Saddle slipping forward going down hill

[JCW]

Flynn’s saddle is slipping forward going down hill. He is also misbehaving a bit (I.e. not walking straight, falling out on right shoulder and jogging whilst going down hill.

he does have a history of doing this in the past but today when my daughter was on him, I could actually see his saddle had slipped forward.

he has been out of work for the last couple of months due to him having a Keratoma removed so has lost a bit of muscle and I do have the saddle fitter coming out but not until the end of October. His saddle fit still looks pretty good to me though.

He has hardly any withers and what he has is set far back. He’s very flat backed and is slightly bum high. (He is 9 now so this isn’t going to change and probably due to being part quarter horse). Due to his shape we did have a made to measure saddle for him which happens to have 5 girth straps. I normally use 2nd and 4th and I use a wintec girth.

My question is, out of the 5 available girth straps, which would be the best to use and secondly, is there a girth which could help with the saddle slipping forward going down hill?

His saddle is checked regularly but my fitter only ever sees us ride in the arena and I am now wondering whether his past bad behaviour going down hill might have been down to his saddle slipping forward slightly and causing discomfort, however because he had more muscle it wasn’t as obvious that it had moved. At the time we just put it down to him being young and unbalanced.

He behaves being ridden on the flat and going up hill. Hes only being walked at moment.

Sorry for the waffle. I am hoping it’s something that can be easily resolved without purchasing a new saddle.

 

[Wizpop]

The WOW H girth was designed to help this problem. I used one on a croup high mare and it did work- we had similar problems too re going downhill.They are pricey but it would be worth trying to borrow one if you can to see if it helps. I used the front and rear straps of my saddle (WOW) to stabilise It with the help of my saddle fitter. The H girth can be used on any make of saddle. Good luck!

 

[Gloi]

Will he tolerate a crupper. If he will it's an easy solution for ponies with low withers.

 

[JCW]

The WOW H girth was designed to help this problem. I used one on a croup high mare and it did work- we had similar problems too re going downhill.They are pricey but it would be worth trying to borrow one if you can to see if it helps. I used the front and rear straps of my saddle (WOW) to stabilise It with the help of my saddle fitter. The H girth can be used on any make of saddle. Good luck!

Thank you I will look into this x

 

[JCW]

Will he tolerate a crupper. If he will it's an easy solution for ponies with low withers.

havent tried a crupper, will look into this too! Thank you x

 

[Boulty]

Has he changed shape with being out of work? Could be that saddle needs adjusting to sit right again. Personally as he's showing signs that he's not quite happy I'd not ride in it again until it's been properly checked (or if you must & he's happy & saddle is stable on the flat just do that for the moment).

If it turns out that fit is still good/ is good after some messing about then would look into things like H girths, grippy pads etc if still moving.

I've had a similar saga with mine (I did feel the saddle felt unstable on the flat as well though) & after some widening of the tree (it's not got adjustable gullets so this required my saddler taking it away), messing about with flocking after using a pressure pad thingy to identify pressure points & slightly changing which girth straps we're using (was using the point strap & 2nd "proper" strap, now using point strap & last). Saddle now looks like it's sitting better/ looks less like it's being pushed forward & feels more stable although I still need to find some proper (IE not just slopes in the field) hills to test it on. Wide, not generously withered creatures who are also overweight & a little bum high aren't the easiest! (His belly is what has caused the issue in the first place!) I feel this will be the first of many little adjustments but hoping that future ones won't involve playing with the tree as apparently it was a right PITA due to design of saddle!

 

[sbloom]

Please go back to your fitter first, they don't need to see it slip to be able to advise on options. What works for one saddle design and set up won't work for another, for instance 1 and 3 girth straps are likely to be better for the forward slip but, used on the wrong set up, can cause the shoulders to be pinned.

 

[MissTyc]

I had similar problem and my fitter recommended a specific girth and also slightly changed the flocking. Magic!