Saddles are the first, and most major cause of the rider finding it difficult to sit in the correct position. Unfortunately, saddle are generally designed and made by saddlers who rarely, if ever go near a horse. They are mostly very good craftsmen, but not good designers. To design a saddle that assists, rather than hinders the rider, you need a good knowledge of the correct rider position on the horse, that where you could run a line down through the ear, shoulder, hip and heel. It is similar to a standing position, but with the knees slightly bent, so that if the horse were whisked away from underneath you, you would land standing on your feet.

If your feet are in front of your knees when sitting in the saddle, if the horse were whisked away, you would land on your backside, if your upper body is tipped forward, often bringing your lower leg too far back, you would land on your nose. The Classical position on a horse was not developed because it undoubtedly looks much more elegant, but because it is the only position of balance which enables the rider to move as one unit with the horse. It is far less tiring for both horse and rider, and enables the rider to stay aboard much more effectively.

Quite apart from the stirrup bar problems, most saddles are instruments of torture! The seat is usually made from a closed cell foam which is springy, if you drop a hammer on it, it bounces off. A drum tight piece of leather goes on top of that, with a couple of seams strategically placed to bruise your seat bones! You are then expected to be able to sit to a bouncy trot, with the saddle reverberating away under you, pinging you up like a pea on a drum! My theory is that if the rider is wriggling around in discomfort, think how uncomfortable the poor horse is going to be too, with all that movement on his back.

There seems to be a notion in the horse world that 'no pain, no gain'. Of course you will be a bit stiff after your first few lessons. You will be sitting astride the back of a horse, stretching your hip joints sideways, and using muscles in a way that you would not do for any other sport or activity. Discomfort is fairly inevitable, but you should not be in real pain.

I designed saddles for use in my school here that riders cannot believe when they sit on them. They plop you straight into the ear/ shoulder/hip/heel line, and instead of a hard seat, you sink into an inch of special foam which was developed by NASA for use in American military pilot's seats to withstand the G forces of seat ejection. It has a doughy consistency, so that it moulds to you when you sit on it, and doesn't spring back, taking a few seconds to recover it's shape. The stirrup bars are three inches further back so that you do not have to fight the backward swing of the stirrup leather, which when attached too far forward, pulls your thigh forward with it, making it very difficult to keep the toe under the knee.

If you have to ride on less than ideal saddle, the seatbone saver which is covered next can help your position.