Seat Bone and Pelvic Area Soreness After Riding / Prominent Seat Bones

[Equestrian24]

Does anyone else have this issue?

To be honest, I can’t recall a time in my entire lifetime of riding where I didn’t have sore seatbones and a sore pelvic area the next day after riding, no matter what kind of riding I’ve done. It’s always been worst with trail riding, though. I’ve never found a saddle that doesn’t do this to me to some extent. My jump saddle is the most comfortable, and layering ThinLine and Mattes seat savers really help, but I was still sore the day after my trail ride, even with that combo. It was definitely an improvement during riding, however. I had a shorter ride in the ring the other day with this setup, with minimal issues.

Is it normal to have this sort of pain after riding, regardless of saddle? I’ve always thought this was just part of riding until recently. I have a history of hip issues, for what it’s worth, so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with the pelvic pain. I’ve noticed I have more trouble with gaited horse walks (MFT, TWH). I definitely have prominent seatbones. I just received the Acavallo Ortho-Pubis Gel-In seat saver to try based off of reviews, but just sitting in it on the stand so far, it doesn’t feel as cushioned as my Mattes + ThinLine setup.

I’ve ridden in countless saddles and had the same issue, though the vast majority are older saddles with little to no padding in the seat. I have these issues with both English and Western saddles, and even my English endurance saddle (Collegiate Marathon). I’ve found I do best in a jump style English saddle out of all of them, however.

Is this a case where I’ll need to buckle down and find a different saddle, likely a more modern one with more padding? Or is this really just part of riding when you have prominent seatbones and possibly some pelvic issues?

Thanks!

[GreyDes]

The newer-ish saddles can be way more comfortable with some built in padding.

This may not be your issue, but I have seat bones that are fairly wide apart and a narrower seated saddle will put me in major pain because my seat bones don’t fully rest on the saddle. It took me a long time to figure this out!

A wider seated saddle (and a seat saver for long rides) makes a huge difference for me.

[4horses]

Try seeing a physical therapist? If you haven’t already.

Each gaited horse moves differently. Have you tried a different horse? My friend dropped off a walking horse at my house (essentially gifting me a free horse with health issues). Anyhow she was a super sweet horse and rode well but her walk about killed my back. Her gait was lovely. I can’t remember if I cantered her much at all but her gait was heavenly.

Riding with the wrong group of people was excruciating if she had to walk an entire trail ride. I kept her for a few months and sent her back to her former former owner.

Paso Finos do not have that movement that swings your back like the walking horses do. I love a good Paso Fino, if you can find one that isn’t crazy.

My newest colt is a racking horse and he looks like he has a fabulous gait. There is a huge variation in gaited spectrum. It could be the horse.

I took a fall on my hip and it hasn’t been quite right since. They told me if I continued to have pain I could have it injected. It does okay for a while but does get aggravated sometimes.

[RedHorses]

I get sore seatbones on trail ridesif I do too much walk. I can go a lot longer and be comfortable if there’s lots of changes in gait (WTC).

[Danged_Arab]

I have the opposite issue from GreyDes - if I ride in a wide, flat saddle, it’s excruciating and I get bruised seat bones. I’m comfortable in a narrow twist.

And I agree with RedHorses that it’s better when I do some trotting and cantering.

I’ve also had luck with a thick, fluffy sheepskin seat saver.