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.
Saddles, in general, get in the way of this position. The stirrup bar, the piece of metal to which the stirrup leather is attached, is invariably much too far towards the front of the saddle.
The lowest part of the saddle seat is not central in relation to the saddle flap, (the large piece of leather that goes under the rider's leg), and so it pulls the rider out of position, and out of balance. This is why so many riders find it easier to sit correctly without stirrups than with.
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.
Find
out more details about Enlightened Equitation, seatbone
savers, saddles, equisimulators and training courses on www.enlightenedequitation.com
Comments
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Sofie1st Jun 01
Hello,
I had a thought when I looked at the picture of the girl sitting in the "correct position" and it was that she was bending her back.....
The only possible way for us not to disturb the horse must be that we can suspend the movement by being flexible in our hip and lower back, which only can be achieved if you have a straight back and tense your stomach muscles ~ "blow out in your skin" the girl in the picture would hurt her back bending it like that in trot!
Lesha28th Jun 01
You can see how this girl sits the trot while
being taught by Heather at
http://www.newrider.com/Kinder_Way/video.html
I don't see how you could be flexible in your
lower back if you were holding your back straight?
In the video, her shoulders stay at the same
level while all the movement is absorbed by
moving the back. I would have thought holding
your back too straight would make you LESS able to
absorb the movement. Heather's way works for me, anyway.
Ros5th Aug 01
Unfortunately we aren't all built the same, and I no longer believe that sitting tall and in balance necessitates having a straight spine. I have a naturally hollow back, and I struggled for years to keep it straight while riding: all it did was make me stiff and uncomfortable and unable to absorb the movement correctly. From what I've been taught and have read over the years, the main reason for advocating a STRAIGHT spine is to allow the rider's weight to drop down through and enhance the "driving" seat, which doesn't figure in Enlightened Equitation because it discourages the horse from rounding his back correctly.
Polly25th Aug 01
Well, I think I've finally realized why I was losing my mind trying to find the perfect stirrup length...after reading this page, I am convinced that my body type (very tall, very long thighbones) is calling for a stirrup that is placed further back, because I constantly find my knees to be too far ahead of my toes, and I'm just not finding it comfortable. I am athletic and fit, and am fed up with the unnaturalness I feel with the typical saddle, now I finallly understand why!
jen26th Aug 01
Well, finally an article I can relate to. I am in search now of the perfect saddle. I am so tired of feeling uncomfortable in the saddle! It's fine for walking, but trotting or loping, I am all over the place! I feel like my feet are getting behind me. I am thinking of having a local saddle repairman re-do my stirrup leathers. Instead of hanging straight down, I'm asking if he can put the stirrup leathers in a V-shape. What do you think?
nix3rd Jan 02
I totally agree with Polly and am of a similar build. I'm very lucky to have a trainer who teaches the Heather Moffett way and we're currently trying to find the holy grail! A well fitting saddle with setback stirrup bars and a female friendly seat for my TB who although very high withered is a wide fitting. I've just tried my fourth saddle in as many months, so please please if you've found reasonably priced saddles fitting the above description available in the UK please share it with us. (The perfect saddle has been found but it costs £1300 and I can't even afford half that.)
shel20th Jan 02
I was unaware there were so many people with the same problem with their build and riding. I always thought I was just not greatly suited to riding and had to suffer it and do the best I could. Thank god for the inavative people in this world, especially the world of horses.
Sue Carnell18th Feb 02
Heather has a new range of saddles coming out shortly. She's at the BETA trade fair with them at the moment. (February 2002). They will be priced at around 500 pounds and are a mix of synthetic, serge and leather. There will also be an all leather version for around 800 pounds. This means that Heather's design of saddles will be available in, all synthetic from Thorowgood, as the cheapest of them, the synthetic/leather combination, then all leather off the peg and the full luxury semi-custom built to measure version, made for you at around 1300-1400 pounds. If anyone would like to ask Heather about any of these saddles, if you email her heather@eclipse.co.uk, I'm sure she'll get back to you as soon as she is able. Hope this helps.
bekih bowsher7th May 02
I started riding a lot later then the other people in my class. When I read these pages I was amazed how quickly I advanced. My friend who takes me said she seriously doubted I would be able to get to a pretty advanced kind of lesson after only six months! This was all thanks to these pages.
Zoran31st Oct 02
This saddle design is applicable only for dressage. To ride on it out of manage or on a young (unpredictable) horse is very dangerous. With that saddle you can get easily in front of the movement of the horse, what means you are totally unstable.
Regards,
Zoran
heather26th Dec 02
HI Zoran,
Here I am afraid that I have to disagree- this is absolute nonsense!! We use this saddle out hacking here up and down our very steep Devon hills, and also work every young horse in them.
In the ten years that I have been doing residential courses here, with students from all over the world, and at all levels and stages of riding, in that whole time, we have had only four people fall off.
I was asked to do a talk on 'Riding Related Accidents' for directors and underwriters of a large national insurance company, at their HQ last year. They have insured me for years, and were astonished by the fact that my accident book contained only four falls. They were intrigued to know how I managed to avoid the usual number of falls to be seen in riding schools. Having shown them the mechanics of balance, and my saddle, they were convinced by my argument.
My previous working student was eventing at intermediate level at the time, and used my jumping saddle for the SJ, and my niece who is a member of one of the leading open team chasing teams, rides on one of my Easisit GP, and has evented to 3 day event level, loves my GP saddle for show jumping, and uses my eventing saddle for cross country and team chasing. This is the only saddle on which we put the bars further forward, and that is purely for negotiating drop fences.
S
