Rider slipping forward in saddle

[brianh]

Hi,

I had a ride out at a trekking centre recently and found myself slipping forward in the saddle almost from the start. I've not really experienced this before, and am a bit confused as to what may have caused it.

At times I slipped so far forward my toes came into contact with the horse's elbow, which is obviously a problem. It seemed like every few minutes I had to reposition myself back in the correct seat. It was even worse when going downhill, thanks to gravity!

Any suggestions in case this happens again?

Brian

 

[Barnacle]

This could be due to a badly-fitted saddle and nothing to do with you... It sounds like the saddle wasn't level. Otherwise I find it hard to imagine how that would happen honestly!

 

[brianh]

Thanks for the reply. I did wonder if it was maybe something to do with the saddle being slightly too far back instead of on the withers.

 

[Shay]

Could be the saddle - I would hope not as this was a commercial yard, but you never know! It could also be that you were hunching forward a bit? It tends to happen with nerves - we all do it. Or possibly that you are more used to riding on a surface in a school than to the unlevel ground on a hack - you have to adjust a lot more hacking as the footfalls are not so even. Experimenting with your stirrup length can make your lower leg more stable.

 

[Steorra]

Was your seat sliding to the front of the saddle (ouch!)? I can't really picture what would cause that. Perhaps a saddle that is much too wide, but I think it would be obviously resting on the withers, which would be hard not to notice.

A more common problem would be your leg swinging forward. Some saddles are designed with the stirrup bars a long way in front of the seat, so that the shape of the saddle encourages your lower leg forward.

Jumping saddles are often made like this, with forward cut flaps and forward set stirrup bars, so that you can ride with short stirrups and a sharper bend at the knee. Unfortunately, lots of general purpose saddles seem to be made with the forward-set stirrup bars but with straighter flaps, so that you can't ride very short (knees come over the front of the saddle), but when you lengthen the leathers the saddle puts your leg in the wrong place.

 

[sbloom]

If seat AND knees/feet are coming forwards then yes, the saddle may be low in front, though it should be back behind the shoulder and generally not fully up on the wither. If just your feet/legs then it may be too straight a saddle cut.