From: Sallie
Dear Jessica, I've been through your archives (which are fabulous by the way) and found a lot of good information about Western saddles, but not the answer to my question. I've ridden Western all my life and thought I understood Western saddles pretty darned well. But my daughter has a friend visiting from France, a pen-pal she's been writing to all the way through middle school, and Lucie is asking the darndest questions about Western saddles. Turns out I don't know as much as I thought. Sometimes I'm pretty sure that I know the answer to what she's asking, but then when I try to explain it I get myself confused. Good thing I'm not a teacher, LOL! With your archives to help me, I was able to tell her a lot about different trees and riggings, but then she came up with a bunch more questions and I ran out of answers.
Anyway I would sure appreciate it if you could help me out here so that Lucie can get a handle on all of this stuff. Not just her, either. I obviously need to know these things too, LOL!
Anyway, if you would be willing to help out here, here are the questions Lucie asked that have me stumped.
What is a Semi Quarter Horse tree and how is it different from a plain old Quarter Horse tree? What is an Arabian tree? (I think I understand this but not well enough to explain to Lucie)
What is the difference between Cutting Bars and Arizona Bars? (I tried to look them up online and all I got was a list of places to go drinking, LOL!)
Is In-Skirt Rigging better than In-Tree Rigging? (My husband says it's dangerous, but my best old saddle has in-skirt rigging and I've never had a problem with it.) And what is J-rigging? I haven't ever heard of that and neither has my husband, and he's ridden Western all his life too. But Lucie has heard about it all the way over in France, so go figure. Can you tell me some brands of saddles that make that kind of rigging? I'd like to see it for myself, whatever it is.
Thanks in advance, Sallie
Western saddle trees vary in several ways. The bars may be closer together or farther apart; they may be longer or shorter, and they may angle outward at various degrees to suit different types of horses.
A Quarter Horse tree isn't designed to fit ALL Quarter Horses - it's specifically designed to fit stock-type Quarter Horses, so the bars are a little wider and they angle out a little more. If you have an old-style, bulldog-type Quarter Horse with a back like a table top, you would use this tree or possibly even an Arabian tree. A Semi Quarter Horse tree is meant to fit a racing Quarter Horse, or a horse with that type of body - the bars are placed a little bit closer together and at a slightly different angle to accomodate a horse that's built more for running (longer back, narrower chest, ribs not quite as widely sprung.
An Arabian tree is very much like a Quarter Horse tree. Sometimes the only difference between the two is that the Arabian tree will have shorter bars, because Arabians are traditionally expected to have shorter backs than Quarter Horses. Sometimes an Arabian tree will be even wider - more space between the bars - than a Quarter Horse tree. Sometimes it won't. The important thing to remember is that saddlemaking firms don't all follow the same formula. A Quarter Horse tree in one brand may be noticeably wider or narrower than the same type tree from another manufacturer, etc. Some manufacturers offer other sizes - "Extra Full Quarter Horse", for example. But you'll still need to measure, and your horse will still need to approve the saddle. Always try before you buy!
As for the bars themselves, cutting bars are a type of bars usually found in cutting saddles - and also in quite a few reining saddles. They're narrower and thinner than Arizona bars, because cutting and reining saddles are meant to put the rider closer to the horse (English riders: think of a saddle with cutting bars as a Western version of a close-contact saddle). Arizona bars are wider and thicker, and keep the rider farther away from the horse's back (English riders: think of a saddle with Arizona bars as a plantation saddle or a trooper saddle that provides good weight distribution).
Finally, in-skirt rigging is just what it sounds like: the rigging (the saddle attachment points for the latigo and cinch) is attached to the saddle's skirt, not to the tree. Your husband is right in that in-tree rigging is somewhat stronger than in-skirt rigging, and is better suited to some activities (roping, for one). But if you're a pleasure rider and your saddle is in good shape and the skirt leather is thick and strong, you may never have any problem with that rigging even if you ride that saddle every day for the rest of your life. My personal preference is for J-rigging (good question, Lucie!), which is a close-contact version of in-skirt rigging (which already offers closer contact than in-tree rigging). With J-rigging, the skirt is designed with a cut-out area that allows the rider's leg to be even closer to the horse's side. You and your husband are probably both familiar with the rigging itself - just not with the term "J-rigging". The saddles I've seen most recently were made by Reinsman and Circle Y, but just about every saddle-making firm produces some saddles with J-rigging.
If you send away for some catalogues from big mail-order Western tack shops, you'll be able to sit down with Lucie and show her all kinds of different saddles, riggings, skirts, horns, stirrups, etc. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for you to make some phonecalls now and get those catalogues into your house as soon as possible, because I suspect that young Lucie has a lot more questions to ask. ;-)
Jessica
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