narrow barreled horse doesn't fill up my leg

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silkrider

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So I'm 6 feet tall and am riding my first horse who is just 15 hands and my trainers say has a narrow barrel on him. He also takes a wide tree saddle which might be making things worse for me as well.

For 2 years i have been struggling with finding my seat especially at rising trot. After getting a chance to ride a larger horse recently, i realized just how little my horse fills up my legs.

I always feel like I can barely keep my calves draped against the horses sides but worse I always feel like i become perched up on the top of my thighs as he doesn't fill up my lower thighs or knee.

So today I tried stuffing a few hand towels under my saddle flaps. It made quite a difference. I felt like the saddle was really filling up more of my thigh and i felt much more secure. And my rising trot was much better as I felt like i had more of a platform to roll forward on to my lower thighs while my upper thigh moved up off the saddle in an arc as my hips come forward.

Before I felt like I would just fall forward, my upper thigh would barely come off the ground and then go plunk down and I would be perched forward on the saddle and my legs would go flying forward. My legs still aren't perfect, but were better today.

Anyway, my trainer has never heard of doing such a thing or altering the saddle to make it fill up your leg more. She says her knee and lower thighs can just hang off the saddle without gripping so thinks it is just a crutch.

But maybe I need a little bit more thigh contact to take on some of my weight as I roll forward onto my thighs in the rising trot? I'm trying to learn at an older age and weigh 180 lbs.

So, does anyone have experience with having troubler riding narrow horse or can relate at all to what I'm feeling? Without getting more of my thigh on my saddle, i just don't feel like i'm ever going to be able to balance the rising trot well. At least havn't so far.

Thanks.
 
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Try a different saddle. I am 5'10" and my boy is 15hh. I always felt slightly unbalanced on him and that I was tipping forward a bit. Like you, my lower leg doesnt connect with anything although he is also a wide/extra wide fit.

I am waiting delivery of a new saddle which is more forward cut with a square cantle so I feel I have more room in it. Its night and day difference and I cant wait to get going with it.

It would be worth your while trying different saddles. Its possible that there is something out there that would suit you both better and make you feel more secure and comfy.

I was used to big horses and it took me a long long time to get used to wee Arnie. Even his shorter stride made things tricky. I wouldnt part with him though :D
 
YES! I can't offer any advice, but I feel the same way and thought I was the only one! My boy is 15.2 and I am 5'5 so he is hardly huge for me, but 1) I have to have my stirrups quite short in order to "reach" his stomach with my leg aids and 2) I cannot do rising trot on him for toffee or money! I feel like I am thrown forwards and rising too high!!!
 
Um, am I the only person who thinks this is less about the horse, and more about the skill level of the riding? I'm quite tall (5' 9") and ride between 14.2 - 15.1hh horses, of various barrel sizes. I have to adapt to their multifarious physical shapes; that is my job as a rider.
 
I'm 6'2" with a 37" inside leg and ride a 17.1hh MW type mare who is very deep thro the girth and I feel comfortable on her......

Tbh, I would feel totally under-horsed on anything smaller than 16.2hh
 
It is harder to learn/improve on a horse you are too tall for. I'm 5'10 with 36" legs, I still ride my 14.2 & have ridden ponies from 12hh up at this height. However the difference is that I was fairly established before regularly riding ponies I was too long for. When I ride one I'm too leggy for, I'm training it, not my basic riding skills. Obviously everyone learns from anything they ride, whatever the level. But trying to establish a basic position & aids is harder on a too small horse. Filling out the saddle could mean your lower leg is too far out, or lead to habits like turning out your knees to fit the towels under. Speak to a saddler to see if they have any suggestions. But really if you want to make faster progress, a bigger horse is what you need.
 
I know exactly what you mean, I feel I need at least 16.2 unless horse was very wide (I'm 5'11). Different saddle and stirrup length make a difference. I got used to my legs hanging right on my last 15.1 share horse and actually felt uncomfortable having my legs so far up the horse's sides when looking to buy bigger and was quite unbalanced, have compromised on a skinny 16.3 who will hopefully fill out, but his saddle really pushes me forward I hate it, so that makes a massive difference too!
 
silkrider said:
Anyway, my trainer has never heard of doing such a thing or altering the saddle to make it fill up your leg more. She says her knee and lower thighs can just hang off the saddle without gripping so thinks it is just a crutch.
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I agree with your trainer on this. You should be able to ride by just balancing on your seat bones and not gripping with your legs. Your legs should be able to hang down either side of the horse and breathe with the movement of his ribcage.

Think of people that ride ponies - they don't have anything to "fill their leg" but they can still ride them perfectly fine. You are really lucky to be so tall and have long legs to wrap around a horse! Embrace that, and learn how to use it to your advantage.
 
You weigh 13 stone, are over 6 ft tall and own/ride a lightly built 15 hand horse. You are finding it easier to ride with several towels shoved under your saddle flaps. You are a brand new poster.

Personally I think you should sell your horse and buy one that is suitable for you, or move out from under that stone bridge where I think you may live?

If you are not a troll, my advice is serious. You have the wrong horse. Sell it and get one that fits your body.
 
My Friesian is 14.2 and has an ENORMOUS barrel, she is the smallest and widest of my horses. I am tall, with very long legs, and have no issues riding my littlies.
 
With the best will in the world, it's never going to be an ideal match -tall rider/small narrow horse. Yes - as you improve, you will find ways to compensate - but it will be far easier for you to learn on a horse that takes your leg better.
My horse is 17hh, so perfect height for me, but he is very slab sided, and I do find it more difficult to keep my legs on him. It's good for me, as I have to make a conscious effort to maintain a correct leg position, and not wave them around looking for non existent barrel to wrap round, but I'm already fairly competent. If I were a novice, I think I would struggle without a natural resting place for my legs.

I cheat and use angled stirrup treads, which make a big difference!
 
Thank you for all the opinions. I'm going to keep experimenting with padding the saddle flaps this week. Perhaps it can create some new muscle memory so that when i go back to riding without the padding, my body will have an ah ha moment.

I'm sure the poster that suggested that if my form was better I would probably be fine is correct. And too my trainer. Trouble is I can't get over the hump for some reason. So maybe I need a stepping stone to perfect form. Even though i've been riding for awhile now, perhaps certain muscles still aren't strong/flexible enough to pull it off. Since i'm taking up riding middle aged and am big and we know how that is hard. You can usually tell an adult rider who didn't learn when they were a kid.

I can't keep driving my horse crazy, have to switch up something.
 
A wide fit is not that wide, but the wrong tree can make it feel like your legs are shooting away from the horse's side. I know that even with some XW+ fit horses using a tree that is wide in the head/twist can be uncomfortable for the rider. NF ponies can be very wide on top (easily XW) but are "slab sided" with narrower ribcages, and need a saddle that is narrower along its whole length. I know this goes against the grain of the normal advice of getting trees that aren't too narrow, but it all depends on the horse's shape, Connies can be similarly shaped.

I specialise in fitting wide and flat horses and would suggest you find someone who does the same as they may have more options to fit the horse so giving you more choice of what works for you. Padding under the flaps is going to deaden your aids - your weight aids and perhaps even leg aids will be deadened and could make both you and potentially even the saddle unstable.

The padding you can try, and just a tiny bit of foam usually does it, is under the skirts, not under the flaps. It can smooth out the transition from tree to ribcage.
 
cptrayes said:
You weigh 13 stone, are over 6 ft tall and own/ride a lightly built 15 hand horse. You are finding it easier to ride with several towels shoved under your saddle flaps. You are a brand new poster.
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s/he has been on here since Oct 2011. They have started several threads on a similar subject.



Silkrider, your horse is too small for you, find yourself a horse that's either taller, or bigger barrelled. Looking at the video you posted last year, you don't look at all comfortable, and seem to be having a hard time keeping your balance. I know the feeling, I used to occasionally ride a small, skinny horse and I hated riding him because I felt so uncomfortable and unbalanced on him!
 
My girl was narrow barrelled (44inch girth on a 15.1) particularly around the shoulders and wore a narrow fitting saddle. The only time I ever rode and felt my legs were in contact with her sides was in my Lemetex saddle because it had recessed stirrup bars. Sadly I only had the benefit of it for 6 weeks because a thieving barsteward who got chucked off the yard came back and stole it a couple of weeks later :(
 
Sorry, but a 44 inch girth is not short girth and doesn't indicate a narrow barrel unless your horse was very deep through the girth. I generally use 44 inch girths on 17 hand horses of middleweight build.
 
And I can't remember the last time I used a 44" girth on anything over about 15 hands! I even have a Dartmoor on my books who takes a 46"...of course I wouldn't proclaim that he's narrow in the barrell...:D...but he is only 12.2hh!
 
must be just mine are skin and bone compared to other people's then :D

I use 32 inch dressage girths now that reach almost to the bottom of my monoflap saddles, (I hate seeing the horses sides pinched between the two girth leathers with a shorter dressage girth). Both my boys are wide fit in saddles and both 17 hands, one a lightweight, one a middleweight, both fit and compared to the fat horses I see around everywhere these days, lean because you can easily feel their ribs.
 
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