Shetland: saddle slipping to side

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Scot123

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Hello, I've been searching old forums but can't seem to find what might be an answer to this one... We have a cub saddle for our shetland for the children (2 & 5) to ride him in. Just short 15min walks/trots every now and then. But almost without fail the saddle to slide round to his belly at some point. Are there ANY solutions for this in a typically built shettie?! Would a non-slip pad be the (expensive) answer? Thanks!:)
 
I've only ever used a Willis pad felt saddle for shetties, so cant help with your saddle, but can say the felt saddles have never shifted. Have added a crupper for more active work with riders who canter & jump tho.

My neighbour also had a cub saddle on her tiny welshie for her 4 yr old to ride on, but has now got rid as it kept sliding up ponies neck & also pinching withers if girthed hard. She's got a tiny leather saddle instead with point strap for the girth & this stays put nicely :)

Hope you find a solution :)
 
Thanks. I was wondering about a felt pad as the cub saddle seems a bit perched and I felt something that wrapped itself around the pony a bit more might have more of a chance of staying in place. Also, can I show my ignorance, but what's a point strap?:o
 
 
Thanks for that. Interesting. So potentially a point strap, though that would also entail a new saddle... or to try a felt treeless one.
 
I fit natives as a speciality and recently had a 13" WH saddle made for a standard Shettie, it worked well, giving the rider decent support/depth of seat and small knee blocks. The other option is a pad, but the only ones I consistently hear good things about are the Zoe Snape ones, her company is Shetland Showing Tack, there are copies around which I'd not touch.
 
I used to have a Shetland and the thing happened. i finally got it to stay still by getting him a smaller girth to hold it up.
Hope this helps
Puzzle4ever:p
 
Mallee1989 said:
Have you had the fit checked? In my experience if a saddle moves or if saddle cloths continually slide out from under saddle it tends to mean saddle isn't fitting properly. In my experience a good fitting saddle doesn't move even if girth isn't tight.
Click to expand...

Absolutely true but cub saddles can't be fitted in the proper sense, you can only move the panels in and out making the gullet wider or narrower.
 
As you say, that's a trouble with the cub in that it can't be adjusted more than moving the panels. Again, potentially looking at a pad then, since the option of a good fitted saddle may push things out of the price range I think worth it for occasional short rides... Thanks for the pad recommendation, I'll look into that :)
 
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