Need help fixing my chair seat

[2TBs]

Suggestions? I can get a friend to do some work with me on the lunge line but it is not consistent. Am I to go back to no stirrups?

I have 2 Albion saddles and my instructor has me really lift up the cantle with pads to get my leg under me. (On 2 different horses.) Has anyone else had a problem with this brand of saddle and it putting you into a chair seat? I had these saddles fitted to the horses by the Albion rep. But my instructor still thinks the cantle should be up higher.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

[staceyk]

albions

Hi,

I sold my albion b/c it didn’t seem to work for me – I also have chair seat tendencies and the straight flap might have helped put me in a bad position. I’m not blaming the saddle, I’m sure it works well for most people, but a different saddle helped me. I have a very long thigh and there just wasn’t room for it…

What helped me was to focus less on getting my leg under me and more on a really strong core, making my back aligned “like stacking blocks” and opening my hip angle. If you can do that, your leg tends to fall straight down. In my case, stiffness was also involved, and when the going gets tough I draw my knees up. It helps to do stretching.

I ended up with a black country saddle, and it does help my position.

[Equibrit]

Saddle fitting (both horse and rider)is 50% of the problem. If the saddle is not balanced you’re fighting an uphill battle!

[AnotherRound]

I know for me, I didn’t realize how ahead I had my leg. When I began to take lessons again, in life, and was being taught the classical seat, my trainer put my leg into position and I was amazed at how far back it FELT like I had to pull my leg to keep it in the correct position. It was not pulled back, in any wrong way, my leg was now under me correctly, but it felt like I was pulling my leg back. It took some time to feel the correct leg, and now its instinct to have a centered balanced seat and leg, but it was not comfortable to relearn.

[pines4equines]

Hay

Have you tried to shorten your stirrups one hole? Sometimes that helps throw your leg into a good position.

[JB]

@2TBs;3420707

my instructor has me really lift up the cantle with pads to get my leg under me. (On 2 different horses.)

Oh geeze, don’t do that. If a saddle is sitting “uphill”, it’s too narrow and/or place too far forward, and propping up the rear with pads increases the pressure on the withers and/or shoulders of the horse.

[Has anyone else had a problem with this brand of saddle and it putting you into a chair seat? I had these saddles fitted to the horses by the Albion rep. But my instructor still thinks the cantle should be up higher.

Would appreciate any suggestions.
[/quote]

ANY make/model of saddle has the ability to put any rider in a chair seat (or the reverse, what would that be called?). If Albions do this to you, you need another model or another brand altogether.

[maresnest]

I agree with JB.

[Equibrit]

It makes no difference which brand of saddle is used as long as it fits both the horse and rider and is BALANCED on the horses back. It would seem that the rep did a piss poor job in your case. By BALANCE we mean that your body is able to achieve a comfortable neutral position when shoulders are placed over hips, and ankles in turn under hips. You should NOT be having to fight to maintain this position! Your seat is your anchor which should support your upright core and allow your legs the freedom to aide your horse or support your weight. If saddle balance is compromised the legs either go forward (cantle too low) or back (pommel too low) and the upper body will also loose effectiveness. Barnsby have a good thingy on saddle fitting http://www.barnsby.com/mybarnsby.asp?Part=3

[MelantheLLC]

I got a used Albion recently, the one with the big knee rolls. It’s a very nice saddle but I think rider fit is really a delicate issue.

Horse loves it. I loved it the first few days, but now I think it’s too small for me as I bump on the pommel at sitting trot and even at walk, ouch. It’s weird that I didn’t notice this at first–the first week I thought it was the most comfortable saddle I’d ever sat in. It’s very cushy.

I don’t have a problem with chair seat, though. It really puts me in a good leg position. Maybe OP’s is too BIG for you?

I did find that I actually had to lengthen my stirrup one hole. With that, leg position is great, my trainer adores it.

It’s kind of a whole different feel. In my previous saddle I rode with seatbones tucked and worked hard to keep the “kneeling” position. I think this saddle puts me more in a fork, but it’s because my rear-end is too big and doesn’t fit in the seat.

So I’m hurting from the bumping and will probably have to get another saddle. But since I’m (still!!!) in the market for a new horse, it’s kind of a moot point.

[JB]

If you can post pictures if this issue, both with the saddle on the horse(s), and with you sitting in the saddle, that would help.

It may be as simple as the saddle being too far forward.

[2TBs]

Thanks. I will see if I can get photos of me in it. The saddle fitter said it was all my muscle memory. It may be some of that. I think it’s a combo of things.

The core. I need to fix that as well. sigh

[slc2]

a low cantle will give you a chair seat. boost that thing up like trainer says - riding without stirrups is good but only if you get the saddle level.

the saddle may need to be boosted because it’s narrow in front. it would be caused by the size of the saddle tree, not the brand itself.

[JB]

@slc2;3423465

a low cantle will give you a chair seat. boost that thing up like trainer says

Why? If the cantle is sitting low, there’s a reason for it, and it’s how the saddle is fitting on the horse’s back - either too far forward, or too narrow. Lifting the cantle, unless the horse is built with SUCH a sloped back and ALL saddles have to be lifted in the rear, is only going to aggravate the situation.

the saddle may need to be boosted because it’s narrow in front. it would be caused by the size of the saddle tree, not the brand itself.

And that’s a really, really, really bad idea, sorry. With a too-narrow saddle, you cannot make it fit the horse, and anything you do to make it fit the rider just makes it worse for the horse.

[slc2]

Well, that isn’t exactly earth shattering news. She really should put a saddle on the horse that fits the horse in front.

But it didn’t sound like that was an option…either they can’t see that the tree is too narrow, that or the narrowness of the tree in front isn’t the reason the cantle is low.

If the padding on the saddle is just shot, it can sit too low in the cantle. Padding up a saddle that basically fits in front in that case isn’t bad.

If the horse’s back is swayed there really isn’t anything anyone can do except boost the saddle. Every saddle will have the same problem on that sort of horse.

If the saddle is placed too far forward, it can sit low in the cantle. In that case, move the saddle back to the proper position. If the saddle is pushing forward because the horse is pulling or off balance, a foregirth or tighter girth can help.

[Dressage4Fun]

this is really interesting to me… I just got my first Albon, I LOVE it, and it sems to have HELPED my chair seat! I was not even aware how much, until I was watching some critic video with my hubby last night! And my other saddle is a county,

I am in the camp of it is MORE than 50% saddle fit and stirrup length!

[AmandaandTuff]

I don’t think it’s the saddle as much as the rider.

I’m not a high level dressage riders like others on here, I barely do dressage. But I do have to switch from saddle seat to hunt seat to dressage to western all in one day at least 6 times in the year.

http://flickr.com/photos/amandaandtuff/2241220051/
http://flickr.com/photos/amandaandtuff/2197629488/
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/DontBelieveInMe/tuff_hunt.jpg

I honestly just think its a matter of working on keeping your legs back, although I’ll admit a saddle that fits you and the horse properly will help. I know they make saddle seat saddles that have adjustable stirrup bars for a more forward, middle, or straight leg, maybe they make those for the type of saddle you need?

[Equibrit]

You can have a saddle that fits both a horse and rider - but if it doesn’t sit LEVEL and BALANCED you’re peeing in the wind!

[Dressage_Art]

I can’t see your photos, but a chair seat usually reflects inability of a rider to have an independent upper body from her lower body. No saddle can help that. It’s about how you control your body and how you balance your body. What you basically need to achieve is an “independent seat” - and yes, cantering and trotting with out stirrups is a great start for that. Also doing “butterfly” with your legs at all gaits. Also riding many different horses with out fear.

[MagicRoseFarm]

assuming your equipment fits, and your stirrups are a comfortable length ( you may need to shorten them a hole at the beginning of this and lengthen them later) …

post at the trot, up two beats, down ONE… up up down, up up down, up up down, up up down

Stay soft in your knee and hip joints. Land lightly keeping weight in your leg, when you can do this effortlessly, without thought, you will be balanced and the issue should disappear.

You WILL need to hold mane in the beginning, feel totally uncoordinated and falling all over the place. It takes a few weeks of a few minutes of day practice to do it and requires a quiet easy going horse in the beginning. IF your balance( center of gravity) is tipped too far forward, you will fall onto the neck, too far back you will fall into the saddle and not be able to post up in rhythm. The leg ( muscle) burn will tell you how long you can handle it each day.

It also develops your quads and hamstrings while segregating your upper body from your lower body.

[medical_mike]

how about a few pics of the problem?

Maybe your chair seat is not such a chair seat?

Regards,
Medical Mike
equestrian medical researcher
www.fitfocusedforward.us