Hypermobile/double jointed knees and Western saddles

[HunterJumper8983]

I’m in my late twenties and have hypermobile/double jointed knees, which seem to mostly be fine with my thin English stirrup leathers, but I seem to have issues with the fenders on the Western saddles causing me knee pain, as it almost feels as if the fenders are “turning” my leg in place and therefore putting pressure on my knees. The couple of saddles I’ve ridden in lately have Stirrup Straights on them which are similar to turned stirrups and help a little, but the fenders seem a bit stiff from the saddles being in storage, so maybe that is the issue? Should I turn the fenders in the traditional way rather than using the Stirrup Straights?

Thanks!

[FjordBCRF]

I’m also hyper-mobile and I ride in a western Wintec; the synthetic material in the fender is much more pliable/forgiving.

I would imagine using the stirrup straights isn’t going to help with the fenders much. I know a lot of people that oil the crap out of the fenders, twist the stirrups, and stick a broom handle through it which helps to bend the fenders and let the stirrups turn out.

[SinMiedo]

When my saddle was new (ugh, almost 30 years ago), my dad advised me to dampen/oil the heck out of the fenders and do the broom handle method with the addition of suspending said handle from the rafters and letting the saddle hang by the stirrups for a couple days. Although it felt like sacrilege to abuse my saddle that way, it definitely did the trick.

[candyappy]

Any leather western saddle causes me knee pain if I ride in it. They are just too stiff/ restrictive for my older , abused body.

I use stirrup turners on my leather/ cordura saddles and can be pain free