAN MAKE UP FOR THIS DIFFERENCE!.

The channel between the bars - the open area separating the bars at the top - has a definite purpose. NOTHING ON THE SADDLE SHOULD EVER REST AGAINST THE HORSES BACKBONE. This can do irreparable damage to the horse!