To ride or not to ride

[My_breadbagel]

My saddler, via phone, recommended I put in my narrower gullet is felt tipped forward (photos sent). I changed in, sent more photos, and she said “you looked tipped forward in a few and tipped back in others, it’s best if we wait (two weeks) to my visit”.
I admitted I felt a little tipped forward at times (old habit of mine) but I felt more secure and upright with my horse marching. I was also very nervous due to poor weather and when I’m nervous I tip forward!!!!
horse was also very long and low due to being on his chilled setting lmao, and had his head on the floor for portions. At one point I caught my cantle (haven’t done this before) mid rise. However, I was in long stirrups (as normal) and we were doing a very bouncy trot.
the photos I sent weren’t the best (pony was wiggling about for hay so I was being tossed about) so I’m not sure they were the best, but had an impatient mother taking them…….
I also have my first arena hire this Saturday which I was so excited for. I’m devastated as I feel like I can’t go now. I asked my saddler if it would bother my horse etc but she hasn’t responded as it’s late and I don’t want to hastle her.
pony is very sensitive to saddle fit and won’t get the correct lead if he’s uncomfortable in any way, so it’s a big deal for him. I’m panicking. Please, someone help. What do I do?! I’m having an meltdown- I really don’t want to hurt my lovely boy- we’ve had a terrible fall from a poor saddle fit before (admittedly this happened over several months!) I just wanted one lovely arena higher and now it’s ruined

 

[[153312]]

can you use the arena hire for something other than riding, maybe....? Or phone your fitter tomorrow, during the working day?
My gut is saying not to ride, though; it's a 'better be safe than sorry' situation, IMHO.

 

[My_breadbagel]

can you use the arena hire for something other than riding, maybe....? Or phone your fitter tomorrow, during the working day?
My gut is saying not to ride, though; it's a 'better be safe than sorry' situation, IMHO.

No, I can’t. I have to ride there ( short walk).

 

[My_breadbagel]

can you use the arena hire for something other than riding, maybe....? Or phone your fitter tomorrow, during the working day?
My gut is saying not to ride, though; it's a 'better be safe than sorry' situation, IMHO.

Also, I should add pony felt great today- very relaxed and free moving, and a lot better than before!

 

[Palindrome]

I would tend to say if your horse is relaxed and moving forward well, go for it. You can always stop if it is not going well.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I personally wouldn't ride if I thought the saddle wasn't right for the sake of 2 weeks it's not worth it.

Can't you cancel the arena hire this Saturday and book it for after your saddle fitting?

 

[My_breadbagel]

I personally wouldn't ride if I thought the saddle wasn't right for the sake of 2 weeks it's not worth it.

Can't you cancel the arena hire this Saturday and book it for after your saddle fitting?

No, I can’t. And I felt perfectly happy in the saddle (and it had to be narrowed for a reason!) I’ll ride again tomorrow on a short walk and see how we feel I guess

 

[My_breadbagel]

I would tend to say if your horse is relaxed and moving forward well, go for it. You can always stop if it is not going well.

I’m figuring I’ll ride tomorrow on a short walk and see how I feel. Today I was so nervous because of the fog that I felt myself go low over his ears anyways.

 

[stangs]

See how you feel. But you can always walk him there in hand, and then do groundwork.

 

[mariew]

Or bareback

 

[Squeak]

If you’d done an arena hire previously I’d say go for it but as it’s your first time I’d leave it.

If you have problems at the arena hire you’d have no idea if it was due to the saddle or the new arena. It would also be setting you and your horse up for failure not success at a new experience/ milestone so for the sake of two weeks I’d leave the arena hire.

Alternatively you could ask your saddler if they could come earlier.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Sounds as though you need lessons to develop a secure seat.

 

[Red-1]

No, I can’t. And I felt perfectly happy in the saddle (and it had to be narrowed for a reason!) I’ll ride again tomorrow on a short walk and see how we feel I guess

It sounds like you already made your mind up.

Not sure why delaying is such a no no. Is the arena closing soon?

In the past, I have led to an arena hire and done long reining, when saddle fit was an issue. I had someone walk along on the outside as it was a baby, and had a bridle/ high viz.

The long reining was fab, as the horse learned that we go to new, exciting places and still work in a happy fashion.

I imagine you may not feel confident to long rein (we were already established at it at home) but you could do whatever you are happy with, such as lungeing, or if that is not established as a work exercise (as opposed to running circles) then in hand work with poles.

If you only just altered the saddle, and the horse was a little uncomfortable before, it may be that the new width still doesn't make the saddle right, but it is putting pressure in a different place, so the horse feels temporary relief, until the new pressure makes him sore.

I wouldn't call the saddler again, it isn't fair to ask them to do a professional job via photos. They need to be there while you ride really to make any accurate judgement.

If you do ride there, I would do it with an abundance of caution.

 

[My_breadbagel]

See how you feel. But you can always walk him there in hand, and then do groundwork.

Unfortunately I can’t. Not only is it a massive waste of money as we do plenty at home, but it’s down a busy main road!

 

[My_breadbagel]

It sounds like you already made your mind up.

Not sure why delaying is such a no no. Is the arena closing soon?

In the past, I have led to an arena hire and done long reining, when saddle fit was an issue. I had someone walk along on the outside as it was a baby, and had a bridle/ high viz.

The long reining was fab, as the horse learned that we go to new, exciting places and still work in a happy fashion.

I imagine you may not feel confident to long rein (we were already established at it at home) but you could do whatever you are happy with, such as lungeing, or if that is not established as a work exercise (as opposed to running circles) then in hand work with poles.

If you only just altered the saddle, and the horse was a little uncomfortable before, it may be that the new width still doesn't make the saddle right, but it is putting pressure in a different place, so the horse feels temporary relief, until the new pressure makes him sore.

I wouldn't call the saddler again, it isn't fair to ask them to do a professional job via photos. They need to be there while you ride really to make any accurate judgement.

If you do ride there, I would do it with an abundance of caution.

The point of renting the arena now is that I haven’t been able to do more than a 10minute hack for 3 weeks due to rain!
And to be honest, my horse doesn’t exactly keep quiet about these things, so by the time I walk there I should know if it’s safe to go ahead

 

[TPO]

I would cancel arena hire and not ride in the saddle until the fitter has been. If someone was educated and confident about fitting their own saddle they wouldn't be asking strangers on a forum who hadn't seen horse or saddle.

The description of tipping forward, (too?) long stirrups and hitting the cantle is a little concerning.

The money lost on an arena hire will be a drop in the ocean compared to physio for horse if ridden in an ill fitting saddle.

I'd wait for the saddle to be properly fitted, putting in a narrower headplate only changes the width at the pommel. There is a lot more to a correctly fitting saddle than how it fits at the withers. If it has been too wide, hence swapping to narrower headplate, that will be along the panels and how the tree fits too.

The only reasons put forward to go to the arena are because you want to ride more/longer and you don't want to lose the money. Both understandable reasons but neither put the horse first.

To me it's not worth the risk of hurting or making the horse uncomfortable, creating negative associations or risking something going wrong. I wouldn't hack to a place and use that time to find out if my horse hurts, I'd wait for the expert to do their job first.

Although personally I'd still go to the arena in hand and do ground work.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

No, I can’t. And I felt perfectly happy in the saddle (and it had to be narrowed for a reason!) I’ll ride again tomorrow on a short walk and see how we feel I guess

Well go then seems like you have decided you going anyway, but bearing in mind you were nervous in the fog and if you having to hack down a busy road to get there and riding a horse that potentially is in a saddle that is not comfortable seems like a recipe for disaster.

 

[alibali]

In answer to your question - not to ride. Many experienced posters above have given you excellent reasons not to and alternatives I won't waste my breath repeating them!

 

[ycbm]

If you have problems at the arena hire you’d have no idea if it was due to the saddle or the new arena.

Such a great point!

Don't go.

 

[Widgeon]

Although personally I'd still go to the arena in hand and do ground work.

Yes, you say it would be a waste as you do lots of groundwork at home, but it would still be groundwork in a new environment, and an outing for your horse? If it's only a short walk can you cover yourselves in high viz and lead there? Maybe even with another person to help on the road? That way you both get an outing and don't have to worry about the saddle at all. On the plus side, at least you have a horse with established groundwork, so you have something interesting to keep you both busy until the saddle fitter comes out. Your saddle fitter sounds very helpful and responsive....you're lucky in that respect too!

 

[Nudibranch]

Fwiw, slightly off topic but if you don't like riding in the rain invest in a decent waterproof riding coat that covers your knees and an exercise sheet for your horse. Makes a massive difference and avoids days of wasted time and frustration.

 

[Polos Mum]

I would set yourself and your horse up for success and wait - if your worrying about saddle fit you won't ride your best and the arena hire will be a waste as it won't go well.

For me personally I would always lead down a busy main road rather than ride, especially if the horse was a bit fresh. I have a very fast road to get to a nice bridleway and I find drivers slow down much more if I'm leading than if I'm riding.

If you can cancel and get a refund then I would do that and rebook for 3-4 weeks time (no time at all really) and if you can't get a refund I would lead to the arena and do ground work - free schooling, jumping something you can't do at home (assuming no school at home).

 

[J_sarahd]

You’ve got a lot of advice from some very knowledgeable and experienced people. I would take it on board and use your arena hire for something other than riding if you can’t cancel it. From experience, riding your horse is never worth potentially causing them more pain/damage.

 

[Starzaan]

I have had a lot of morphine, so please excuse me if this comes across as rude or blunt, it isn’t intended to.
I’m not sure why you would ask the question if you have clearly already made your mind up, and are not willing to listen to all the experienced people on this forum who are offering advice.
Personally I would NEVER ride my horses if I wasn’t sure of the saddle fit. It simply isn’t worth the risk of the potential damage and pain it would cause them. Horses are prey animals, by their very nature they are designed to mask pain. Some horses are more outspoken about things than others, but there will always be a degree of masking the pain or discomfort.
If it were me (and it has been me many times waiting for a saddler) I would either just ride bareback, or take the opportunity to work on longreining, groundwork, pole exercises etc. There is so much you can do without putting a potentially harmful saddle on your horse. Doing this in a new environment is all the better! Also, if you aren’t comfortable to lead your horse down the road, why on Earth are you happy to ride down it?!
If you are unwilling to listen to advice from experienced and very knowledgeable posters, then maybe this forum isn’t the place for you.

 

[ycbm]

If you can't transfer the booking then the money is spent whether you go or don't go.

So you can spend £25 doing ground work, you can spend £25 doing nothing, or you can spend £25 potentially setting your horse up with a failure that will affect him for life.

Your choice.
.

 

[Birker2020]

I'd not ride to be honest.

I wanted the very best for my new horse so I waited for 6 days after bringing my new horse home in order for the saddler to come out and find a saddle that fitted, eventually a friends saddle was determined to be the best fit and the saddler took a great deal of time to fit it best she could as a 'temporary measure' until said horse built up enough top line to buy a fitted saddle.

After a week of riding in which the horses behaviour deteriorated considerably and finally resulted in me very nearly getting thrown off hard and he fly bucked and spun violently. So I stopped riding as it had become evident that the horse was suffering from pain from the saddle - I'd not given a saddle any consideration as I thought he was just being naughty because he was new (after all saddle fitter had spent ages fitting saddle). He's the type that has been around the block a bit and is like a wise old owl at times so I thought it was freshness/naughtiness.

So since the end of October I've not ridden him at all, just concentrating on ground work and building top line/core strength. Sadly the brand new fitted saddle I had in mind will not be happening now due to the vets bills I've had with him but I'm hoping I can find a nice 2nd hand one for him.

I know by the way he reacted that the fall that could have ensued, would have seriously hurt me even though I had an air jacket on. Its just not worth riding in a saddle you know doesn't fit. I plan to have him hopefully for many years, so a few weeks of waiting won't hurt as he is such a lovely horse, and I am keen to get it right with him.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I would set yourself and your horse up for success and wait - if your worrying about saddle fit you won't ride your best and the arena hire will be a waste as it won't go well.

For me personally I would always lead down a busy main road rather than ride, especially if the horse was a bit fresh. I have a very fast road to get to a nice bridleway and I find drivers slow down much more if I'm leading than if I'm riding.

If you can cancel and get a refund then I would do that and rebook for 3-4 weeks time (no time at all really) and if you can't get a refund I would lead to the arena and do ground work - free schooling, jumping something you can't do at home (assuming no school at home).

This, 100%

Re: leading on roads, I've done it quite a bit and find traffic actually slows down far more. I think horsey people assume it's a youngster & non-horsey people maybe think I've fallen off and don't want to cause a further scene?! Either way, it works ?

 

[LegOn]

How long have you been riding in this saddle, when did the saddlery fit it?? And how long ago did you change the gullet?

I could be totally wrong but it sounds more like the saddle might fit him but doesnt fit you?! If the fitter was happy with the fit on the saddle on your horse but is now saying you dont look right in the saddle, does the saddle even suit you? Do you not have an instructor or someone who can give you a lesson in the saddle to see if you are actually sitting in it wrong? Could you get an instructor to meet you are the arena?

If its a relatively new saddle, do you need time to get used to it?

I am however, a bit confused why the arena hire is so important, we all have things we look to but sometimes it better to wait everything to be right. If you go and anything happens to either of you - you will be kicking yourself, literally.