The early Ansur treeless saddles

Ansur began making treeless saddles over 20 years ago to relieve the pain and stress caused by saddle trees. The original Ansur saddle was unique in its day and was quickly adopted by a large number of riders searching for a better saddle experience for their horses. These early treeless saddles were made using the highest quality cushioning materials available at the time. The saddles performed as promised, providing the flex and comfort riders were looking for. Over time, however, the materials used in these treeless saddles collapsed and eventually failed to hold their shape.

It was obvious that a more substantial, flexible-in-all-directions structure had to be developed. This structure had to be protective for the horses at all times while under saddle. It needed to be fashioned in such a way as to provide effective rider support and weight distribution. And finally, this structure had to be produced using standardized methods to guarantee consistency in terms of quality, sizing and constant horse-comfort, horse-protective features.

Creating a new paradigm

To address the need for this entirely new inner structure for treeless horse saddles, Ansur established a team of chemical engineers, tool patterning engineers and professional riders to assist in this process.

The team was tasked with producing a treeless saddle foundation that fully flexes while maintaining its protective qualities and rider support for a lifetime. Our manifesto outlines the primary specifications that were held as standards to build for as we developed this unique inner saddle structure.

The Ansur team determined that an elastomeric injection molding process combined with space & sports industry shock absorbent materials was the best way to develop this internal saddle foundation. While expensive, it proved to be the complete answer to eliminating horses’ discomfort associated with rigid saddle trees. Problems associated with stirrup hanger attachments and lack of protection from rider’s seat bones in other "treeless" saddles were also totally eliminated with this new design.

Flexcore: the heart of all Ansurs

This new structure was named "FlexCore" because that is what it is! Since 2007, FlexCore has been the full inner core of all Ansur treeless saddles, a core that is able to flex in all directions. This new treeless saddle technology carries many patents because there was, prior to the FlexCore development, nothing that could replace the rigid tree within a saddle. Though many solutions had been tried, none worked. Ansur treeless saddles truly have no competitors because of the FlexCore inner structure.

The process of its development will probably never be duplicated... it was a tough job! We have the only fully flexible treeless saddle with a durable inner structure that will continue to protect your horse and support you for years and years to come. We combine our FlexCore technology with the finest leathers available in the U.S. to provide a unique, 100% U.S. produced saddle. Available by individual order, each treeless saddle is expertly hand-crafted with care by our experienced saddle makers in our Camas, Washington facility. At Ansur, each saddle that leaves our shop reflects individual attention to quality and detail.

From this marriage of space-age technology and traditional handcrafted saddle making, we build a traditional looking saddle that does what all saddles should do – free the horse to move naturally through all of its gaits. The Ansur treeless saddle does so without restricting its movement and fully protects the entire top line while supporting the rider’s back. We’re proud to say we’ve created "The Ansur!"