Saddle Pad Slipping

[wrangler]

I am mainly a western rider, but I recently bought an english saddle. It is an all purpose saddle, and it fits my gelding quite well. It is more directed to jumping, not dressage. I also bought a saddle pad, and it had a polyester/felt bottom on it, and it keeps slipping. It is a black century saddle pad. The keepers seem to do nothing. It gets all bunched up when I'm riding.

I like to ride with a looser girth, could this have anything to do with it? The strap thing on the pad where the girth goes through also doesn't seem to sit forward enough, but if I were to move the pad further up, the back of the saddle would be directly on his back. Do I just need a new saddle pad? Does anyone have any advice? English isn't my main discipline, and I can't really afford another pad.

i also have a fluffy white pad, but it doesn't seem to fit the saddle very well do I don't really want to use it.
Thanks in advance

 

[wrangler]

I also forgot to mention, he is a thick boy with a mutton wither. The saddle stays in place, but the pad doesn't. I haven't tried a tighter girth, and there is quite a lot of room under it, as we mostly do trails in an english saddle. And also, why does the loop thing (the piece of nylon at the bottom that holds the girth in place), why doesn't it fit my saddle? It's a normal sized pad, and my saddle is a 17". It was a cheap pad, but I'm not sure why the measurements don't work

 

[sbloom]

The girth should be snug but not tight, feel ALL under the girth as if you tighten it you don't want it super tight on the sternum or anywhere else. Saddles vary a lot, girth straps placement varies a lot, a lot of pads don't have lower loops that line up with the right girth straps, I use the point straps on a lot of saddles I fit and many loops don't line up with those. You could unpick the loops and move them back, or use a style of girth where you can put the rear girth buckle strap through the loop, and not the front one. Your white fluffy will be a different thickness and probably tips the saddle back, so stick with the thickness of pad that suits the fit.

Frustrating, you're looking for theoretical reasons but it's just how things are - your saddle probably has a tiny inclination to move forwards but instead it's held firm and the pad moves back. Other pads may work better, they may have better attachments, may be firmer so don't move as much, have loops in the right place, but you want to stick with this one.

 

[TPO]

Presume that you're in America?

I know saddle fitting/getting a fitter I'd a bit different over there. You might get a better response on Chronicle of the Horse forum. Over here the advice is always to get a saddle fitter out.

As I'm sure you know western saddles are fitter different to English. It's the opposite problem over here with very few good quality western saddles in the UK and even less in the way of good fitters.

A loose girth isn't a good idea with an English saddle and it needs to be snugger than a cinch. Perhaps on par with how tight you would cinch up for roping.

perhaps a girth with elastic both side would allow it to be fastened properly whilst still allowing some give for the horse.

 

[sbloom]

I have taken it as read that your saddle does fit well, if you have not had a professional check it then that's always best. I have only addressed the pad issue directly. I would say that a girth with elastic both sides, though I'm a fan of them, is unlikely to fix the issue but thank you @TPO for the comparison with tightness of a cinch, not something I was aware of. Western saddles have a large amount of rigid structure either side of the spine, compared to English, and so it would make sense the cinch doesn't need to be as snug.

 

[Gloi]

A picture may help.