I have a saddle that fits two of my horses (checked by a saddle fitter who specializes in this saddle). Both horses go well and are comfortable in it. On one horse, I am also comfortable. On the other horse, the rise rubs me very uncomfortably in front of my “lady parts”! I have never been rubbed in this particular place before, and its not sustainable!
I want to try a 1/2 pad with shims to see whether I can have this restuffed to fit me better, without ruining the fit for the horses. Here’s the question: do I lift it in front, shifting my weight back and away from the pommel (I worry about sitting too far back), or, do I lift the back, softening the rise of the pommel? Or, do I maybe need a bigger seat on this horse?
Sometimes it’s the way one horse moves…I’ve ridden many horses in many saddles and never had an issue until my current gelding. With him I only started having issues with the front rise when he started to get closer to 3rd level work (he’s PSG/I1 now). Tried many saddles, all fit with really good fitters…the Ideal line was torture (yet I had no issues with it on other horses or when he was young)…Albion a little better…Trilogy is best, but I still have issues. But he’s a rougher mover (very concussive on your back)…so I’ve come to grips that it is just him. I’ve tried pads/shims/different fitters/seat savers…just causes the rubs to move to a different location! Vaseline and tight breeches work best:) LOL
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You lift the back.
My gelding (despite being thoroughbred) is the most uphill built horse in the barn, and the one horse my trainer’s saddle fits but who he can’t ride in that saddle because the pommel rise becomes steeper.
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Thanks, netg. I’m going to try that tomorrow. This horse is a huge, uphill mover, and that’s a good problem to have, but I really can’t sit deeply while I’m in pain! I may have to get him his own saddle and change the stuffing…
I would try both - I think either could make the difference, but it all comes down to why it’s not working for you on that horse. Maybe you could look for a clue from how the horses are built? Is the horse it doesn’t work for you on have monster withers (relative to the other horse) or anything else that stands out? If the horse is more uphill I might try a back shim and if the horse is more downhill I might try a front shim. I think that you often shim on the opposite side you’re thinking when you’re trying to make it work for the horse, but that hasn’t been my experience as often when trying to adjust things for the rider.
But with that being said, I haven’t ever been able to fix a saddle with that problem. I have a Stubben (FWIW, close contact, not dressage) that absolutely mangles my lady parts. It’s a backup saddle for when my normal saddle is out of commission (like when I had to send it in to have the tree repaired), so I don’t ride in it often, but for the few months that I did it was awful. The saddle itself is built more downhill (tilting down toward the withers) than any of my other saddles, but no amount of shimming changed the balance of the saddle. I finally ended up ordering myself a seat saver, which helped more than any of the shims I tried. I chalk it up to something about the saddle shape just not being a good fit for my body. And though I kind of obsessed about it at the time, I had to finally remind myself that my 15 or so other saddles do not do the same thing…even my kid’s 15" saddle isn’t as uncomfortable lol!
