This is the best saddle I've ever had my arab mare has very up right shoulders and found that my englih saddle was hitting her shoulders on landing after a jump, so I thouht I would try a barefoot saddle it's worked wonders we do xc and showjumping like harmony, she jumps perfect and moves so freely that we have qualified for the winter sj finals.I feel very safe jumping in this saddle it was a little tricky to start with but keep trying it's so worth it! THANK YOU SO MUCH HORSE AND HARMONY xx

Published Barefoot 'Cherokee' Just been out for my second ride on my new Cherokee today and I just want to say, as many already have, that I would never go back to a treed saddle ever again. Between us me and my mom and sister own fifteen horses, 10 Arabs and 5 native ponies, all of whom are ridden, so with so many it's handy to have one saddle to fit many, lol. For seven years I rode my beloved older Arab mare, Perky, in a made to fit saddle but actually brought a Heather Moffit treeless as a second saddle when I backed my then 3yo mare, Cameo. That was my first treeless saddle and that was also very good, although it did feel a bit unstable every now and then. Unfortunately both saddles were stolen when our tack room was broken into. Unable to afford another decent saddle, for the last 6 years I have had to make do with an ill-fitting second-hand treed saddle. It has got me through but I was never happy with the fit. Too wide, especially for Cam who is not as broad as Perk and has high withers. Neither horse has ever gone noticeably badly in it, and I had a riser pad to help it fit better, but Cam has always started to buck or threatened to buck whenever she set off into the faster paces. The only fault in an otherwise laid back mare. I did feel it was probably the saddle causing such a problem rather than any behaviour fault of hers, she is 10 now, so it is definitely not young friskiness. Having loved my Heather Moffit saddle I browsed the net looking for another treeless saddle but one which was more affordable. I discovered Horse and Harmony and never looked away. I would sit on the computer and drool over these beautiful saddles. I loved the design of them and dreamed of the time when I would be able to get the money together to buy one. With 15 horses I'm sure many of you appreciate how difficult that is, lol. Well a couple of months back I finally managed to order my new Cherokee in a saddle package. It did take a long time to arrive, 6 weeks, but that was mainly due to the adverse weather conditions and I was kept well informed the whole time. The saddle and accessories arrived a week ago, all are beautiful and very well made. I took Cameo out in it a couple of days later and loved it. It did not budge an inch when I mounted and I felt extremely secure in walk and trot the whole time. I did feel quite off balance in the one short canter we did on that first ride but today on just the second trip out I feel completely at home in all paces :) As for Cameo everyone has commented on how much happier and more relaxed she looks. As she is a very laid back mare, that is saying a lot, lol. In trot she now strides out with her head still and low and her ears pricked, whereas before her trot strides were quite choppy, despite being very long and low in other paces, and her ears would be turned back and her head would shake and come up. Not now. And the biggest change of all - no bucking. Always before I would be tense going into canter, knowing that 6/10 times Cam may very well bounce into the air instead of going forward, not today. We cantered and galloped 5 separate times on our ride today, and at first did I wait for the possible buck but there wasn't even a sense of Cameo even thinking about bouncing. We shot off the mark walk to gallop twice, which is usually a big trigger. Nothing. By the end of the ride I was confidently racing Cam up our usual gallop track in the woods towards home without a second thought. We were both so relaxed and happy I didn't want the ride to end. Another passing rider even stopped me to admire the saddle at one point and ask about it. It got a roaring review from me! Another big sign of how wonderful these saddles are was when I tried it on my old mare, Perk, late one evening for just a quick walk about the yard, unable to wait until I could take her out on a proper ride. Now, Perk has -always- turned to bite when I have done up the girth with every saddle she has worn at the start of every ride that I have ever taken her on and Perk has been with me now for 15 years. She is an extremely sweet natured horse with the manners of a queen, the only time I have ever known her to lay her ears back at a person is when her girth is being fastened, even when she had her made to fit saddle. But the night I did up the girth of my new Cherokee she didn't even turn her head, she just kept looking out of her stable door with her ears pricked as if nothing was happening. Thank you so much Barefoot for making my two girls happy. We have tried it briefly with a few of our others so far and they have also given it their hooves up. My sister has tried it on her two main riding boys and is now thinking of getting one for herself to go along with her Heather Moffit treeless that survived the burglary when mine got taken. I simply cannot wait until my Perk's son, Hassan, is old enough to back and he can be ridden Barefoot, too. Because one thing is for certain - he will never be ridden in anything else!