I think people sometimes overemphasize saddle fit, but that definitely looks like a problem.
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This. Your leg looks fine, but that saddle is wrong for the horse, which means it is wrong for you too. No amount of padding will fix that drastically off of a saddle fit. Iām all for using a shim pad or sheepskin in the right situation, but this aināt it.
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To me, it looks like this saddle is putting you in the rumbleseat when you are sitting deep on it in the second picture. Your heel is way ahead of your hip instead of aligned with a line from ear through shoulder, hip and heel. Putting you behind the motion where you have to struggle to keep up. Cant be comfortable either.
Maybe a different barn is the best solution? One good thing about month to month leases is you can exit when it becomes obvious you need to if you want to get anywhere with your riding.
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I donāt mean this as snark, while they may carry some solid knowledge in other areas, they arenāt that knowledgeable about fitting saddles. This might be one of the worst examples Iāve seen in a while, and very much in line with crummy school barns with sour horses who wonāt invest in properly fitting tackā¦or even in the ballpark of fitting.
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You want to find a fit where the lowest point of the saddle is the center/middle of the seat (front to back). You can use a pen or a chapstick (place on the seat and let it roll to find the lowest point) to find the lowest point as you play with padding.
Itās hard for lesson barns to have saddles that both fit the horse and the rider, and unfortunately this does neither. Sway backed horses are hard to fit, but there are special pads that may help more than that riser - some shimmabe pads do, but make sure they have the three or four pockets per side, not just front and back pockets.
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Fair point, I donāt mean to get defensive over the barn. Obviously, I suspected the saddle was part of the problem all along, and maybe most of the problem now that Iāve gotten fitter again.
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I agree that you are fighting a losing battle against the saddle. Is there anyone at the barn who might address the fit issue (you and horse) with this saddle if you asked about it?
I think, if it continues to be a focal point in lessons and isnāt improving, I could raise the idea of trying my personal saddle. Iām sensitive to how it could come across to suggest tack changes, as a rusty rider after 2 months back, when thatās the saddle theyāve used for how knows how long, for who knows how many lesson riders. But at the same time, as an instructor, it has to be frustrating to watch someone struggle with their position the whole rideā¦ I would think they would be open to trying anything just to not have to watch that every week 
.
It definitely looks much worse in video than pictures unless I am in a half seat. The whole falling behind the motion, rushing to catch back up, lower leg offā¦ to me, itās so cringey to watch.
I just wonder how other people manage to compensate for saddle fit in their riding. IEA kids must have to deal with it all the time. I havenāt seen other lessons on this horse but have to wonder, do we all look like I look? Do some of them manage to make it work for them and not look so conspicuously bad?
I donāt think so. Your leg looks as good as it can, quite well really, since it is being forced to compensate for a saddle that fits neither you nor the horse. You should not have to struggle with such basic elements as saddle fit when you are paying to ride.
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I really wouldnāt worry about bringing it up. You donāt have to say it in an accusatory or negative way, just say something like āHey, I feel like I have been struggling with my leg position and I was wondering if I could try using my own saddle which I am more comfortable in. I could bring it in to let you assess how it looks on the horse before our next rideā. It is very common for people to want to ride in their own saddles, and I canāt imagine a barn having an issue with it as long as it fits the horse. In my experience, lesson barns had assigned saddles more to ensure that there was always a saddle available for each horse.
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Exactly. Quite frankly, IMO your instructor is not only compromising the health and safety of the horse, they are also compromising your safety too.
If they are also unwilling to let you try and see if your saddle fits any better, Iād be running for the hills to find a better quality program.
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Nonsense. You are basically riding winglish here because their saddle puts you in the wrong place. And who knowingly puts a rider in a saddle that dumps them behind the motion on a horse they know the saddle does not fit and charges money for the experience?
Be very polite but PLEASE ask if you can try using your own saddle. Remember this is a business, not a lasting friendship and even if it was , this āfriendā is taking advantage of you and not protecting the health and welfare of her school horse.
People can get away with this type thing with beginners and itty bitty ājumpsā but if you want to keep moving up with your riding? You need a saddle that puts you in a correct position and not ask a horse to tolerate one that does not fit them.
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I canāt see your instructor getting pissy about you politely asking to use your own tack if it fits the horse (hard to fit worse than what youāre in, frankly). Less wear and tear on their equipment, for no additional cost to them? Heck yeah.
There is waaaayyyyyy too much padding under that saddle for you to attempt to be productive at all up there, position wise. Itās like trying to stay stable straddling the back of a couch. The bounce of the pad is launching you, dropping you, making you unable to feel and follow your horseās motion.
The saddle is sitting shnoz-high, but I wonder if thatās because of the 50 inches of padding youāve put under the points. Can you take a picture of the saddle with just a plain pad on her? Iām guessing when you do that, thereās not enough wither clearance.
Youāre chasing your own tail here IMO.
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Thank you for sharing photos, OP, because this is a great example of how without them, weād just assume the saddle fit fine and give useless fitness exercises to you. To me, your leg position looks great, under the circumstances. Like another poster said, draft horses are awesome for making even the most balanced riders look a little wonky in the saddle, unless they have legs for days.
But that saddle and pad combo is a nightmare. Iām guessing the barn doesnāt have a saddle that fits the horse and is just making do. As someone who has ridden at some shady lesson barns over the years, some have VERY NICE staff who are absolutely running on a shoestring and they will insist up and down that a dreadful saddle from 1992 that is barely held together by mold and duct tape is perfectly serviceable, or your position is at fault when youāre in a weird, pancake flat jumping saddle several inches too big or small and trying to execute a dressage test.
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That saddle fits so poorly itās a horse welfare issue imho. It wouldnāt really happen at IEA/ ISHA. Does it clear the horsesā spine in front at all with that riser pad the way it is? We talk so much about horse welfare at competitions but sugar coat it when someone posts photos like this of a 20-something horse with no topline being ridden in lessons with a poorly fitting saddle.
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Iām the smurfiest of Skirts compared to the other commenters, but Iād like to see saddle fit without the riser pad.
Also, being of short stature and tight hips, I can tell you that I just canāt ride a wide horse with a big barrel.
I encourage you to do this! My mom recently had this discussion about a school horse she rides often. He came with a saddle that is too small for her. If your saddle is an appropriate fit for this horse and the horse has no physical reasons to continue using this particular saddle, it is a very reasonable request.
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If it is any consolation whatsoever, I was struggling to keep my leg underneath me in my own saddle for the almost 3 years that I owned it. I thought I was the problem, but after watching videos of myself show last October, it was evident I couldnāt keep my leg underneath me because of how the saddle fit me. 1) the saddle was a 1/2" too small and therefore I was too far back in the saddle and fighting the stirrup bars because they were not in the correct position with where I was seated in the saddle.
I bought a new saddle and while I still have plenty of flaws to deal with, it is much easier for me to keep my leg where itās supposed to be.
Iām in my 30s, have 2 kids and am lucky to ride twice a week. So just wanted to commiserate with doing your best and getting as fit as you can, while still trying to participate in other aspects of life.
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There are things you can compensate for as a rider if the saddle generally fits the horse, but without a solid base of support you canāt do anything to compensate because things keep moving on you. Itās like trying to run in deep sand, you just canāt get your footing no matter how good your running form is. The back of the saddle has nothing to rest on so the slightest shift of your weight sends the whole thing tipping backwards. As the pad moves around during your ride it adds to the instability and creates constantly changing pressure points under the saddle, which doesnāt help you and would be deeply uncomfortable for the horse. A horse thatās in pain isnāt going to move very well, making it harder for you to ride effectively, and the cycle continues.
Assuming everything else is fine, how to compensate and what works best really depends on your individual conformation. As a petite person Iām pretty used to riding in saddles designed for much taller people; itās not ideal but usually playing around with stirrup length and shifting my balance a bit does the trick. On the flip side, I canāt ride in saddles with wide twists, it just doesnāt work for my anatomy. The saddle in your pictures isnāt actually a terrible fit for you and would probably be workable if it fit the horse correctly.
If youāre worried about coming across as critical with your trainer you could try framing it as asking for their help. āHey coach, Iām having trouble getting the pads to stay in place while I ride, am I doing this right or do you have a trick for getting it to work? I think that might be whatās causing my position issues.ā Their response to that will tell you a lot. But as has been said already, the fact that theyāve let this continue suggests that they either donāt understand the problem or donāt care. That might work in your favor if they also donāt care about you using your own saddle, but it doesnāt say good things about the barn as a whole.
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Thereās a difference between riding in a saddle thatās balanced on the horse but thatās not quite the right configuration for the rider (which would be the IEA situation), and riding in a saddle that is completely off balance on the horse AND that doesnāt fit you. Youāll never be balanced in this saddle on this horse.
I wonder if itās too narrow, and thatās why itās sitting way up in front (but Iām not a saddle-fitting expert).
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