Riding wider horses harder?

[Pink Gorilla]

My daughter rides a lot of tall, narrow Irish horses at her riding school and looks to be a very neat, balanced rider. But when she rides my short wide cob x connie, she looses lower leg control and bounces lots more. His stride isn't overly choppy for a cob and he's not particularly lazy either. Are wider horses harder to sit to? I've only ridden him and no other horses for the past 3yrs and feel fine! I had a Section D before him.

 

[Goldenstar]

Much harder , theres a sweet spot, very narrow is not as comfy either

 

[Cowpony]

Definitely harder. I'm short with short legs, and my leg position and stability are terrible on wider /big barrelled horses. Luckily my new one is fairly narrow!

 

[AdorableAlice]

And if you are ancient, like I am, and ride a wider stamp of horse, you will need to upload pain relief before the ride and if the hack is a long one, top up the pain relief later in the day !!

The upside of most wider horses, is that they send a postcard before they whip round, buck or clear off. Their narrow sporty relations just do it and leave you watching them disappear into the distance.

 

[SEL]

I'm just over 5'3" and my lower leg position is loads better on narrower horses. My hips also don't complain so much.

 

[Hobo2]

Oh good it is not just me then. My lower leg is dreadful and horse is very wide!

 

[tda]

Funny isn't it, I've always had natives so used to a broad back and big rib cage, my legs must be moulded to a round shape
If I get on anything narrower, it's like sitting on a greasy pole, it's awful

 

[Zoeypxo]

Possibly the shorter stride too. I love riding my big wb, like putting on a comfy pair of slippers. When i ride anything remotely pony like it kills my back and it takes me a minute to get comfortable with the shorter striding

 

[sbloom]

Saddle fitter specialising in rider fit, it makes a massive difference. Everyone has their own pelvic size and shape, hips of a certain width and confirmation, and then leg length, including proportions. All affect how well.amd individual.can sit on a particular ribcage.

The narrower the rider compared to the horse, as a real generalisation, the more likely it is that the knee will have to come forwards and rotate outwards, both leading us into positions that are unhelpful. Then add on that sitting in the "correct" position through hard work and tension isn't much better....

 

[sbloom]

Just to add, a saddle on its own can have the same effect so in a different saddle she might struggle much less or not at all, though if the ribcage is very wide this isn't so likely. There aren't many options for sitting a rider narrower on a wide horse that don't compromise the fit for the horse at the same time (research by Latif et al, a paper released a few years ago looked at the pressure caused by narrower twists).

 

[ycbm]

My lower leg punches in and out on the sides of a wider horse, I've even taken stick for it from people on this forum seeing my videos. That and the fact I have to wear very long spurs to make any connection. They also kill my hips and make me sit skew, so I sold my last one and from then have only ridden narrower horses.

The gullet width isn't much of a guide though, the best shape for me was wide at the wither and narrow through where my knees were. I think somebody described that as baroque shape. My current horse is 2 gullet widths lower than my last but wider through my knees and I'm getting some hip pain from that.
.

 

[Goldenstar]

There’s a thing that you get when you ride a lot of horses a feel when your on the horse for the horse that that fits you .
For me they will be medium or medium wide in a saddle width fitting and I am so determined by this I only view horses wearing these sizes .
Theres two bits of it there’s the traditional width that’s shows up in the saddle fit then there’s the width between the knees that ycbm talks about.
The good news is many will slim out further down as they develop and slim .
Tatts who was a Dutch harness horse was very narrow when he arrived he ended up wide on top and slim below at the knee I managed with him with the right saddle .
I am riding Blue atm he’s wide at the top but because he does not have a great big lung capacity because of his draught bleeding he’s flat lower down when he’s not obese so I manage him .
H is wide with a huge round rib age I cannot ride him at all without significant discomfort if I was a little taller I might get away with it .
Sky also an ID is a medium wide in a saddle he’s extremely comfortable for a draught but if he gains weight we get some of the width at the knees thing going on .It’s an extremely interesting subject .
I have had one horse who I remember as the horse that fitted me she was like a couture gown after wearing made to measure I got on her and she was perfect in every way it was so easy to look good on her .

 

[Marigold4]

I had a VERY wide connemara at one stage. I never felt safe jumping her, as I felt I was sitting on top of her rather than round her, if that makes sense (I have short legs). She also knackered my hips - which I didn't realise until I sold her and started riding my narrower youngster.

 

[wiglet]

I broke my pelvis many years ago and since then, I have not been able to sit on wide horses.
Added to that I have a hip impingement so it makes for uncomfortable riding even with pain relief. Fortunately, my horse is not wide!

 

[dorsetladette]

When we were out on the showing circuit I had the opposite problem. Constantly riding wide natives then hopping on to show hunters when we had one in for producing or competing. I always felt my legs were to long or my knees weren't in the right place. As others have said the saddle width wasn't really the issue as back then we'd be in tiny show saddles and the same saddle used on multiple ponies.

ETA - just wanted to add my knees are in the correct position on my legs and my legs are the correct length for my body!

 

[Auslander]

The upside of most wider horses, is that they send a postcard before they whip round, buck or clear off.

I wish Alf had read this memo!

 

[Skib]

I started riding aged 61 and have never been able to sit straight on a wide horse. I eventually learned to avoid cobs. But it caused me enormous misery at my first RS.

 

[Julia0803]

I think it must be partly what your used to.

A few years ago I rode my son’s loan ‘pony’ who was narrow and just shy of 17.3. Quite a change from the 14.2 xw cob, who I think is generally deep bodied and wide all over- he really takes up your leg.

I didn’t feel at all secure up there- it felt like being astride a very tall fence! I’m just over 5’4, so not tall but not particularly short either. Despite his long neck, I felt there was nothing in front of me in terms of his shoulders. So that if we’d had an incident, either he whipped round or even just tripped I felt like I’d fly out the front door before I’d have even realised (which was probably a bit harsh as he was very sweet and not likely to intentionally dislodge you!).

 

[dorsetladette]

I think it must be partly what your used to.

A few years ago I rode my son’s loan ‘pony’ who was narrow and just shy of 17.3. Quite a change from the 14.2 xw cob, who I think is generally deep bodied and wide all over- he really takes up your leg.

I didn’t feel at all secure up there- it felt like being astride a very tall fence! I’m just over 5’4, so not tall but not particularly short either. Despite his long neck, I felt there was nothing in front of me in terms of his shoulders. So that if we’d had an incident, either he whipped round or even just tripped I felt like I’d fly out the front door before I’d have even realised (which was probably a bit harsh as he was very sweet and not likely to intentionally dislodge you!).

yes that exactly I felt like there was nothing in front and nothing to wrap your legs around in case of an incident.

 

[sbloom]

I once fitted a rider with a proportionately very wide and short pelvis, and a wide "hip hang", on an Arab cross that was like riding a 2x4. She needed a super short, super bulky saddle from my rider specialist range, and had never felt stability like it. It was a double padded flap with 10mm exercise mat added between the flaps!

 

[Annagain]

It's definitely a case of what you're used to. I feel much happier on a stocky horse. When I was horse shopping I tried a TB and even though he was chunky for a TB, I felt like I was perched on a bar stool rather than sitting in a comfy armchair. I just feel like I have no neck or shoulder in front of me to prevent me going out the front door if anything were to happen. I also feel like I can't get my legs on a narrower horse, my muscles don't seem to want to pull them in enough.

 

[JBM]

I sat on a thicc gelding once
I rode like ass and thought I was gonna split in 2

 

[sbloom]

Honestly? It's more that you have naturally chosen horses that suit your build, muscle memory will play a part for sure, but there's an ease in the hips when you're sitting on a ribcage shape that suits you, especially if the saddle suits you too.

 

[Annagain]

Honestly? It's more that you have naturally chosen horses that suit your build, muscle memory will play a part for sure, but there's an ease in the hips when you're sitting on a ribcage shape that suits you, especially if the saddle suits you too.

I've never really thought about it like that, I've always thought it's more of a psychological / muscle memory thing.

 

[sbloom]

I've never really thought about it like that, I've always thought it's more of a psychological / muscle memory thing.

Our skeleton is the most important thing when looking at stability, soft tissue and muscle memory is important, but the transformation, in one session, for the rider when setting the saddle up to match the horse and rider better is amazing.