Help with saddle slipping to left please. Quick question?

[MyBoyChe]

If saddle is slipping to the left, which shoulder do I pop a shim in to balance uneven muscle development? Have had vet and chiro and horse is sound, saddle has been checked and reflocked a little on the left. Horse is definitely fitter and has muscled up a lot from lots and lots of walking. Saddle moves about 1 inch to the left and sits there, doesnt move again. I know there are lots and lots of reasons for saddle slippage and I promise you I have made sure horse is sound and not in pain and that saddle does actually fit, I just cant seem to get it sit still. Horse is flat backed, hardly any wither native and saddle has been spot on until about 3 months ago.

 

[SEL]

Mine slips to right due to muscle wastage & I currently have a foam pad that gets shoved under the right to straighten it up - temporary solution (long, long story.....)

 

[gunnergundog]

Why do you assume that you need to shove a shim under the shoulder if the saddle is slipping to the left? You say you have uneven muscle development, but WHICH muscles and more importantly WHY? Answer to that question will help an answer to your original question, although to my mind there are many other causes . Also, why was your saddle reflocked on the left - how long ago, by whom and whereabouts on the left? Not a simple problem to solve I'm afraid.

 

[Milkmaid]

Saddle slips to one side normally because of what is going on BEHIND the saddle. Does horse feel even on both diagonals?
When my cob (very round!) first comes back into work after any down time his saddle slips but as he's worked evenly the issue resolves. Saddles should never be flocked unevenly imo.
A saddle stay pad helps massively with mine when he's a bit fat!

 

[tallyho!]

Do you think it might have something to do with you? Quite often, saddle issues are due to rider imbalance and the horse compensating for that.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I have a 13.1 at the front 13.3 at the back Welsh with a bigger shoulder. Shimming doesn't work. With her the saddle slips forward (due to conformation) then sideways due to the shoulder. The fix has been a gel pad and a neoprene girth and a crupper to stop the saddle slipping forward in the first place. It doesn't matter what saddle or what rider (even my tiny daughter) this set up is what has sorted the issue out. She is certainly not lame it's just an unfortunate conformation situation.

It's a bit odd your saddler has flocked the saddle unequally but left you with no instructions on what to do.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Saddler said the flocking needed redoing on the left side but not the right. Suggested a prolite pad to lift at the front as horse is naturally a bit bum high. She also thought it might be due to uneven shoulders so my logic was to shim it to compensate for the unevenness. I have had him checked for soundness and me for levelness so am a bit stumped!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Saddler said the flocking needed redoing on the left side but not the right. Suggested a prolite pad to lift at the front as horse is naturally a bit bum high. She also thought it might be due to uneven shoulders so my logic was to shim it to compensate for the unevenness. I have had him checked for soundness and me for levelness so am a bit stumped!

it doesn't always mean you need to shim at the front if the shoulders are uneven, sometimes a shim under the back of the saddle on the side it's slipping to can help to even it out, I would have a little play around with the shims to see what works, one of mine has a bigger shoulder on the left so the saddle slips to the right very slightly sometimes as his back is changing all the time.

shoulder unevenness is often caused by different foot conformation in front if they have a boxy foot and one flatter foot the shoulder with the boxy foot will often be smaller on that side, not all horses are completely even as most will always favour one side so the muscle will be bigger and stronger on the favoured side, if you get your horse to stand square and stand behind and look towards the shoulder you will be able to see how different they are, you can use raised pole pole to get them to use that side more and certain stretches do help a good physio will be able to show you how to do them.

 

[little_critter]

My pony used to push the saddle over to the right, it felt horrible. But the saddle was ok, my pony was working crooked. Once I focussed on working her correctly to even up her muscles teh saddle stopped slipping. It's now a good indicator to me, if the saddle starts to move over then we are not working correctly and I need to re-focus.

 

[booandellie]

My pony was pushing her saddle over to the right, it was partly me being a bit wonky and partly her overdeveloping her muscle on the left due to tight saddle. I know everyone is saying you need to look at the bigger picture of why this is happening and yes you do need to solve the why issues but in the short term to even your pony up you need to have a saddle you can use. I put shims in the side the saddle was slipping , i used a saddle pad with pockets and shims so you could adjust where needed so i put 2 in the right shoulder and one in the back. TBH it didn't work or help at all, waste of money. I have gone for a treeless saddle with sheepskin numnah and saddle doesn't move at all while my instructor is helping me work on breaking down the overdeveloped shoulder muscle and evening her up. With having an awkward to fit shaped horse you soon lose faith in these so called master saddlers!

 

[Llee94]

My old saddle kept slipping to the right. Turned out it no longer fit her so ended up having to get a new one altogether.

 

[Emma_H]

Do you think it might have something to do with you? Quite often, saddle issues are due to rider imbalance and the horse compensating for that.

This^^

Go see a good chiropractor/osteopath. I notice I'm slipping off the the right when I need adjusting myself

 

[Tangaroo]

My boys saddle slips to the right. My saddler checked it and said it was a good fit but had a bit of lateral imbalance. She said to put one shim in would only make it twist so he has a shim in the back right and another in the front left. Its amazing the difference it has made. It doesnt move at all now and now hes straightening up in himself and getting stronger i have just taken the shims out . Ive only had him 3 months and he was quite crooked due to never having been worked properly

 

[Apercrumbie]

Are you sure it's not you? My horse is a roly-poly pudding so his saddle will slip if the rider isn't sitting straight. I used to constantly be slipping over to the left and couldn't work out why - I then lengthened my right stirrup by one hole and the problem was instantly solved. My hips can be uneven and that was causing me to sit wonky. When my hips are more level, I can then have even stirrups again.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Thanks all, lots to consider. Thats the problem, I know there are so many different reasons. Im trying to eliminate everything before spending a fortune. As an update, I have ridden him today, 6 miles mostly at walk with a bit of trot, just a hack so straight lines although we do do a bit of weaving between trees and stuff. Flippin thing hasnt moved in the slightest. I did use a different girth, only different is as much as it is a straight one rather than the Harry Dabbs shaped one, still has elastic at both ends. I was uber careful tacking up and getting on but I always am to be fair. So Im completely flummoxed, maybe it is me I have got an appointment with my chiro this week, coincidentally as I get a bit of back pain from time to time from sitting in an office all morning. Ill see if he can spot anything that could be causing an imbalance. Will report back.

 

[tallyho!]

Don't worry, these things are transient and will correct - our bodies too. Chiro is a good idea. Horses and humans all have a strong side and a weak side and it'll never be symmetrical. We can only get as even and straight as we possibly can together.

 

[sbloom]

it doesn't always mean you need to shim at the front if the shoulders are uneven, sometimes a shim under the back of the saddle on the side it's slipping to can help to even it out, I would have a little play around with the shims to see what works, one of mine has a bigger shoulder on the left so the saddle slips to the right very slightly sometimes as his back is changing all the time.

shoulder unevenness is often caused by different foot conformation in front if they have a boxy foot and one flatter foot the shoulder with the boxy foot will often be smaller on that side, not all horses are completely even as most will always favour one side so the muscle will be bigger and stronger on the favoured side, if you get your horse to stand square and stand behind and look towards the shoulder you will be able to see how different they are, you can use raised pole pole to get them to use that side more and certain stretches do help a good physio will be able to show you how to do them.

This, plus agree with FfionWinnie that if the saddle moves forwards at all it will almost always slip sideways too. Shimming for asymmetry is generally a "suck it and see" exercise I'm afraid, try each front (and make sure the shim is the right shape and thickness, single thickness THICK shims are godawful) and see how it feels in terms of front to back balance and if it cures the slippage, then try each side at the back - because you are very slightly affecting the front to back balance by shimming at the front ie tipping the saddle very slightly back, it may have a negative effect when shimming at the back may be a better option.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Quick update. Been to my chiro this morning, appointment was already booked as I do have some lower back pain from sitting in office! He admits he is not an expert in equestrianism but I explained the issue and he gave me a more thorough investigation and thinks I may well be crooked, he named the joint, began with S and is above hip, lowish in back. He has given me some suggestions and some exercises to do pre getting on board and a follow up in 2 weeks. What he said made sense, he thinks I may be pushing through my left stirrup more when I first get on to correct my slightly wonky posture (I didnt tell him which side was slipping but if hes right, that could be it). Fingers crossed.

 

[Apercrumbie]

The sacrum - one of my problems too! I hope you're feeling a bit less sore and noticing a difference.