Saddle Sits to the Right - Does not slip...

[Alderfish]

So I have noticed an issue with my horse: saddles (all of them, not just mine) sit to the right on him, from wither to lumbar. Honestly I noticed it awhile ago but he goes so well in this saddle that I didn’t think to bring it up. His saddle is very well fitted, he goes very well in it, lifts his back and really moves but it is definitely sitting too close to his spine on the left side.

I tried 2 other saddles from friends and do the same thing. These saddles do not slip to the right, they don’t move, but they sit too much to the right.

I’m wondering if our ongoing issues have anything to do with this saddle thing or if it’s the other way around.

It has nothing to do with my riding, the saddle sits to the right without me mounted and it does not shift further with me in the stirrups. I tried shimming the right shoulder, it did nothing, I tried shimming the right hind, nothing, the right side, nothing. Shimmed the left side on cross ties and it held the saddle more in place but hacked him and it didn’t stick.

Can anyone advise on shimming? Any ideas? Stories? Thank you in advance.

More info on horse: I’m sure he’s asymmetrical: he has back issues and issues with his right hind leg but it’s not easy to spot. His hocks, stifles, and SI are fine. His hips are asymmetrical - the left is higher than the right - he probably broke it as a baby. No history of issues with the hip. His right side is his weaker side and sometimes he’s swappy behind to the right but it all goes back to his lumbar which is his “weak” spot. He has a chiro, massage therapist, saddle fitter, vet, farrier, etc. I know all about his underlying issues but my saddle fitter and I didn’t notice this - she’ll be coming back to take a look but in the mean time I want to “fix” the saddle thing so I can keep strengthening him. Giving him the month off really isn’t an option - he’s supposed to WTC twice a week, trot work three times a week and can have two days off. Even if I can only walk him out that’s fine, but I’d like to figure out the saddle thing.

[Lady_Eboshi]

Sound but asymmetrical, just like you said. I’ve got a mare who’s the same–clubby foot on the side the saddle is low on, and I’m pretty convinced that basically she’s got one leg shorter than the other. My solution was to get a non-slip gel pad and just keep the saddle in the middle of her; which is easy in her case because she’s so round she bears a certain resemblance to a propane tank.

I can tell you right now that no massage therapist, chiro, or farrier is going to “fix” this; if that’s his conformation, that’s his conformation and you’ll just spend a mint and screw him up so he ISN’T sound if you try to mess with it. I would get an opinion by a saddle fitter however; and preferably one who doesn’t have a vested interest in trying to sell you a saddle.

[jaybird660]

It is so common for horses to be asymmetrical. Saddles will typically shift forward and down into the side that is less developed. I don’t advise flocking more fully on the shallow side as it won’t allow for possible development. We suggest shimming the hollow side and often the opposite rear. You can play with the shims. Some fitters suggest shimming the bigger side but that doesn’t make sense to me and I was just discussing this with a vet yesterday who asked me the same thing because it didn’t make sense to him either. He said they tested these theories with thermography and that shimming the hollow side provided the best relief and best scans.

If it happens with all saddles, then play with the shims. I would use something that has four sections so that you have the ability to shim just one corner or as I mentioned before, opposite corners.

[Kitt]

Often, fitters prefer to use shims to address asymmetries, especially if the horse may change - it’s way less expensive than repeated flocking adjustments, the fit can be adjusted immediately by the rider, and it preserves the integrity of the flocking. However, if the issue is chronic (if your saddle is wool-flocked), your fitter may be able to adjust the flocking to address the problem. If not, shims will be the answer. You may have to try several configurations - often, diagonal shims are needed (as in right front and left rear), and sometimes you need to shim only one side. It can be a bit counter-intuitive, so keep experimenting until you find what works. Another thing that’s sometimes used for chronic asymmetries is a modified billet configuration. Your fitter may be able to help with this as well.

[Alderfish]

Thank you all for the insight. Just wanted to check: does it make a difference for shimming that the whole saddle, front to back all along the channel, sits too close to the left side? Does that still imply that the saddle is falling into his right shoulder? I’m not challenging! Just clarifying because In my mind, if the right shoulder was smaller the saddle would twist, which it doesn’t seem to. Again, I’m not arguing one bit, just trying to understand a little more about saddle fitting. I will try shimming right front and left rear. Thank you so much again.

[Alderfish]

So I tried shimming opposite corners and although the saddle sat better the horse was very unhappy when asked to collect and work in a little bit of a frame: very resistant through neck and shoulders. This is a horse that works well and happily and really uses himself (even his weaker side) when the saddle sits too close to his spine. Any thoughts? Even the saddle fitter is stumped.

[IPEsq]

I usually just let my saddle be a bit crooked and work on strengthening the horse’s weak parts to encourage more even muscle development. Depending on the horse, exercise plus manual adjustments work (chiropractic or massage bodywork) if it is possible to at least temporarily straighten out the horse–this helps train muscle reactivation. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be possible to get your horse even this way, though you can still do bodywork in conjunction with working on fitness to try to increase strength in the hollow side.

I may adjust my stirrup higher on the shallow side so that I can still sit relatively straight on my crooked saddle. The reason is this: So your horse is weak on R hind. From what you say, it sounds like he’s overdeveloped in L shoulder. So if you shim up the R side, then you are asking the saddle to put more pressure on that overdeveloped shoulder, which may be pinching him and making him unhappy.