Selection guide: treeless saddle or rigid tree for endurance riding

A technical detail shared by the Purosangue and Ghost lines, available as an option across the entire range, is the saddle with a central opening: a cutout in the seat designed to redistribute weight and reduce pressure on the rider’s lower back. On routes measured in hours rather than kilometers, this ergonomic feature affects the rider’s comfort just as much as the saddle’s construction affects the horse’s comfort—an aspect often overlooked in technical comparisons, which almost always focus solely on equine well-being.

In the general comparison between “saddle with a tree” and “treeless saddle,” weight is almost always the main argument in favor of treeless saddles. But when looking specifically at the top-of-the-range models designed for competitive endurance—Ghost E on one side, Purosangue Piuma on the other—this advantage disappears: both weigh 2.6 kg, fenders included. This means that for anyone considering a purchase primarily to reduce the load on the horse’s back, the choice should shift to other criteria: the structure’s dynamic behavior, the rider’s sense of contact, and the horse’s specific conformation.

Regardless of the saddle chosen, long-distance riding presents a common challenge: managing heat and pressure over a much longer period than in other disciplines.

How the two structures handle hours of continuous work

The two philosophies solve the same problem — maintaining stable, well-distributed pressure for hours — with two opposing approaches, both of them valid.

On the Ghost E, the absence of rigid elements eliminates fixed pressure points by design: however, the result depends largely on the quality and adjustment of the panels, which must correctly follow the horse’s muscular changes during exertion — a system that requires attention and active maintenance throughout the ride.

On the Purosangue Piuma, the rigid tree tackles the issue from the opposite direction: rather than adapting point by point, it distributes weight over a broad, consistent support area whose behavior does not change with heat, sweating, or muscular fatigue in the horse during the final hours — a level of predictability that, on very long rides, reduces the risk of changes in balance precisely when horse and rider are most tired and least able to perceive them. The shell is also designed open along the spine to ensure ventilation and spinal clearance, while the removable panels in different thicknesses (1, 1.5, or 2 cm) make it possible to fine-tune the protection according to the shape of the horse’s back.

Heat dissipation along the back with treeless and rigid saddles

In both systems, continuous ventilation above the spine is an explicit design feature, showing that the issue of overheating along the back during long-distance rides is central to both construction philosophies, not exclusive to treeless saddles.

The Piuma Naked is not designed as a “light but rigid” compromise: the product specification explicitly describes it as intended for professional competitive endurance, with a design that addresses the typical seated canter of endurance races as a specific use case, not a generic one. Several technical features explain why the rigid tree holds its own even at the most demanding levels:

• “Hybrid-saddle” system: the load-bearing structure of the Piuma is not merely a rigid shell, but acts as an active cushioning buffer that integrates with the horse’s morphology — a hybrid combining the stability of the tree with a cushioned response, designed specifically for extended galloping.
• Zero interference with the rider’s position: the stirrup leathers and billets are screwed directly to the tree using recessed screws, eliminating any bulk beneath the thigh and the classic “dancing” effect of the legs — a factor that matters especially in the final hours of a race, when positional precision tends to decline due to fatigue.
• Shell material: made from high-strength molded polyurethane, designed to balance structural rigidity and ergonomic flexibility, with billets made from technical synthetic material designed not to give way over time — a direct response to the wear caused by the continuous hours of work typical of endurance races.
• Horse cardiac recovery: on the product page, the record weight of 2.6 kg is presented not merely as “lightweight design,” but as a functional choice aimed at maximizing the horse’s cardiac recovery — a parameter that is as central to competitive endurance as speed, because it directly affects veterinary clearance to continue the race.

Even those who tried the Piuma while initially skeptical of lightweight saddles describe the integrated structure as capable of eliminating the feeling of “suspension” that makes the legs bounce, with an effect close to bareback riding but with the security of stirrups.

These features do not make the rigid tree “superior” in absolute terms: they remain valid for the conformations and riding styles for which the Purosangue is recommended (see the comparison table). But they should be understood as fully-fledged technical arguments, explicitly designed for competitive use — not as compromises accepted in exchange for lightweight design, which, as noted, the Piuma Naked now achieves anyway, matching the Ghost E.