Sitting comfortably

[Walrus]

This might sound a bit odd but does anyone have any experience of not being able to sit comfortably on their horse. I permanently feel like I have one leg longer than the other and I can't sit straight. Currently saddle hunting and everything feels uncomfortable, I have a long thigh and find blocky saddles make me feel stuck but when I ride in a saddle that's has smaller blocks and a more open seat I've had comments that maybe my legs need more support as they move constantly. Feel like a sack of potatoes to be honest! Can a saddle make that much difference? I also get pins and needles and numbness in my toes if I'm hacking for more than about half an hour (particularlywhen just walking).

I've got no previous injuries etc so no reason to be really wonky. Have a desk job and spend a lot of time sat at a screen or in the car. The Horse is quite wide but not excessively so (wb x) and built slightly downhill. Ridden for over 20 years and feel like I am getting worse not better.

Anyone had any light bulb moments with how to sit properly or saddles for people with v long thighs (although I appreciate ask 100 people you'll get 100 options!).

 

[Spotherisk]

Yes to much of that! When you look down do you have one knee in advance of the other, if so you’re twisted somehow.

 

[Red-1]

Sometimes it will be the horse that is wonky, not you. Does the saddle remain square on the horse? Does the horse remain on 2 tracks? Is one hip higher than the other either in motion or when still? From the side, do both back feet advance the same?

 

[Walrus]

If I look down I have one knee higher than the other. And I think one leg rotates outwards more (if that makes sense).

 

[Walrus]

This definitely plays a role, horse has had a weaker right hind. She has remedial shoeing on the back and is much better and straighter now (and better for being in work, the weaker she is the more her legs feel like they're all going in different directions!).

 

[cauda equina]

I had the feeling of one leg being longer than the other (it's not, it just felt like it) and that feeling has all but disappeared after doing some rider-specific Pilates
Unfortunately the free course (which I found excellent) has just finished but there's an ongoing paid for course

Get your space on the FREE Challenge now!

Feel the difference in just 25 mins a day

www.riderpilatesclub.com

 

[Barton Bounty]

I am very wonky feeling, I actually have a twisted pelvis and that means proper riding is much annoying… one leg is longer than the other.

 

[sbloom]

Yes yes and yes, the saddle makes a vast difference. I fit only open seats and smaller blocks pretty much but the seat has to be the right shape for your pelvis, and then there's a complex relationship between your hip hang, that seat shape, the horse's ribcage and way of moving and the flap design in order for your leg to have the right set up to be stable. Even then you may have work to do, a new saddle doesn't always make things right instantly, and can feel wrong, you need the confidence in the fitter to know you're heading in the right direction.

This one sidedness is rotation in the horse's ribcage, but the right saddle should have you feeling like you CAN get both legs on, feeling less wonky, but as I say you'll still need to do some work, a good biomechanics teacher can be worth their weight in gold. If you can find one who came to

https://www.facebook.com/emmamaloneequestrian/posts/pfbid0QD75S1x2WiwzH6KLrgP1h68bfJZkiTCc6XBUAciVJQzir1ZonF2iS8o3sF83ueXYl

they'll have more of an understanding of what effect the saddle is having, and what is down to you.

Definitely make sure you have a good bodyworker too, and it may be a good idea to do an off-horse fitness and conditioning programme, it all helps

 

[ycbm]

I can't sit straight on a horse that's too wide for my hips. I have to be careful what horse I buy these days. I'm never going to be about to downsize to a steady wide cob. For some reason I have to sit with one hip further forward than the other and when I sold the last horse who did it, I realised how much hip pain n he was causing me.
.

 

[tda]

Definitely some off horse exercise for you to start with. The free course Red1 mentioned above is very good, you can pay for weekly from them or just wait until the free course comes around again in a few months

 

[Walrus]

Thanks all, I will definitely look at the off horse exercises.

Sbloom the ergox2 stuff sounds v interesting but I am concerned about finding the right fitter and not being left waiting ages if something needs adjusting etc. Do you know if they do any clinics or demo days to go along and learn a bit more?

 

[moorhillhorses]

Pilates will definitely help this too

 

[meleeka]

If you thought your horse was unlevel you’d probably get a body worker pronto, yet we ignore our own needs

I had the same feeling but a couple of sessions with an osteopath helped a lot, as did improving my general fitness. I did have a friend that was permanently wonky after an accident and her instructor advised she had her strirrup one hole different to compensate. I think that’s a different situation from feeling wonky though.

 

[vhf]

Yes. and... recently, discovered one of the causes was actually my shoulder, and not my (granted also very duff and wonky) lower back/pelvis/hips. Took someone videoing me to spot it though, as I was assuming it was all the usual suspect lower body, never even considered higher up. In fact what brought it home was getting better reins (I blamed cheap new reins for my weird antics in the video ) and discovering they were 'uneven'. No they weren't, I was.

 

[daydreamer]

I've never had any major previous injuries etc so maybe in theory no reason to be wonky yet I'm currently about 2 months in to fortnightly treatment with an osteopath to try and get me straightened out! I went because one side of my jaw crunches when I open and move my mouth around. Actually my pelvis/hips were out and my body keeps saying no to being adjusted so it seems like everything has been out for a long time and everything is holding everything else in place. (I'm having cranio-sacral osteopathy, very gentle and after quite a few sessions my pelvis can now be adjusted easily but last session my skull/jaw wasn't cooperating).

So I'd suggest having some bodywork on you to check if you are straight or not.

 

[JGC]

I am very wonky (hip dysplasia) and was having such bad hip pain, I was literally limping out of the car at work after my 1hr+ commute at the beginning of this year. Finally invested in the Activate your Seat exercises and bungees and it has been absolutely transformative for the amount of day-to-day pain and of course has had a huge effect on my riding. If I get a bit slack with the exercises, I really feel it. So much better going walking and jogging too. It's been a huge effect.

Not affiliated in any way - just delighted something works (first got physio for it at the age of 13 - I'm 40 now and it's never been so little pain to me!).

 

[vhf]

I also get pins and needles and numbness in my toes if I'm hacking for more than about half an hour (particularly when just walking).
Have a desk job and spend a lot of time sat at a screen or in the car.

Hey, just to add. The time you spend sat (car/work) may be doing you as much a dis-service as the horse/saddle time, potentially, so well worth thinking about that too. You will find plenty of advice on that topic if you want it!!
The toes... may be to do with the stirrups and the pressure points on your feet. Or it may be the angle of your ankle/hip/knee joint. Easy enough to borrow different stirrups/change footwear/orthotics and see if it makes any difference at all. It would be a shame to resolve one issue to discover the other was no better!

 

[SEL]

I am feeling very grateful for the WOW saddle fitter who came out to my wonky pony last week. Even in the temporary set up I feel so much straighter and I'm not dismounting walking like a wonky cowboy. I'm still a bit amazed by how changes in a bit of air pressure can make both me + pony feel more sound.

I'm also grateful to my physio who tries hard to straighten me up every few months. I can highly recommend getting someone to have a look at you. I'm a lot more wonky and stiff when I've been doing a stint of desk work

 

[Birker2020]

This might sound a bit odd but does anyone have any experience of not being able to sit comfortably on their horse. I permanently feel like I have one leg longer than the other and I can't sit straight. Currently saddle hunting and everything feels uncomfortable, I have a long thigh and find blocky saddles make me feel stuck but when I ride in a saddle that's has smaller blocks and a more open seat I've had comments that maybe my legs need more support as they move constantly. Feel like a sack of potatoes to be honest! Can a saddle make that much difference? I also get pins and needles and numbness in my toes if I'm hacking for more than about half an hour (particularlywhen just walking).

I've got no previous injuries etc so no reason to be really wonky. Have a desk job and spend a lot of time sat at a screen or in the car. The Horse is quite wide but not excessively so (wb x) and built slightly downhill. Ridden for over 20 years and feel like I am getting worse not better.

Anyone had any light bulb moments with how to sit properly or saddles for people with v long thighs (although I appreciate ask 100 people you'll get 100 options!).

Yes I have always been like that, especially with Bailey but that was because she moved weirdly so my left leg always felt like it was rising upwards. But her rugs would always move within minutes and hang down more on one side that the other so it was definitely her.

 

[webble]

Another vote for David Saunders or one of his pupils, all very helpful

 

[Walrus]

Yes I have always been like that, especially with Bailey but that was because she moved weirdly so my left leg always felt like it was rising upwards. But her rugs would always move within minutes and hang down more on one side that the other so it was definitely her.

That's my mare, her rugs have always slid to one side.

 

[sbloom]

Thanks all, I will definitely look at the off horse exercises.

Sbloom the ergox2 stuff sounds v interesting but I am concerned about finding the right fitter and not being left waiting ages if something needs adjusting etc. Do you know if they do any clinics or demo days to go along and learn a bit more?

It was more about understanding the effect of the saddle on both horse and rider, it was nice that the RWYM coaches were blown away by the process. We don't have fitters covering the whole country at the moment, but the most important thing I've been trying to do, and we'll do even more as we go forwards is to empower customers to know when their saddle needs adjustment and in some cases knowing how to work with the fitter remotely to come up a temporary solution. Once you realise that horses can change in 1 day, a week, 3 weeks....this is SUCH an important skill to have and will transform the industry in the way that it interacts with each rider and how to maintain their saddle.

What everyone can do is ask how a fitter assesses horse and rider? The gold standard as far as I'm concerned is to get photos of the horse before coming out, to take a full history of both horse and rider, and to be able to explain how both have a massive part in saddle fitting success, if long term soundness is our greatest aim. Then of course the off horse assessment including pelvic imprint, which really can help you eliminate unsuitable saddles before trying them, of all brands.

Another vote for David Saunders or one of his pupils, all very helpful

Everyone does it so not singling you out, he's Sanders, like the Colonel

 

[ThreeFurs]

Thank you for helping me feel less neurotic. I've had a Wow dressage saddle for nearly 11 years, its been on three different horses I've owned [so tick for adaptability], and they'ved loved it, but I have NEVER felt right in it. I always feel like I'm 'climbing' up towards the pommel. There's only one Wow fitter where I live and I've told her time and time again its NQR. She just used to jack it up in the two back panels with air.

Finally I got a guy out for horse #3 who I was trying to fit an 2nd hand Otto Schumacher to, and that didn't work but he checked my Wow and said the deepest part of the seat, in profile, was too far back behind the stirrup bars, putting me in a permanent chair seat unless I 'hung' my legs about 3 or 4 inches back from the knee blocks.

Sadly we lost horse #3 to ulcerative colitis [IBD] last August, and then I got offered the weekday ride on a friend's Clydie X [she had/has a demanding new job]. He has a bespoke, made to measure Black Country dressage saddle.

Lo and behold! No pommel climbing, no wonk, just great balance, which makes me feel more confident on this very big, very round and somewhat spooky chap. So, don't give up! try lots of saddles, on reasonably well educated horses who are developed equally on both sides. xx

 

[SEL]

@ThreeFurs I had exactly the same problem with the WOW on my now retired Appy. I could never get the fitter to adjust it so I was comfy and not feeling like I was on the pommel. One day I popped it on a friend's horse and suddenly I was comfortable.

I borrowed one of their fitting gauges and set it up and it showed very quickly there was no way the Appy's set up was in balance. I retired her but I think I'd have needed a different fitter

 

[poiuytrewq]

Reading through with interest.
Human body worker? Is this different to a chiro or osteopath?

 

[sbloom]

No, it's a general term bringing in any non-doctor that works on a human, same as equine bodyworker.

 

[Identityincrisis]

I had the feeling of one leg being longer than the other (it's not, it just felt like it) and that feeling has all but disappeared after doing some rider-specific Pilates
Unfortunately the free course (which I found excellent) has just finished but there's an ongoing paid for course

Get your space on the FREE Challenge now!

Feel the difference in just 25 mins a day

www.riderpilatesclub.com

I was about to recommend this course, I’ve just finished the first course (after being impressed with the free one) and I’m blown away at the difference it has made in 6 weeks. My upper body posture which has always been dreadful is much improved and my permanently tight right hip is nearly as good as my left

 

[cauda equina]

I was about to recommend this course, I’ve just finished the first course (after being impressed with the free one) and I’m blown away at the difference it has made in 6 weeks. My upper body posture which has always been dreadful is much improved and my permanently tight right hip is nearly as good as my left

Amazing isn't it!
I haven't been keen on any sort of Pilates without a teacher there in the room to check you're doing it properly, but Jess explains it all so clearly and I'm feeling a big difference too

 

[poiuytrewq]

I may try this course too. I’ve been doing a Pilates class once a week but to be honest it’s pretty intense all in one go so I end up hurting, don’t do any more until the following week so not getting very far.
I too get the one leg feeling longer than the other, my sit/seat bones are not even. I’ve just noticed a weird mark on my new saddle. From my bum I guess, unsure why! It’s slightly to the one side though so an imagine that even though I ask people if I’m straight and they say yes, I can’t be.

 

[Identityincrisis]

Be quick her 3 for 2 ends tonight but it usually comes out again in a month or 2.

I love that it is aimed at riders so works on key areas. She also works on switching off the wrong muscles before activating the correct ones, she’s what I’ve been looking for for a long time. And best of all, because it’s online I can do it when it suits me and I’m not tied to going to a class