small pony saddle fit- any advice please

BeanyG

BeanyG

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hoping someone may be able to help, i have a large standard shetland which is typically round with no wither so to speak of. i have a thorowgood cub? saddle with a handle on the front, which has pannels that you can remove and velcro back on with a thin numnah underneath.
Before today all i have done it get her used to tack and my just turned 3 year old has had a sit on whilst the pony has been stood still. Today i have begun to long rein her and although the saddle doesnt appear to be moving, as in moving forward or backwards, the problem is after maybe 5-10 minutes the numnah is sliding backward from underneath the saddle.
what could be causing this from the saddle fit? and any other advice?
said pony will be having a saddle fitted adventully but we are quite a way off that yet
thankyou in advance
N&F
 
Last edited:
AMP said:
Have you got the numnah attached at the front with the straps?
Click to expand...

the numnah doesnt have any straps and ive struggled to find another one thats does that doesnt cover half of the pony! it does have straps for the girth straps to go through but those dont seem to help with it moving back.
 
the numnah is 16inch, it is only just big enough for the saddle (about half inch at the front and back of saddle) so im not sure if this may be the problem. Or if it is maybe the saddle fit causing it to happen?
 
do you need a numnah?

Cub saddles aren't the best of fits for small round ponies.

Try one of the actual saddle pads, which are like a leather numnah with a girth and stirrup bars attached.
 
It was more as to wether the numnah slipping back was indicating a major saddle fit problem, I do have a pony pad that I *think* was my mums that's felt but I was worried as to wether the stirrup bars could cause pressure points since the weight isnt spread by the tree. I havnt tried it on her but looking at it it has a fixed girth that I think would be too short
 
I'm no great fan of cub saddles (at least with tiny tots they can't do a huge amount of harm but just not good for larger child riders) but do bear in mind that all saddle/pad combos are supposed to work with a rider on top, it does mean that assessing on the lunge/long reining doesn't tell you much.

These saddles are typically too low at the back which is likely to make the saddle move forwards once a rider is on board, and the numnah moving backwards MAY be an indication of this, but equally it may not.
 
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