Baby XC in a dressage saddle?

[RantyvilleHorror]

So…

I have made plans with a fellow livery/friend to go to a local XC hire at the end of the summer. I’m super nervous about riding generally and my friend hasn’t been out and about for a while thanks to covid so is also a bit nervous. Our horses are both rockstars so they won’t/shouldn’t be a problem.

I generally just stick to dressage because it’s what I find most enjoyable. I’ve done some baby show jumping in my dressage saddle (up to maybe 55cm?) and I was fine with it. I have no desire or talent to go higher than that!

I don’t want to buy a new saddle just for jumping because we don’t do enough of it to warrant it and the shape horse he is he would require an expensive one. My dressage saddle fits him perfectly, has it checked regularly etc.

Do you think I would be able to get away with doing some baby XC jumps in my dressage saddle? The jumps start at 50cm and I’d only want to do the little ones anyway. We will have the whole place to ourselves so don’t have to worry about others galloping past us or anything! It will pretty much just be a jumping lesson over some baby XC fences in a few fields. Am I crazy for even thinking about it? Do I need to bite the bullet and get a GP?

[joiedevie99]

You should be totally fine in what you’ve got. 50cm is smaller than our larger cavaletti. The only thing that really matters is that you can shorten your stirrup enough to keep some bend in your knee and ankle, and be stable over the fence. If your stirrups are so long that you can’t keep your leg stable when you aren’t sitting in the saddle, you risk catching the horse in the mouth and punishing them for jumping.

[RantyvilleHorror]

Thank you! Yes, I can do that

[GraceLikeRain]

Absolutely! Have fun and drag someone along for pictures/videos.

[RantyvilleHorror]

I definitely will do! I might end up on shiteventersunite…

[initiate1987]

You’ll definitely be fine. I remember one lesson I had with my trainer where it was supposed to be a dressage lesson in dressage tack, but there was some issue that we had where we decided to just jump instead, around 2’6" max. I think the first jump I hadn’t shortened my stirrups yet, so that was a bit interesting, but once I did, I was fine.

There’s also a video out there of Charlotte Dujardin cross country schooling with Mount St. John Freestyle and I’m pretty sure she was in dressage tack. It was after they did awards for a championship or something, I think. I’ll see if I can find it once I get home from work.

[Graymaresrule]

Back in the dark ages I used to do it. I only had one saddle, a Passier dressage with padded flaps.

[J-Lu]

Sure, as others have said! How large is you knee roll? If you have a large knee roll, shortening your stirrups may not be very comfy. Back in the day, I evented at the lower levels and purchased a Wintec jump saddle for about $600. But my current horse jumps over puddles with my rather large knee rolls and everything is fine. I would probably shorten the stirrups one or two holes to get more comfy with jumping and how my body felt. Good luck!!

[baybrio]

carolprudm - lovely pic.

Another vote for yes. I evented at training level with the one saddle that fit the horse. One women, riding at a lower level, came up and asked if I knew it was a dressage saddle and not for jumping Nobody else cared.

[malriis]

You’ll be fine. I’ve done XC schooling up to BN with my Wintec dressage saddle. Just shorten your stirrups as much as is comfortable and grab mane. VID_62121231_212634_588_exported_24729_1616251093229|640x360

[Graymaresrule]

Thanks. That was my old eventing pony 40+ years ago. I have since learned to keep my toes in…

[Nova2000]

You’ll be fine! Just think of it as a little bit of a free form Prix Caprilli