I am considering buying a Barefoot Treeless Nevada saddle for my 4yr old Appy after speaking with Maria and a few friends, but I have also done a fair bit of research on the net and there have been quite a few write ups about these saddles slipping.

Can anyone comment?

We have had a Barefoot Nevada for ages, one of the first i think.

They did slip a bit, but it does depend on A) how round your horse is and How level you sit!

The newer model has a gullet, so this should sort this out. i also recommend buying the model with the dressage girth straps rather than a cinch. The pressure is taken more evenly at both sides, and use a short dressage girth so that your fastening the saddle lower down, making it more stable. invest in the correct pad, and you have an inexpensive saddle that works well until you youngster is matured and ready for the saddle that hopefully fits him the rest of his life!

I like ours, and it fits anything to boot!There is some snobbery around about saddles, but for value for money and versatility I would buy one. I have had ours 6 years, had no trouble with it.

Hi

I have the barefoot arizon and have been using it for about three months. It has not moved at all including when horse has spun ( not asked for!) bucked (ditto on the not asked for front!) and also reared, pogod and then turned and ran off on a hack (not all asked for but good fun). I feel very secure riding on it as I can sense if he is going to play up and sort it out and stay balanced if he has gone of on one.

I did have a Bob Marshall sports saddle that slipped under his stomach in a spook/canter though and have seen treeless saddles 'ship' to the side when riders get of on ER rides. I think the main point is that you need to check the cinch more often as the saddle beds down as it warms up. So I tend to tighten the cinch after mounting, after about ten minutes and then after 20 minutes or so and then its fine.

I think its a great saddle for the money and has resolved a lot of my horses long standing back problems. I ahve included a link to the Intelligent horsemanship board that has my feedback from an equine chiropractors comments on my horses back after three months going treeless.

http://ihdg.proboards91.com/index.cgi?board=talk2&action=display&thread=1204745294

We have one of the new style Nevada's for my son's horse as he needs to build muscle before getting an expensive saddle. It is great, just ensure the girth is tightened properly before fast work