Hello, new to the forum and have just started beginning dressage lessons. Horse I am riding is narrow and the saddle I am using is treeless. I am very new to dressage and saddles so please bear with me! I find it difficult to balance in the saddle and feel sometimes like I am tipping over to the side. I started out riding this horse in a western saddle and did not have this problem. Now again he is narrow, but could it be because it’s a treeless saddle? I had taken a dressage lesson at another barn with a shorter wider horse and did not have this issue, but perhaps the saddle had a tree- I am not sure. Any thoughts are appreciated!
I have MS. My side-to-side balance is horrible, atrocious, and unreliable.
I had a treeless saddle (EZ-Fit) and I kept on tipping to one side or another. I continually had to check to see if the saddle was centered. I finally got so frustrated that I gave that saddle to my local handicapped riding stable. The lady running it has normal balance and loves that saddle.
Later on I got a Pegasus Butterfly saddle whose front parts of the tree are on hinges and move freely. I had the same problem UNTIL I got myself a pair of silicon full seat tights. Now I just have to check the saddle if I do really tight turns, half-passes and turns in place.
In my case the greater shoulder freedom these saddles give the horse ended up pushing my seat across the seat of the saddle. Since my sense of balance is so bad I did not notice, my riding teacher had to point it out. The silicon full seat tights REALLY helped me keep the saddle more centered.
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Even if you are new to riding, it sounds like it is the saddle. I’ve never ridden in a treeless saddle - it could be that. A regular treed saddle can also interfere with your own balance if it is not properly fitted/balanced for the horse.
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i don’t think it’s the saddle or the horse. True test is to sit that horse bareback …like real bareback, ie without stirrups pad etc. In my experience, balance is strength and conditioning of the rider. Your first job is to gain control over your body while being aboard. I commend your riding instructor for starting on you.
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balance is learned. Try dropping your stirrups for a while at the start of each lesson. Ask if you can be lunged (with a neck strap and drop stirrups).
Thank you for the tips everyone!
Ugh - treeless saddles. Not my favorite. YMMV I agree with the comments re developing your seat. But please, get a saddle with a tree that fits horse and you. If it is a school horse, you can compromise a bit since you don’t own the horse - no need for thousands of dollars of custom saddle - but at least get a decent saddle that you are comfortable in and that doesn’t cause discomfort to your horse.
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I use a treeless saddle on my warmblood. Unless the girth is very tight, I have found that treeless saddles are sensitive to uneven weight distribution - they will slip to one side if you are putting more weight in that stirrup because they don’t have a tree to help keep the saddle in place. When you mount, you need to be careful not to pull the saddle to the side that you are mounting on - I put very little weight in the stirrup when mounting onto a treeless saddle. I have also found that riding in a treeless saddle requires more core strength and overall body/seat stability than a treed saddle. I agree with the recommendations to develop your seat but to do so in a saddle with a tree until you gain more strength and balance.
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