Riding the wider horse with dodgy hips (rider!)

[smiggy]

My mare is lovely but she is really wide (not fat) just cob build and flat backed. I hAve arthritis in my hips and riding is getting more and more uncomfortable. It's the stretch that's the thing, first ten mins of getting on is agony, even with prescription antiinflamms.
Anyone found any saddles that have a particularly good twist?
Strangely I find my treeless is actually more comfortable, that has no twist at all but maybe it's narrower as you don't have the bulk of the saddle there?
Current saddle is a saddle company one, usually with a hm seat saver, tried without today to see if that made it a bit narrower but didn't and just got sore bum as well
Anyone found anything useful?

 

[fitzaud2]

I have a collapsed him, due to old riding injury, and I find my western saddle much better than english riding saddle. I just seem to sit more naturally, but it's prob no good for my hip, dont know really if it does any harm to my hip, much better to ride in though!! Hope that helps!!

 

[soulfull]

some saddles are advertised as 'slim waist' which is much better. I had the same problem with my old horse. Must say its much better with my new narrower horse

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

I gave up riding really wide horses as then I'm in constant pain afterwards. This is why I had to ride the extra extra wide Welsh Section D side saddle at the dressage the other week as after a week of schooling him astride, I couldn't face anymore pain so whacked my side saddle on his back and off we went.

Yes, saddles with a narrow twist in the seat are a godsend for those with arthritis but I've read on saddle fitting websites (think it was Schleese Saddlery in Canada) that they really aren't suitable for really wide horses. I need narrow twist saddles for normal riding too but I have a TB anyways.

I didn't find my Saddle Company saddle helped my hip very much though. I had the working hunter one and although it was comfy for my bum, the twist was much too wide so I sold it and got a close contact saddle which tend to have narrow twists (but again, may not be suitable for a really wide horse).

Good luck with your saddle search as I too have dodgey arthritic hips and now mostly only ride side saddle, the only really painfree way to ride!

 

[Spotsrock]

Treeless. Or bareback pad I have same problem.

 

[millimoo]

Albion will do a narrow twist...

 

[superted1989]

I have arthritic hips and a wide, flat backed cob! If I had a lottery win, I would get a good treeless as I find it much easier to be 'loose' through the hip when I've borrowed one.
I've now got a Silhouette GP, it's much better than the Wintec I had before, and I use a HM seat saver if I'm having a bad day (it's currently on loan to a friend who's just recovering from stitches after childbirth though!).
Oddly enough, I was discussing side saddle with a friend, just a few days ago, as a pain reducing option. I reckon Markie would be fabulous at it, he's very comfortable astride so sidesaddle woud be like sitting on a sofa! However, I don't know anywhere to borrow the equipment, haven't done it for over 20 years, or, know anybody nearby to give refresher lessons.

 

[Archiepoo]

i suffered with my chunky sec D ,so bad i could barely walk with the pain in my hip after riding- my solution was to get a narrow tb -worked a treat i can ride all day now! ( anyone want an extra extra wide secD?)

 

[splashgirl45]

to all of you with bad hips, i was exactly the same and could only ride my horse for short periods of time as it was so very painful, i have had 2 hip replacement ops and can now ride for as long as i like and feel much more secure in the saddle(lost my confidence as pain was so bad and i was perched on top of the saddle so could be unseated easily) although it is never pleasant to have an operation (or two in my case) and recovery takes a while, i could ride again after 3 months i am so pleased i went through with it..... might be worth a referral from your gp to a specialist to be assessed. when i saw the specialist he couldnt believe that i was still looking after my horse myself and also walking my dogs daily as my hips were bone on bone , i think sometimes us horse/dog people just put up with pain as we feel we have to but there is a solution!!!!!!!

 

[sbloom]

I fit mainly wide horses and I agree that you really can't have a narrow twist on a wide horse - we have a new very wide very flat tree which works brilliantly on XXW plus horses and the reason it works so well is that the twist is wider that anything else we have. It means it can realy sit into the horse and not perch above. The rails of the saddle must mirror the shape of the horse - if they don't and are too upright they will cause pressure and/or instability - and the twist is based on those rails. You CAN build up the twist, a bit like building in the narrower HM seat saver pad (not sure what it's called) but you do end up further away from the horse, inevitably, and this can cause instability as well.

The best thing is to hunt out a good fitter who understands wide horses, get a fractionally narrower tiwst if possible, but ultimately ride a more forwards cut saddle and ride with shorter stirrups - trying to drop your thigh back and down for a dressage saddle is the hardest thing you can do.

 

[touchstone]

You could try a HM Hipsaver pad, they give a narrower twist to your current saddle:- http://www.enlightenedequitationshop.com/hipsaver-pad---english-style-26-p.asp