Following on from Olympia thread...

Sooty

Sooty

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...a question from someone who knowledge of SJ is confined to watching it. Several of the horses yesterday were bucking between fences, throwing their heads around and being what the commentators called 'naughty' or 'difficult'. Having read that there is often a one-saddle-fits-all policy, could this behaviour be pain related? If I saw horses behaving like this anywhere else I would think so, or I might think if it was a Dutch WB that maybe it was a bit psycho as a result of its upbringing...
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And they'd have been the same in the collecting ring. I honestly think the horses just wanted to "say their piece" as the commentary team put it. If a horse is uncomfortable it is often either reluctant to go forward and jump, or will run forward and jump flat, yet those horses did concentrate once they'd committed to the fences. Just liked to have a little fun in between too!
 
i would have thought (or hoped!) that horses at that level would have perfect fitting saddles and have their backs and tack checked regularly!! Look at Ladina B, she's just a bit loopy
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but she's pretty good at her job!! I think sometimes they are just superfit horses who are feeling full of themselves and like to show off
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I think its just sheer excitement (hope so) I know mine can be a total knob at shows I assume just because they are at the top of the game they are still only horses
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Let's hope so!

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I also quite like the fact that the SJ riders do seem to fly by the seat of their pants and are not textbook.. I really think we/I (speaking as a vvvv low level rider) can get so caught up in getting everything looking just perfect that we forget to enjoy our horses.

My new years resolution is to have fun with my horse do my best to ensure he has fun too and sod how it looks to others
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It is a "most saddles fit most" policy really. And let's be honest, there are only so many fits of saddle. Most show jumpers have very similar conformation and are a very similar size. It is likely that the close contact saddles pretty much fit most of them, perhaps sometimes with the help of a riser pad or half pad, granted, but seriously, most horses change shape with changing nutrition and workload and I doubt most leisure/amateur riders (such as those airing their views on the subject on here) have multiple saddles for all of these eventualities either.

I really don't think it's as big a deal as some are trying to make out. Just yet another excuse to make themselves feel bigger than the professionals; for some unknown reason this is particularly popular where show jumping is involved
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It is a "most saddles fit most" policy really. And let's be honest, there are only so many fits of saddle. Most show jumpers have very similar conformation and are a very similar size. It is likely that the close contact saddles pretty much fit most of them, perhaps sometimes with the help of a riser pad or half pad, granted, but seriously, most horses change shape with changing nutrition and workload and I doubt most leisure/amateur riders (such as those airing their views on the subject on here) have multiple saddles for all of these eventualities either.

I really don't think it's as big a deal as some are trying to make out. Just yet aother excuse to make themselves feel bigger than the professionals; for some unknown reason this is particularly popular where show jumping is involved
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I do believe that us mere mortals are kind of suckered in to the saddlers marketing plan and have our saddles checked when they don't need doing (I know I do) if you have the knowledge that 20 odd years of bringing on horses gives you I am pretty sure they can tell when a saddle fits or not.


I remember when only rich people could have the saddler out & the farmer up the road would check to see if your saddle fitted the horse if he knew better than you lol
 
IMHO, those jumps are HUGE!
Those horses WANT to jump them
the arena is not particularly big
In the excitement of the crowd, the lights, the size of the fences, the size of the arena, horses get excited.... and so buck, leap, shake their heads

just watch excited horses playing in the field.... they buck, leap and shake their heads......

I think they're expresssing their opiion that they're having fun and sometimes their rider is hindering that by making them bigger turns to the fences, or trying to help them in some other way, while all the horse wants to do is JUMP

I have an ex show jumper who can be lethal in his attempts to get to a fence (partic when we're not meant to be jumping but hacking quietly round the farm and he's spinning towards the XC course
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;) lol!)
 
With reference to M_G, I would add, (and probably get shot down for it by other forum users), I ride 4-5 horses a day and I use the same saddle on all of them.

It fits them all - 3 of them are similar shapes and similar stages of fitness, one is rounder and more drafty, but if you put a saddle on him which he considers doesn't fit - he bucks you off - so I would have no doubt that it fits him!!
 
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As I watched it, it came across as cheekiness and exuberance.

Had it have been pain, I think it would've been demonstrated directly after landing.

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I also doubt that the horses would jump fences like that in the first place if they were in pain?
 
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I was under the impression that there is a 'one saddle fits all policy' amongst the majority of pro SJ'ers.

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But the horses are all of a similar sort of type, so chances are the one saddle really will fit all, maybe with the addition (or otherwise) of something like a Prolite pad.
 
I would put some of it down to high spirits from very fit horses. At a show in the middle of London with a smallish (I assume) collecting ring I'd assume most of them are standing in a lot more than they would at home where they may get hacked/walker/turnout etc.
 
On the subject of saddles, the top show jumpers I know usually have a brand/model they like that suits them, then a couple of different styles, different widths etc. to suit different horses. They also usually have a range of padding options so by mixing and matching can get quite a "customised" fit. I'd have to say, there is also a reason why most top riders use one of a fairly limited number of brands of saddles, as they have found by experience what works best for them.
 
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Interesting that your name is BuckingHorse and your avatar is a pic of you show jumping
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Ha, you got me sussed!
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The horse in the pic used to kick out over a fence and buck and mess about in between but we never bothered as it didn't affect her jump. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had her hocks medicated a couple of months ago and she has completely stopped the bucking and kicking now.

I know this is only one experience but it was amazing to feel the difference.
 
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