Saddle sliding on very small pony, help please?!

[Endrete]

I have a very small section a and am having a problem with the saddle slipping when there is a child on board. The pony is slightly overweight, so has a typical round belly but she isnt actually that wide. Very slim shoulders. Ay the moment the saddle is sliding forward if she puts her head down and rocking from side to side. I don't want to tighten the girth's any more as don't want to make her sore. Any ideas please?

 

[silly_billy]

use a crupper. i always used one and worked perfectly.

 

[LCH611]

try a Barnsby grip pad?

 

[sbloom]

I would not recommend the use of either personally. I fit ponies as a huge part of my job (more natives and ponies than horses on my client list) and if a saddle moves it doesn't fit. It is hard to find saddles that work on tricky wide ponies but they do exist - look for a very flat tree front to back, which means a shallow seat, flat panels to give a semi close contact fit, and four girthing straps. I think you need a second opinion on your current saddle, I would guess that it is too curvy from front to back, or that the rails, which run from front to back, are too upright and are not giving enough contact through the middle of the saddle.

 

[Tnavas]

We tried for years to find one to fit one of our school ponies a Welsh, built a litle downhill, and wide. We tried a crupper but she bucked like a bronc so we endured, moved the saddle back when needed.

 

[YasandCrystal]

Limpet pads are great to stop movement and they are only thin and easy to clean. We have a 'no withered' very wide cob whose saddle is correctly fiited and this is the only thing to stop her saddle slipping

 

[forestfantasy]

I would not recommend the use of either personally. I fit ponies as a huge part of my job (more natives and ponies than horses on my client list) and if a saddle moves it doesn't fit. It is hard to find saddles that work on tricky wide ponies but they do exist - look for a very flat tree front to back, which means a shallow seat, flat panels to give a semi close contact fit, and four girthing straps. I think you need a second opinion on your current saddle, I would guess that it is too curvy from front to back, or that the rails, which run from front to back, are too upright and are not giving enough contact through the middle of the saddle.

This 100%

It's amazing the things people will make ponies put up with!

 

[sbloom]

Limpet pads are great to stop movement and they are only thin and easy to clean. We have a 'no withered' very wide cob whose saddle is correctly fiited and this is the only thing to stop her saddle slipping

I hate to belabour the point but a saddle has to fit when you are riding - not just on the yard with no rider. If it doesn't fit, ie elips, when riding, then it doesn't fit full stop. Lifting at the back is the same - only acceptable if the horse already has a damaged back, and then I always use judicious padding to help protect the back while it heals.

We need higher expectations of our saddles on wide horses and ponies. Sticky pads pull at the skin and shouldn't be needed. If any of my clients phoned me to say their saddle was slipping but they'd rectified it with a sticky pad I'd be straight out there to adjust the saddle.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

use a crupper. i always used one and worked perfectly.

I did with my section A and this is the result http://youtu.be/suoetqAzHjc i had a bucking bronco on my hands

I tried 3 saddles on my welsh A the only one i have found that doesnt slip forward is a wintec 14.5 inch

 

[sbloom]

Going down a seat size can help. The tree points obviously need to be the correct width at the front, then the saddle must be balanced - if it is cantle low it will slip forwards on many ponies. If you do go down a seat size and it's a touch small for the rider then you may need to lift the back of the saddle as a larger rider will often sit further back, or squash the panels more - a riser pad is fine for a temporary fix, or where there is muscle damage, otherwise you need a deeper gussetted rear panel for a correct saddle fit. I seem to have a run of them at the moment with three customer orders for deeper rear gussets for ponies!

 

[Endrete]

Thanks for all your replies.

I should have been a bit clearer with regard to saddle Im using. Its actually a basket saddle for a small child. It has two straps at the front and the back and its fairly adjustable. It fit perfectly a month ago but pony has put on a bit of a hay belly since so its now rocking.

Im not that keen on cruppers and having tried her in it again today, without child, I think the biggest problem is the side to side movement.

 

[sbloom]

Hmm, I know nothing about those but looking at photos on the web, they seem to have very little shaping, you could be onto a hiding to nothing with that

 

[YasandCrystal]

I hate to belabour the point but a saddle has to fit when you are riding - not just on the yard with no rider. If it doesn't fit, ie elips, when riding, then it doesn't fit full stop. Lifting at the back is the same - only acceptable if the horse already has a damaged back, and then I always use judicious padding to help protect the back while it heals.

I think that if your statement is true it means most eventers and showjumpers saddles don't fit as they rely on breast straps and overgirths to stop movement and slipping. No saddle can be 100% stable in every circumstance. Look at polo ponies, their saddles are always secured with breast straps etc - it depends on the discipline. I agree that a pad or numnah is no excuse for a poor fitting saddle, but with the best will in the world any saddle can slip well fitted or not.

 

[sbloom]

I take your point but obviously this is a very different scenario and it is SO common to hear of peope with natives or cobs say that their saddle fits perfectly yet it slips in normal use.

Girthing is very important with fit - once you have the right tree and panel configuration you need girthing choice - for many many jumping horse and eventers using the balance strap ie a rearward attached girth strap will help stop a saddle drifting backwards on a narrow ribcage and a breastplate may not be needed at all.

There are so many factors to getting a good fit - even the right style of girth has an effect at the margins - but ultimately if the saddle slips in normal riding ie not huge fences and drops, then there is a fitting issue.

 

[Shazzababs]

I don't know how old the child is, but could you change to one of those Wintec saddles with the big handle on the front and have an extra adult (or one each side RDA Stylee) to make sure they stay put in it?