[QUOTE=sammicat;7601570]
On the plus side, I was able to trade my CWD in for a used Devacoux + other consideration. Very decent of them in the end … so … yeah … there’s that …[/QUOTE]
Well that’s good news :yes:
[QUOTE=amnich123;7601317]
So, as mentioned earlier I had my area rep out today to re-evaluate.
After having her watch me ride, my trainer and the rep had me shorten my stirrups two holes which made a worlds difference. Suddenly my leg was in the correct position which set my seat farther back where I was supposed to be sitting in the saddle. She also observed that I ride more toward the pommel and that I have a big problem with perching (part of the problem–a long term habit of mine) and that I’m fighting the saddle because I’m riding incorrectly and not letting it fix my position.
So, I’m giving it another month to get used to the saddle and the stirrup length and go from there (taking into consideration that even though the saddle feels great, it still has a lot of breaking in to do)[/QUOTE]
This sounds reasonable, I don’t know how much you’re riding but it can take a bit to get the grain leather to where you want it 
I think some people are missing that you are young & your position is still changing/developing … I don’t know your rep’s history but most local saddle reps are outstanding riders/horse people.
I had a little of the same thoughts when I got my new CWD - it puts me in a more forward position than my old saddle (which was more like a Devoucoux). Where I was riding more behind the motion - which the last horse preferred - I’m now with or slightly ahead of it. So, yes, I’ve adapted my seat, but my (new) horse approves, so it’s all good.
And yes, the grain does take a few rides before you really feel at home in it. I understand the calf is easier to break in (but then may not last as long).
Alto, I am not missing that at all. It might seem reasonable to you, but it does not to me. I don’t want my saddles to fix my riding. I want them not to screw it up.
Funny, enough, I did find a horse to fit the Devacoux. For the record though, the Devacoux is definitely not as nice as my CWD but fit is more important so I’m not complaining.
[QUOTE=alto;7601698]
I don’t know your rep’s history but most local saddle reps are outstanding riders/horse people.[/QUOTE]
So are most trainers, yet apparently the rep knows more about the OP’s equitation based on what sounds like 2 visits than th OP’s actual trainer(s).
[QUOTE=vxf111;7602634]
So are most trainers, yet apparently the rep knows more about the OP’s equitation based on what sounds like 2 visits than th OP’s actual trainer(s).[/QUOTE]
Guess your area is different than mine - lots of mid level trainers, not so many outstanding ones …
If OP’s trainer(s) didn’t sort out the stirrup length issue but then agreed with the saddle company rep on that as a solution …
… well that sorta puts crazy ideas in my head 
My area clearly is different! Lots of reps just out to sell, no real horsemanship involved.
[QUOTE=vxf111;7601338]
Glad she was so helpful… Curious two trainers didn’t notice it was just too long stirrups?![/QUOTE]
Uhh. Wow. I agree, that’s odd…
So did you ride the demo with shorter stirrups, then started riding them two holes longer in the new saddle, and no one (not you, not the trainers) thought that it might have been that?
And FWIW; I’m shorter than you and average size, and I ride in an 18 and have sat in an 18.5 and been fine and dandy. Height =/= seat size in the least.
Any pictures of you in the new saddle? I can’t believe we got to page five with no pictures… :winkgrin:
Agree on pictures!
And I’ll echo the other posters here and say that shortening your stirrups two holes is really quite a bizarre response to the balance being off. I’ve been around the saddle block a time or two, and each time I’ve taken delivery of a saddle I’ve known whether it was “right” or not during the first/second rides, slippery or otherwise. There was a time I wish I’d advocated a lot harder for myself, when the saddle wasn’t 100% right and I spent a couple of years slightly off kilter and found doing no stirrups basically impossible. But I didn’t. And that company would have made it right. I have no experience with CWD, since I’ve only ever purchased that brand used, but I would be awfully careful with accepting “shorten your stirrups two holes” as an appropriate response for the balance being off and you feeling uncomfortable while riding. That you say you cannot do work without stirrups in this saddle is telling, assuming you’re able to while riding in other saddles. This is a CUSTOM and very $$$$ saddle, and you should feel completely at home riding in it!
[QUOTE=alto;7601698]
I think some people are missing that you are young & your position is still changing/developing … I don’t know your rep’s history but most local saddle reps are outstanding riders/horse people.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know. A saddle either has a balance point that works for you or it doesn’t. With stirrups, without stirrups, you shouldn’t be fighting your tack. Depending on whether I’m riding on the flat, jumping smallish fences or jumping xc, my stirrup length will differ by 5-6 holes but my saddles work for me at all the lengths.
I have ridden in a lot of saddles over the years and not all saddles work for all people, but the rep selling a $$$$ saddle sure hopes the one they sold you isn’t coming back 
. I’ve not worked with CWD so I am not making any accusations, I am just naturally suspicious. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of any rep to tell you that your custom saddle is all wrong.
Now, if a rider’s previous saddle was simply so unbalanced that their muscle memory was all wrong, I suppose it’s possible, but it seems to me an overly pat explanation for the issues the OP was having.
I have changed my taste in saddles over the years (for example, I like a more open/flat seat and no blocks or large knee rolls) but the balance of the saddle doesn’t change.
[QUOTE=fordtraktor;7601463]
Um, yeah. I don’t think I would be very happy if I spent $6k and had to change the way I ride to make the saddle fit me. I am glad you are happy to keep trying but…good grief, you ought to be able to ride in your saddle with no stirrups at all without hating it. Especially for that kind of money. Just saying.
BTW, my trainers have all had me flat a good two to three holes longer than I jump. So in a CWD can you not do that? Bizarre. I can put my stirrups in a range of five holes, or off completely, and the balance is still fundamentally the same. I don’t think the stirrups should be forcing your leg and seat into any position. This just all sounds so wrong to me. But I think your seat should be where it is independent of your stirrups, and you may continue to fight this saddle. I hope that it is better than it sounds and it works out.[/QUOTE]
See, that’s the thing. The saddle is fine if I ride with my stirrups 2 holes shorter than I normally would, but when I drop my stirrups that’s when the saddle truly doesn’t fit in the seat which is then a problem.
I can’t ride within a range of 5 holes. The seat is too big but when I have my stirrups up a couple holes to where the rep and trainer had me put them, I then fit the seat of the saddle better. The rep insisted that the flap was perfect for me and that she fitted me correctly. I was also told that I ride forward and “on the pommel” where as a smaller seat wouldn’t help.
[QUOTE=billiebob;7601481]
This x 1000. My saddle is a good balance for me (and my horse), and I’m comfortable with a large range of stirrup lengths. All the way from h/j flat length to hike-em-up jockey style–a good 10-12 holes difference.
I also find it a little odd that the rep and not your trainer is telling you to change the way you ride.[/QUOTE]
Both suggested it that I need to start riding more “correct”. But the rep emphasized it.
[QUOTE=hj0519;7601684]
I agree…the resolution is just so weird to me. You ride with a great group of trainers and none of them noticed your stirrups before now? But as long as you’re happy, it doesn’t really matter what we think, though.[/QUOTE]
Well where I ride now they like a longer stirrup for the effect of a longer leg in the eq ring. So that’s why I’ve been riding with a longer stirrup as I have been advised to.
The trainer (who happens to be from another barn who advised that I have my area rep come down) and rep told me that I should focus on riding effectively and correctly instead of trying to ride with a longer stirrup for the look of a longer leg.
[QUOTE=alto;7601698]
This sounds reasonable, I don’t know how much you’re riding but it can take a bit to get the grain leather to where you want it
I think some people are missing that you are young & your position is still changing/developing … I don’t know your rep’s history but most local saddle reps are outstanding riders/horse people.[/QUOTE]
I’m currently riding 3-4x a week. 3 hacks and a Lesson or 2 hacks and a lesson. I was told the saddle has a while to be broken in.
I hope this solves the problem-- but I will say I have never sat in a saddle where a 2 hole stirrup shortening was the difference between a total inability to ride in the saddle and thinking the seat/flap size were off-- and perfection. What’s going to happen if they ask you to drop stirrups in an eq class… you’ll just lose all ability to ride?! And I am also sort of stunned that not one but two trainers couldn’t look at you riding and think “hmm, drop a hole and move her leg back an inch and she’d be much more balanced.” I see internet strangers pictures and think things like that in my head The rep wants you to correct your leg but says you’re a crotch-in-pommel rider and you’ll just have to carry on that way without any effort to fix that?! huh? At the end of the day, you should be happy-- and if you’re happy that’s what counts-- but this all seems a little bizarre.
I agree that the stirrup length thing is a bit weird. If your stirrups were too long then you may have some issues like a loose lower leg or maybe you would sit more on your crotch than your sit bones, which could mean your knee slips back and your butt as well as having the angle more open, but that seems like an extreme. It would be good to see pictures. Depending on what horse I ride, I can go up or down on my stirrups quite a bit or drop them altogether and my saddle still fits. Everyone can work on their position but being forced into a position by a saddle that doesn’t fit your style seems like it isn’t a long term solution.
[QUOTE=vxf111;7604569]
I hope this solves the problem-- but I will say I have never sat in a saddle where a 2 hole stirrup shortening was the difference between a total inability to ride in the saddle and thinking the seat/flap size were off-- and perfection. What’s going to happen if they ask you to drop stirrups in an eq class… you’ll just lose all ability to ride?! And I am also sort of stunned that not one but two trainers couldn’t look at you riding and think “hmm, drop a hole and move her leg back an inch and she’d be much more balanced.” I see internet strangers pictures and think things like that in my head The rep wants you to correct your leg but says you’re a crotch-in-pommel rider and you’ll just have to carry on that way without any effort to fix that?! huh? At the end of the day, you should be happy-- and if you’re happy that’s what counts-- but this all seems a little bizarre.[/QUOTE]
I’m not completely happy, but I’m trying to make it work. Next time I lesson with that trainer or when I’m with a trainer from the barn I’m at, I’m going to ask their honest opinion.
I’m trying to keep out of my mind that the saddle is incorrect, but to think more about the way I’m riding in the saddle and where my position and center of balance should be in the saddle compared to others.
I’m doing as my rep said to try the adjustment with my stirrup for 3 weeks to see how things go, and to keep in touch with her and around that time to touch base and see how things are going.
I do think that dropping my stirrups in an eq class will be a problem. I just posted these images to Tumblr, so you can see the saddle:
Picture #1:
http://bays-4-days.tumblr.com/post/87608564337
Picture #2:
http://bays-4-days.tumblr.com/post/87608657057
Picture #3:
http://bays-4-days.tumblr.com/post/87608705967
I have never spent $5000+ and then said “well, I’m not happy but I’ll compromise.” But then I guess we’re all different!
FWIW based on those photos alone- I do think you could sit back in the saddle a touch more. But I also think it’s very very far from level on the horse’s back and that the flap is all wrong. I’m reserving judgment on the seat size until you sit in it just a little more (right now you are totally perched over it) but I think it likely could go up a size. I would venture that the main problem is that it’s not particularly level on the horse and it’s going to be hard for you to sit IN something that’s completely non-level. Do you NEED that thick half pad? Does the saddle sit more level on the horse’s back without it? Were your pads like that when you tacked up, or is the saddle “pad spitting?”
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