Saddles (NOT dressage) with stirrup bars set far back? GO!!!

Try Heather MOffett, Balance Saddles, Lavinia Mitchell Saddles... plenty on various sales platforms... whatever you do, get them properly fitted - they are made purposely wider than most other saddles for a very good reason and fitted correctly they are really stable. Lots of fitters around or check the websites.
 
Wheels said:
Can you tell me why you are specifically looking at saddles with set back stirrup bars?
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Probably because if you want to sit in heel/hip/shoulder alignment then it is much easier to do that on a saddle with a set back bar. Most stirrup bars are set so that the rider has to angle the leather backwards to sit in alignment, possibly because the makers think it's more important to get the bar out from under the rider's thigh. If they set them back, they have to recess them somehow.

Another one for WOW.
 
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Exactly as it says above. To hold the right alignment I'm having to pull the stirrup leather backwards as the bar is very far forward for my long legs.
 
But it's not just about the stirrup bar design, I have seen people in wow saddles using the back bar and still sat in a chair seat.

And the HM ones have a very set back stirrup bar and some people end up sat too far to the back of the saddle to compensate for this as it's an unnatural position for them whilst others it works for.

It's all about finding the right saddle for the rider, seat shape and size, flap angle, blocks and yes stirrup bar all play a part but if you only look for set back stirrups in isolation then it may cause other problems

So OP I would say try a few different types and styles of saddles to see what works but don't get fixated on only the one thing :)
 
My saddler almost always adds a little piece of leather to the stirrup bar to push the stirrup back whenever anyone gets a new saddle. Seems to do the trick pretty well.
 
It is very true what Wheels said... sometimes it is the rider truth be told and no matter where the bars are or the knee blocks or the pommel, some riders sit too far one way or the other and ride heavily into the stirrups rather than riding using the seat/thighs. I've been there. Having said that, we are all made very different and what may suit one may not suit another. Some people naturally ride one way and not the other...

I will pass on something I've learnt though over the years.. always go back to bareback as often as you can in all gaits. It's something we all did perhaps as young whipper-snappers but habits creep in un-noticed, all to easily when saddles pretty much do everything for you and so it's good to strip down and check your true balance.
 
Wheels said:
Can you tell me why you are specifically looking at saddles with set back stirrup bars?
Click to expand...

I wondered this too.

Bear in mind that a lot of treeless saddles, and certainly Heather Moffett ones, have the stirrup bars set back a significantly long way further back than treed saddles would.

You may find this grossly uncomfortable, particularly you may find this causes your legs to do weird things and you lose some stability in the leg, also, believe me, these sorts of saddles will totally kn@cker your hips!!

You'll be glad to get back to a "normal" saddle afterwards, I assure you!!

There are some treeless saddles about that you can adjust where you put your stirrup bar though, so this might be what you're looking for OP??
 
I agree with adding a 1/2" wide leather loop to your existing bars first, a cheaper option than new saddle. Set back bars in a GP kind of negate the purpose of a GP saddle as it will be harder to get your stirrups short and jump with set back bars, though every rider and saddle combo is different. In flatwork, unless your thighs are super long, you may end up with your knee well behind the knee or thigh block, and if the horse and/or twist is wide it may be uncomfortable as has been said.
 
I have a symonds saddle, the bars aren't obviously far back but they are in a position to encourage you to keep your left under yourself. I do know what you mean as I'm usually good with a secure lower leg but 8 months into riding my share horse and I'm still fighting to keep my lower leg in a nice posite on, I'm sure it's the saddle as I don't have the same problem on other horses
 
I have also known of some horses to continually throw a rider onto a preferred position or diagonal... seen it many times on many dressage clinics. No amount of stirrup positioning or saddle fitting will remedy... you have to just learn to counter and master the natural preference of horse and their own asymmetry.
 
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