I am working on getting someone out to get professional advice but I’m curious to see what information I can gain from others in the meantime. Me and my baby horse are a month into our riding journey - I am weak and out of shape but I’ve never struggled with my lower leg so much. When I feel sturdy, I’m in a major chair seat. When I try to really focus on getting my leg under me, it feels like a swinging pendulum. I’m starting to wonder if my saddle also is working against me? I feel like I have no support and my knee barely comes up to the knee roll. Am I crazy or is the flap far too forward for me despite me having a long leg?
1 Like
In the first photo, the balance of the saddle is such that it’s sitting you way back towards the cantle. You want the lowest part of the seat to be directly where the saddle flattens just after the pommel. That puts you right over the horse’s center of gravity. The saddle is either the wrong fit for the horse or the wrong fit for both of you, but it definitely needs a lift in the back. HOWEVER, just lifting the back of the saddle isn’t always the solution. If it’s not the right fit for the horse, that can put too much pressure at the front of the saddle.
Can you post photos without you in the saddle (just the saddle on the horse)? Can you work with an independent saddle fitter (not the CWD rep)?
3 Likes
The saddle is way too pommel-high, and I don’t think it’s because it’s just that far forward It may be a little forward but not so much to cause that amount of backwards tip
What sort of padding is under it? I see what looks like a black “cushy” pad, how thick is it? If it’s a really thick one, it may be making the saddle too narrow and causing pommel high.
I agree with Demerara that we need a pic of this without a rider. Start with no pads, girthed up, horse standing as square as reasonable on a flat level surface
If that picture shows a saddle that fits, or looks like it would fit if slid back a little to its proper place (lots of people put it too far forward), then that black pad is likely the bigger issue
1 Like
