Easier to get bucked off in a dressage saddle vs. a jumping saddle?

[mvp]

[QUOTE=ideayoda;7915526]
It is not as much the saddle (since a rider can be very secure in both saddle) but rather the too open joints (too long a stirrup and too long a leg w/o all the joints being elastically stretched into the heel). And it is also a question of whether rider is over the center of motion vs behind it, it is the later the buck will propel the rider out of the saddle.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. I think it’s the straight legs and no room in the (bucket) seat that form the ingredients of a fall when a horse starts to buck.

FWIW, I ride an an uber-flat, open old Stubben Tristan special. It’s the Prix des Nations of dressage saddles. I have not fallen out of it yet. But judging from what I feel when I have ridden some bad canters in it, I think the open seat helps me: No matter where I land, there’s still a place for me in that saddle. My open hips, knees and ankle joints feel like they really don’t help me with riding anything bigger like a buck.

Not looking forward to the first time I do have to ride some broncing in a dressage saddle.

[raff]

For me it’s the high cantle. I’ve sprained my tailbone on a bucking horse in a Schleese, (though didn’t come off until he stopped and then went bucking sideways when I growled at him for being a naughty boy).
In hindsight a rub on the neck for being a GOOD boy for stopping might have worked better? Or even not having whacked him on the bottom for a delayed canter transition now that I think of it!
Now I always check the horse will stop and turn from the rein, go and yield from the leg, and stand still BEFORE I do more, it’s surprising what a cold day will do to those basic responses even with an educated horse…

[ThreeFigs]

OP, hope things are going better for you.

I’ve been bucked out of all kinds of saddles – AP, dressage, Western and Aussie. One of my favorites for riding a buck or a spook is a Prestige 2000D that a student of mine had. Comfy as a sofa and I could brace my knees against those huge blocks and ride out whatever her horse was trying to do.

Definitely think a too long stirrup affects stability and agree with those who advise shortening stirrups a bit. I ride with a shorter stirrup than I used to and it helps all aspects of my riding – position, stability, aiding and so forth. Previous instructors would try to force me into that long, elegant looking leg position – which would work fine IF I had a long, elegant leg!

[Countrywood]

Could be that your horse has developed a more athletic buck due to dressage training/strengthening? The downside of getting them to use their back and power from behind. I have seen some of the most athletic spooks and bucks from dressage horses .

I took two falls resulting in broken bones my first year of dressage riding after transition from hunt seat to a dressage saddle…looking back on it I had not yet developed my dressage seat which took me 3 years ( might be faster for you). I use a bucking strap on my dressage saddle…the strap is a security blanket if nothing else. Grippy full seat breeches can help as well, FITS are good.

Sorry it happened wishing you fast healing.

[Curly_Feather]

I divide my timebetween jumping and dressage saddles about 50/50. Sitting a buck in a jumping saddle is much easier! Shorter stirrups means a much better base, and like one poster said, contorting yourself to stay over the horse’s centre of balance is just so much easier.

[Foxtrot_s]

I’ve winded myself in a Western saddle on the horn a couple of times, so,
I feel safest in a jump style saddle.

[Pembroke]

I’m the complete opposite. I find sitting bucks to be much easier in a dressage saddle. I usually just lean back a bit, and sit it out.

The first time in a WHILE I almost fell off due to horsie antics was this summer, when my horses had outgrown their dressage saddle, and I was riding in my jumping saddle and my boy did this thing… And I was half lying on the neck.

But, really, I can sit out most things in either saddle.

Unless it’s a series of bucks when the boy is running in gallop at full speed. Then, yes, I prefer the jump saddle. (Ask me how I know ;))

[MelanieC]

Yeah, I don’t think it’s the saddle as much as stirrup length. You’re just so much less likely to lose your stirrups if they’re short and that’s half the battle.

When I switched from hunters to dressage I had to work for months to really develop a seat. I felt like in h/j, you don’t really have a seat - you’re sort of floating above the saddle so much of the time, whereas in dressage you really want to be plugged into their backs.

I do think my seat in general was more secure after developing a dressage seat. The worst runaway I’ve ever been on was after I’d been riding dressage for a year or so. He was a pretty young OTTB and just threw a buck and took off one afternoon after I asked for a canter. The first thing that happened is I lost my stirrups and if I hadn’t been sitting deep in the saddle I would have come off right away, but instead I went with him. He went around the indoor a few times at about Mach 80 and then made a hard right to the outdoor (my trainer said my head was about 3" from the side of the arena doorway) and I only came off when I saw he was heading for the fence around the outdoor and decided to bail. If all of that had happened while I was still in hunter mode I don’t think I would have made it to the outdoor in the first place.

So yeah, all things being equal if I can keep my stirrups I’m more secure in a shorter stirrup, but if I lose my stirrups I’d rather ride it out like a dressage rider than a h/j rider.

Am I weird? Whenever I switch saddles I have a short adjustment period at the beginning of the ride, but then unless the fit is super duper wrong for me or the twist is extremely narrow (ouch) then I don’t really notice the saddle anymore. I used to ride in a Stubben Tristan, now I have a Custom Icon Flight, and I just rode my barn’s zippy little lesson pony in a French jump saddle and I felt fine in all of them.