Let me start by saying I’m a hunter rider and have been since I started at age 8(now 44)and have grown up riding Thoroughbreds and warmbloods …back in February I got a Friesian who had done basic /low level dressage -he’s wonderful and I adore him …I decided to get a dressage saddle even though I’ve never sat or rode in one …I got what the people I bought him from recommended…Friesian Marketplace M.Toulouse Aachen Pro dressage saddle with the cut back panels made to suit the Friesians build …anyhow …I feel like I cant sit the trot at all in it and my leg feels completely not affective …so I’ve been struggling with it for months …I finally decided to try riding him in my County Innovation and it felt amazing for me and I think for him as well …I had no problem sitting the trot and I could actually put my leg on him …is it ok or acceptable rather to ride him in that saddle ?? It’s what I’m used to and most comfortable in …it also fits him very well…does anyone ride dressage in close contact /jump saddles ?
Lots of people do lower levels of dressage in a not dressage specific saddle.
Have you talked to your trainer about why you find that other saddle so difficult to ride in? Maybe you can figure out why it does not work and that will help you.
way back when I rode, I had only one saddle. I bought it used, and amazingly, it fit my horse and me! It was a Passier multi-purpose, and the most comfortable saddle. I am not necessarily recommending it, but just this little story: I rode in a clinic with a BNT. (I was an eventer,) all the other riders were teenage girls who were primarily hj riders. I think they rode to fill up spaces. They of course all had jumping saddles, and he sneered at them for trying to do dressage in their jumping saddles. When it came to jumping saddles, he sneered at me, 'Well I wouldn’t ride in one," and I responded, " Well YOU don’t have to." The saddle was made to do both. I was never super talented, but I would never blame that on the saddle. Perhaps I would have done better with a saddle for each discipline, but of course, money is always a thing.
I’m not working with a trainer at the moment …my horses are at home with me at my farm -I’m primarily just riding for pleasure …if I had to guess I would say that the twist feels a lot wider than my County Innovation, and my leg being straight down and with much longer stirrup length feels very uncomfortable to me …my leg feels like it swings and I’m reaching on my toes …also I’m sure it’s also because I’ve ridden for the past 36 years in that type of saddle so it’s what’s familiar and comfortable I’m guessing…or would a different dressage saddle be better /feel different??
But then again I think to myself I’m essentially just doing flatwork -the same flatwork that I do with my hunters in my indoor and outdoor arena and hacking out in the fields etc …I suppose I’m not doing “dressage” so to speak …I’m just riding how I normally do but on my Friesian …I guess I felt the need to have a dressage saddle since that’s what he did prior to me …but plenty of people seem to ride them in various disciplines…some western , some saddle seat/some hunt seat /pleasure and of course dressage …some even fox hunt with them :
I’d find a dressage instructor to help you with the issue, as it may be the saddle fits the horse but doesn’t allow you to sit properly. Or, it could be a matter of having to learn how to relax and drape your leg, which feels very different in a Dressage saddle vs a CC saddle.
There’s onthing about Dressage that says you have to use a Dressage saddle. There are things that are much easier to do in the Dressage saddle, than a CC saddle, but anyone training a Hunter in a CC saddle who is capable, is capable of teaching Level 2 movements, all in that CC saddle. Above that level, things are just easier to do in the Dressage saddle than CC because of how you sit, where your leg is, etc.
One problem is trying to go straight from CC length (even the flatwork length), to full on Dressage length. Your leg doesn’t want to do that, and I bet you keep finding your leg is drawing up.
Also, it’s a misconception that a Dressage leg has to be long and “straight”. I’d raise your stirrups as much as you can without your knee pushing over the front panel, and work there for a couple of weeks, then drop a hole and repeat, etc, until your knee is where it should be in that saddle.
Ingrid Klimke definitely doesn’t have a straight leg
that sounds like a stirrup way too long for where your leg is in terms of function, so raise them 
Dressage is simply about training the horse, not about the tack. It’s only Dressage (uppercase D) when you’re riding that discipline specifically, but it’s all dressage (lowercase d) when you’re applying the principles of the training pyramid, and that’s independent of the saddle.
Elitists like that are who give disciplines bad names, what an idiot 
This 100%. Enjoy riding your horse and be comfortable. If at some point you become interested in upper level dressage or competitive dressage, then address the saddle issue.
And wouldn’t bend in the leg help the rider’s hips move more easily? I love Ingrid’s riding and her horse’s response to her body and riding And others too. I think of the SRS and other riders like Heather Blitz.
I don’t honestly know if more vs less bend affects the hips, other than how it relates to a person’s own conformation. My guess is that narrower pelvises benefit from more bend, where wider ones can still function with a less bend.
i’ve seen too many pictures of Dressage riders practically perching on their toes just to keep the stirrups, and by default that stiffens the leg and makes it less functional.
If your setup doesn’t allow you to sink weight through your heels - which will be less in a Dressage length than a CC length - the it’s too long for what your leg can do, either at that point when it’s about tight hip flexors for example, or ever due to the mismatch between that saddle and your pelvic conformation
Perhaps you could find a used County Eventer. They are no longer made but I used to ride dressage in mine.
I showed 2nd level at a recognized show in a regular ole jump saddle. Use what’s comfortable
I showed lower level - Intro & 1st - in my Stubben Portos A/P.
I also did Hunters & Evented in same.
I could only afford 1 saddle, so it had to work.
I did take a clinic with an O Judge, but he only suggested (kindly) I might want a more purpose-made Dressage saddle.
We were schooling 3rd in that saddle when I stopped training seriously.
I finally ended up with another Stubben Dressage model - Maestoso - but only because the A/P Did.Not.Fit! my WB aka Mt Withers 
Ride in what works for you.
Until it doesn’t 
Ride in what makes you both happy. But do play with your stirrup length. You shouldn’t be reaching. Over time, you might be able to lengthen, but it really depends on your pelvic conformation and how much of a battering you’ve given to your back over the years!
However, I would say that good quality, properly fitted dressage saddle (i.e. fit well to both you and the horse, which can be a process) is a wonderful thing.
It might be that the seat and flap and knee roll configuration is not right for you.
But ride in whatever you like! When the World Cup finals first came to Omaha, I watched All Star 5 have a flat schooling session. And Denis Lynch was working full canter pirouettes on the center line with some canter lengthening in between. Of course in his usual tack for show jumping.
I have a long femur and it occurs to me that with the same stirrup length, my leg is always going to look more bent than someone with a shorter femur.
I just scribed at Bromont and a rider in the CCI3*S rode her test in a jump saddle.
One thing that really helped me transition from h/j to dressage was to start riding from my seat, not my legs. The images I keep in mind are riding only with my upper thigh and seat every stride. Sally Swift* talks about imagining riding with your legs amputated above the knee. The stirrups carry only the weight of my leg from above the knee to my foot. Only use the lower leg as needed, otherwise they just hang from the upper leg. The hips should be moving with the horse first and foremost with the legs just hanging along the sides. Some say like a wet towel, but that image never worked as well for me as thinking about riding with just pelvis and upper leg, as if my lower leg doesn’t exist.
Anyway, if you are doing this, the angles don’t matter as much as riding from your seat.
I also think that the actual angles that work are largely dependent on the combined rider and horse conformation, so trying to match an ideal is likely to be counterproductive.
And like others are saying - try shortening your stirrups!
*if you aren’t familiar, I highly recommend Sally Swift’s book “Centered Riding”
The “Centered Riding” book is great, but going to a clinic or taking lessons from a Centered Riding instructor is sooooooooooooooo much better!
Beware of fake Centered Riding instructors. I tried one who really didn’t know anything, but I had just come from a week and a half of Centered Riding and Linda Tellington-Jones’ stuff, so I could tell. And what she told me to do hurt my horse. So, no.
I would suggest that you shorten your stirrups for awhile. It takes a body a bit of time to adjust to the longer length, and different angles of both hips and knees… Shorten your stirrups hole by hole to a point where you feel your leg can be effective.
A GP rider I worked with remarked as she aged, her stirrups got a little shorter.
