Help with Rider Saddle Fit: With Photos

[Lolly530]

I’m hoping to get everyone’s professional and non-professional opinions on what to look for in my next saddle (will be a CWD due to barn affiliations).

Currently in a Stubben (Get connected model) 17.5 seat and forward flap. Im 6 foot and my thigh length is 23 inches.

Issues:

1. I have trouble opening up my hip and rolling my knee away from the saddle.
2. My leg stays too far behind the girth and it’s feels like a battle to keep it in the correct location. (Im assuming the stirrup bar is too far back for me)
3. In a half seat my pelvis gets on top of/ in front of the cantle.

Photo attached

[Lolly530]

[Lolly530]

[akhunterrider]

Do you have any pictures of yourself in the saddle where you are seated? Either on the down beat of the trot, seated at the walk or just standing at the halt?

[JB]

@Lolly530

will be a CWD due to barn affiliations

said with love - not all brands, or makes within a brand, fit all riders, and CWD doesn’t fit all riders. So, keep an open mind on the brand

@Lolly530

I have trouble opening up my hip and rolling my knee away from the saddle.

Usually this is a rider issue rather than a saddle issue. What sort of exercise do you do off horse? Your knee - are you saying it keeps rolling away, or you rotate your leg inward and are pinching with your knee? I’m assuming the latter (pinching) just based on the pictures but want to check

@Lolly530

My leg stays too far behind the girth and it’s feels like a battle to keep it in the correct location. (Im assuming the stirrup bar is too far back for me

Maybe the stirrup bar, but it’s also related to not opening your hip. Closed hips encourage you to pinch with your knee and keep your your leg back. Your pictures all have you tipped forward above, and tipped back below, your hips

Do you have a picture straight from the side if you just sitting in the saddle as you normally would? As in, not trying to correct things you feel you have an issue with? That will help see if it’s the sape of the saddle, or fit of the saddle on your horse, etc

@Lolly530

In a half seat my pelvis gets on top of/ in front of the cantle.

all related to all the above - lack of open hip flexors, pinching with the knees, etc

Has a trainer ever had you walk around leaning backwards and pushing your feet out in front of you? Obviously that’s not a correct position BUT, when our body gets used to a position, it’s hard to get right to the correct position. Going the opposite extreme and THEN working towards correct is often a lot easier.

[Lolly530]

Yes! Thanks for taking a look

[Lolly530]

Amazing points, thank you so much!! I think you are spot on that it’s likely something that I need to work on. I’ve actually been doing a lot of hip PT exercises to strengthen + glute strengthening for the past month. But one thing I haven’t thought of that you mentioned is the lack of open hip flexors. I will add that + low core to my exercises.

Again, thank you

[Jackie_Cochran]

I am by no means an expert.

I think your saddle is too small for you in the seat.

When my parents bought me my Stubben Siegfried the saddler (“old Mr. Kaufman” (sp?) in NYC in 1970 at the Kaufman tack store) I ended up in an 18" with extra forward flaps, and I was all of 5’5.5" back then. He told me that I needed a saddle that a 6’ tall man would need because of my thighs. They tried to put me in the much cheaper Borelli jumping saddle but even in an 18" Borelli jumping saddle my knees ended up on the knee roll.

The odd thing is that I fit fine in an off the shelf 17" Crosby PDN Wide Front with no problems from my thighs or knees, and I am doing fine in a 17" Pegasus Butterfly Claudia jumping saddle nowadays.

Try other brands of jumping saddles.

[NaturallyHappy]

Stirrup bar placement can indeed make a difference. I know there are people on this board w way more expertise than I, but certain brands make it impossible for me to get my leg in the correct position. I know you said your next saddle will be a CWD due to barn affiliation, but test it very carefully. I can ride comfortably in any Butet from. 16” to a 19”. Same for Hermes. Could not get my leg in the correct position on a Voltaire to save my soul. And I think @Jackie_Cochran made a good point.

[Amberley]

@Lolly530

I have trouble opening up my hip and rolling my knee away from the saddle.

Why would you ever want to do that? genuinely curious.

The Stubben might be too small in the seat maybe but the stirrup bar is definitely in the wrong place: it’s built for someone with a long thigh and short calf. You have a long calf. I’m a similar build to you and have some bad news about CWDs… the event oriented ones fit me pretty well and i like my friends which is really old and maybe the OG model. I’ve had very little luck with the newer HJ ones as far as stirrup bar and balance.

[NaturallyHappy]

@Amberley

I’ve had very little luck with the newer HJ ones as far as stirrup bar and balance.

Me neither.

[JB]

@Amberley

Why would you ever want to do that? genuinely curious.

It looks to me (waiting for confirmation) that the OP pinches with her knee, so having trouble opening up (rolling away) would be a good thing. Not to excess of course! But pinching causes lots of issues, and can be the cause of, or a result of, other problems. IME, tight hip flexors which don’t allow a leg to stretch down and around the horse, causes knee pinching in an effort to stabilize, which then also results in the lower leg slipping back

It can also be really tight hip adductors, and/or weak abductors and/or glute medius which allow the leg to externally rotate from the hip

And all of THOSE can also be caused by and/or exacerbated by a weak core, which is everything from armpits to hips. 360*

[Amberley]

That’s purely due to the stirrup bar issues, she’s not pinching with it in the classic sense, just trying to keep her balance.

[Lolly530]

Exactly this!

[HJdaydream]

Fellow tall rider here! 6’ and mostly legs. I find that stirrup bar placement does make a big difference. I used to have an Antares that although I found comfortable, I had to fight it to feel balanced in a half seat. It felt like it was forcing me into a chair seat. It took me awhile to realize the balance was just not ride for me.

Since then, I have had a Voltaire and now a Renaissance. The balance on both is far superior for me than the Antares was. Pictures below, although they are obviously just a snapshot in time.

Personally, I do not like the feel and balance of the CWDs I’ve ridden in, but do think that saddle fit is a very individual choice. Hopefully you are able to pick something that fits your horse and that you feel comfortable in!

17.5" 3AB flap Antares

18" 4AA Voltaire

18" Renaissance Extra long/fwd flap

[kenyarider]

My custom stubben Portos did the same thing for me. I ended up getting a devoucoux. Of course, my horse believes that a new saddle is necessary every year because he changes his back! So far, Antares, Voltaire, CWD and now Devoucoux in as many years. I can’t wait to see what he thinks he needs next year! It was definitely the way the saddle fit me, not a matter of learning to hold a new position.

[sheltona01]

Many position issues often come down to saddle fitting. If the saddle isn’t supporting you properly, it can lead to discomfort and compensation patterns.

[albytb]

I find in cases of really leggy riders, they need a saddle with a stirrup bar placed further back than what’s “default” in many brands… otherwise you have to fight the entire time to keep your leg underneath you and as a result get tipped forward. That’s why a lot of people (like the rider that just posted above) end up in seats larger than ideal, in my opinion.

A lot of brands do offer this as an option but it’s usually certain models (Antarès evolution I know has the stirrup bar placed farther back by default) or it has to be custom ordered.

[hillary_again]

Agree. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a stirrup position that I thought was too far back, but many many with the bars too far forward.

[kenyarider]

I doubt if the bar was too far back, I suspect that it was an anatomical problem - mine.