Saddle Sliding

[kaya842]

My saddle/ saddle pad have been finding themselves almost 6 inches further back by the end of my ride (typically 20-30 min) Saddle was custom ordered through CWD and came in October. Saddle pad is a generic white AP pad (I was using the Back on Track baby pads but those were even worse), and girth is a CWD anatomic shaped girth.

I have never had any saddle slip back on this horse before regardless of saddle/ girth/ pad combination. The slippage was better when borrowing an Ogilvy baby pad, and has been extremely worse (went from just the pad moving to the girth, saddle and pad slipping a lot) since she has been clipped (not for the first time). I do have a breastplate I can/ will be using to avoid the issue and am planning on ordering my own Ogilvy pads in the next few days, but would like to fix the problem.

I am wondering if it is possible that clipping her made her “slick”? I sprayed her with Healthy Hair Care after clipping and use it routinely when grooming to prevent static. She is blanketed unless we are riding so she is not getting dirty and it is too cold for her to sweat at all.

Or is it more likely to be due to poor saddle fit?

[Greypolopony]

I don’t think a saddle should be slipping 6 inches just from clipping…if I were you I’d be calling CWD to recheck the fit.

[kaya842]

The only reason I attribute it to the clipping is the sliding is such a sudden and drastic change. Obviously my horse could change shape, but that drastically in a week’s time frame? I don’t think so. I will definitely contact them about the fit.

[BAC]

Does that Healthy Hair Care product contain silicone, which could cause the hair to become very slippery. You might want to try one of those non-slip gel pads with the breast plate for now, but I would want CWD to come out and check the fit as well.

[kaya842]

They will be coming out either next Friday or in January (yay for reps who are good communicators!). Unfortunately this rep has a very large area to cover and lives 2 states away, so is not alway available.
As far as I know Healthy Hair Care is silicone free, but it does contain some oils.
I will look into one of those pads as well!

[Scribbler]

I would never use a shine product under the saddle or girth. My coach even advises being careful with shine products in long manes in case they make the reins slippery.

[merrygoround]

Anything with silicone in it will make a saddle slip.

[Inclined]

I use one of these on my pony to keep the pad more stable: https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Professionals_Choice_Non-Slip_Under_Saddle_Pad_Liner/descpage-PCNSP.html. Another option is to try a piece of rubbery shelf liner between the horse’s back and the pad.

[Scribbler]

Well stop using the product anyhow.

The hair will grow fairly fast so problem may resolve.

The saddle may not fit as well as you think, too.

I wouldn’t jump or even ride in a saddle that was moving that much.

[kaya842]

How am I supposed to know if the problem is resolved by trying any of the aforementioned ideas if I as you say don’t “jump or even ride in a saddle that was moving the much”?
This has not been an ongoing issue it is brand new, hence my post, so it is not like I have been riding with it sliding like this for weeks. I understand that it may not fit perfectly however I fail to see how stop using it completely is the answer.
What if it was just moving because of the hair product, or the clipping, or the girth, or or or but I wouldn’t know unless I sit in it again.

[Scribbler]

@kaya842

How am I supposed to know if the problem is resolved by trying any of the aforementioned ideas if I as you say don’t “jump or even ride in a saddle that was moving the much”?
This has not been an ongoing issue it is brand new, hence my post, so it is not like I have been riding with it sliding like this for weeks. I understand that it may not fit perfectly however I fail to see how stop using it completely is the answer.
What if it was just moving because of the hair product, or the clipping, or the girth, or or or but I wouldn’t know unless I sit in it again.

What I mean is I would get the problem fixed before I did any substantial riding. Obviously yeah you’ve got to put on a sticky pad or whatever and trot out for a few minutes and see what happens. But once the saddle shows it is still shifting, hop off and try something else to fix it.

​​​i wouldn’t jump with a saddle I knew to be unstable.

Maybe try washing horses back with a strong soap to remove the shine product. It may not be the whole problem but it can’t be helping.

From your post, you say you have never before had a saddle slip on this horse even when clipped?

What has changed, then?

The saddle. It may not fit right, not exactly unheard of with custom saddles, including cwd.

The hair spray. Get it off the saddle area.

If your old saddle was fine after clipping then it isn’t the clipping per se.

[Inclined]

It sounds like it might be a combination of several factors. First, you have a smooth short coat, plus lanolin-enriched coat product which makes for a soft, slick hair coat. Kind of like sliding in socks on a recently waxed floor. Then you have a new saddle. There may not be anything wrong with it, per se, but it may be a shape that likes to sit a little farther back on this particular horse than other saddles you’ve ridden in. No, it shouldn’t go this far back, but it might just be a saddle that - for this horse - requires a breastplate/collar to be in optimal position. People with mutton withered horses deal with this all the time in reverse. After riding for fifteen minutes, the saddle is on the horse’s neck. Thus, they use a crupper. I would definitely wash the coat conditioner off, try a sticky pad, and use a breastplate until the rep can come out and check the saddle - just for safety’s sake.

[SCI]

I have the same problem with a horse I own. Every year when I clip him the saddle and pad start slipping a lot. Mainly it is the pad literally slipping out from underneath the saddle. Doesn’t happen any other time of the year. I think in my horse’s case his conformation contributes to it. He is very slab sided. He also has a custom saddle that has been checked regularly for proper fit.

[Against_All_Odds1]

OP have you tried the breastplate yet? If not try that and a thin rear riser. Apparently the trees take 6 months to settle in the front.

[kaya842]

I have not ridden in it again (yet). Hopefully I will be riding tomorrow or Saturday. I think I will start with a sticky pad and bring my breastplate and neoprene girth to the arena with me to adjust as/if needed. I will also wash the spray off as much as possible since it is cold here. Unfortunately I cannot add a rear riser (and definitely don’t need to since the back panels are built up a lot for this horse) and adding any sort of half pad makes it tight up front.

[jaybird660]

Normally, I would comment on saddle fit issues but you said it hadn’t happened before, I believe. Saddles can shimmy a pad out the back if the horse is asymmetrical and that is not addressed, if the girth is slightly loose, if the horse is “herring gutted”, (greyhound/race horse shaped), too much “hair product”, too narrow in front or too shallow a rear gusset. If none of those are potential additional causes, then I would attribute it to the clip job.

[kaya842]

Rode with a breastplate and the girth on the second and third billets (recommended by CWD rep) with no issues on Sunday and rode with no breastplate with the girth on the second and third billets yesterday with no problems!