I am riding a friends horse in a saddle that has the stirrup bars more forward, my short legs don’t fit too great. I know raising the cantle can help, has anyone used the riser pads or half pads with shims?
I can’t figure out how the riser pads stay put.
Tghe half pads with shims look like they really don’t do anything.
I am not interested in spending over $100 on this, not my saddle.
Anyone have experience with the above?
You shim a saddle to fit the horse, not the rider. If you raise the cantle on a saddle that fits a horse, you will put to much pressure on the withers.
Interestingly, this is the article that got me started on this topic. And I have found many, MANY others from saddle fitters worldwide that say the same.
https://www.cobjockey.com/2019/05/stirrup-bar-placement-who-knew.html
Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion.
Well, check first with your own saddle fitter on your own horse. I have worked closy with my own independent saddle fitter including shimming when needed and I have never heard of shimming a saddle that fits to improve rider fit. Only shimming the back if it doesn’t fit the horse.
Riser pads just sit there under the saddle. A good shim pad works just fine to tweak saddle fit, you can use more than one shim pad in a slot. But a good shim pad is more than $100 new.
I have used gel front risers, foam back risers, a TSF 6 slot sheepskin pad, plain shim pads between saddle and pad, and home made neoprene shims, when tweaking saddle fit for the horse.
I have. It was from a brand rep, not a saddle fitter, and as she was not able to explain how changing the balance of a saddle that suited the horse would somehow not compromise the fit on the horse, I was not interested in following her advice.
Aah, why I have an independent fitter and not a brand rep. The fitter mentioned in the blog linked by OP was a CWD re btw.
I saw that. I think it is plausible that this is something CWD is teaching their reps.
I’m not saying that that trick doesn’t functionally align someone’s leg below them better if the stirrup bar placement is forcing the rider’s leg forward- it moves the rider’s pelvis closer to the stirrup bar by changing the angle of the saddle. But it does so by tipping the saddle down onto the horse’s wither and shoulder and then eventually you’ll start wondering why your horse has wither hollows all of a sudden.
A trick I learned from a COTHer re. stirrup bar placement- if yours is long enough to do this safely, wrap a rubber band around the end of the bar closest to the pommel to adjust the stirrup leather further back on the bar.
I also would not shim a saddle that otherwise fits the horse in order to mitigate a rider fit issue. Solve one problem (maybe), create others.
Maybe this “trick” works for some riders, but I would be leery of it based on some very poor riding experiences with saddles that tilted down due to improper fit of the horse. The tilt was barely perceptible to the eye but it really messed me up, causing me to feel significantly off balance. It really destabilized my jumping position. Very unpleasant and some bad rides before I realized what was going on.
If the saddle has been fit to the horse, changing the balance of the saddle to accommodate the rider will be done to the detriment of the horse. Assuming the saddle is currently balanced, lifting the cantle will push the front end into the horses shoulder.
Yes, shimming to alter the balance of the saddle will alter how the rider balances in that saddle. Nobody can question that.
The issue is you should never do that on a saddle that already fits, as altering that balance makes it inherently not fit the horse anymore. That’s fine for a ride or 2, especially if a fitter is evaluating how a saddle needs to be different for you the rider.
But more than that, and you might as well buy a saddle that fits you but not the horse, you’re going to cause the same problems for him.
A temporary option, is to place a folded hand towel, under the cantle of the saddle.
Or get one of those lightweight molded riser pads. Apparently they are available for sale again.
However, if the stirrup bars are set too far forward, the first thing to try is to place a few round rubber hose washers on the stirrup bars. That way your stirrups will hang further back. Problem solved for just a few $.
Cheers!
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