July 10, 2020

In Love with the Ultimate Trail Saddle & What It's Done for My Horse

By Paulita Neff
In Love with the Ultimate Trail Saddle & What It's Done for My Horse

Hi Paulita,

Just a few words about my ‘happy ass’ saddle. It’s been a year since I ordered my Ultimate Trail saddle. I initially went looking for an alternative to my bespoke County saddle when my horse Blanco finally started coming back into work after a long bout of lameness.

Blanco suffered from under run heels when he first came to me, and things only worsened when he shredded both DDFT’s. It took a year to even begin to recover, and during that time of decreased activity I noticed symptoms that led to a diagnosis of HYPP. So now we were dealing not only with lameness but also with a genetic muscle disease.

So now we were ready to begin the slow road to rehab, but what to do with a saddle that was no longer even close to fitting his changed musculature?

That’s when I discovered the treeless saddle. After much research I contacted Paulita. We talked a bit about what I wanted and what Blanco needed and we have never been happier. I’ve had the saddle and Freeform pad for a year now and we’ve come so far.

 Horse wearing a Freeform Ultimate Trail Treeless Saddle

Blanco’s back is still changing, but through it all the saddle has fit both of us perfectly.

I recently contacted Paulita as I thought maybe I needed to ‘upgrade’ to a Skito pad. After looking at photos of my boy, Paulita convinced me not to ‘fix’ what wasn’t broken. She was right. My issue proved to be a training and balance issue and not a tack issue.

I’m in love with this saddle and what it has done for my horse during and after a very rough stretch. Thank you SO much for your insight and support. I know I can always ask for help and it will be there. Can’t wait until we can get back on the Colorado trails again 🙂

– Brooks and Blanco