Crown, flare and relief - what's the difference? Here's how we define them. Crown is the easiest one to distinguish from the other two. It is the curve side to side across the bar. And it changes (surprise, surprise) as it goes down the bar, generally… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/how-do-you-spell-relief/
Looking at an angle from the front and then the back gives us a good idea about the amount of rock and crown a horse needs in his tree. Subscribe to RSS Feed This is the last part of a three part series on how we assess a horse’s back to figure out what tree specs will work the best on him. In part one… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/evaluating-horses-back-saddle-fit-part-three/
Looking at some of the reasons some horses have more rock in their back than others. Subscribe to RSS Feed A definition to start with: Rock is the curve from front to back, both on the bottom of the bar and along the horse’s back. The same… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/he-s-gotta-lotta-rock/
Looking at the top line of a horse doesn't tell you how much curve he has in his back under the bars of the saddle. You have to look at where the bars go. Here's a great example of the mismatch between top line and rock line. Subscribe to RSS Feed When I read in various places about how to take templates on a horse’s back, the instructions that include more than just a “wither tracing”… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/the-top-line-doesn-t-match-the-rock-line/
