Could my new saddle be causing sciatic pain?

[Mahoganybay]

I have had my brand new dressage saddle since the 13th September! Recommended by both my saddler and horses physio. Bought brand new to ensure a good fit and built up riding in it over a 2 week timeframe.

Horse has to have adjustable saddle and has in the past changed shape quite quickly summer to winter and I have had two dressage saddles in the past which i have ended up selling on as struggled to fit her year round.

I gave up for a couple of years with a dressage saddle and rode in a Thorowgood Cob GP with no issues until I went to a couple of dressage camps and was told my position would be so much better in a dressage saddle. So I too the plunge much to by hubbies despair ?

I feel like it’s twisting my right hip (where the sciatic pain is). Can the saddle be doing this so quickly?

I plan to ride in my GP for a few days and see how it feels and also get my horse checked out by the vet and physio.

Any other suggestions / experiences of this?

 

[soloequestrian]

I widened an adjustable saddle last year and had a week or so of slight discomfort with hip flexors/ sciatic type pain as I got used to it. I got it down my left leg which was the one that had real sciatica many years ago. It's fine now.

 

[Barton Bounty]

It could be the saddle, the position is completely different to a gp and the stirrup length is usually different too

 

[AntiPuck]

My old GP aggravated my sciatica always about an hour into each ride, and then compounded over the week.

I got rid of it, but if you wanted to keep yours, maybe trying out some rider pilates might help your body loosen and adjust to the new position? If you don't already do any, that is. This woman's courses are fantastic, after two weeks I've dropped a hole in my stirrups and feel so much more comfortable riding https://m.facebook.com/100064220701275/

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I find my dressage saddles are better for my sciatica as I can ride with longer stirrups, with my show saddle I couldn't ride as long and that felt uncomfortable and both my horses are really wide.

Maybe because the twist is wider it is affecting your hips now I would try some stretches to help your hips stretch and hopefully you can adjust to it.

 

[sbloom]

Yes, 100%. As a specialist in rider fit I can tell you that there is a ton of factors influencing whether a saddle will work for a rider, it's a much newer science than most realise, we've been operating in the dark and with some arbitrary guidelines (some being shown to be incorrect like female saddles, and most inadequate eg fitting the basic geometry of the rider) for a long time. Let your fitter know immediately, don't leave it, hopefully they'll be helpful.

I would recommend Rider Reboot, the widest skill set of any "off horse" rider specialist I've come across.