Saddle slipping to the left

[Mary Poppins]

There is always something to spend money on with horses. I had Ben's saddle checked by my brilliant master saddler before he started ridden work and she changed his gullet up another width size to reflect the amount of weight he has put on.

Now when I ride him it is slipping to the left. I think that this is due to uneven muscle tone he has because he is weaker on his right hind and therefore lacks muscle on his left side. We are hoping that if he gets better he will start to use both hind legs more evenly and therefore the muscle on each side of his body should even out. But in the meantime I am thinking I should get the saddler to flock the left side of the saddle to ensure that I am sitting evenly? Or I wonder if I there is some kind of pad I could put under the saddle on his left side? It isn't a huge movement, but enough to look in the mirror and see that I am wonky. The girl who has been hacking him for me has noticed the same thing so it isn't just me.

Has anyone had this before and what did you do?

 

[mystiquemalaika]

Personally if it was me I'd look at asking your saddler to come out and fit it with a pad that can take shims as that is easier and cheaper to change as he is changing shape than flocking. He may just need a shim on the left side for example till he levels up but it may require a thicker shim to start then a thinner one etc. We use a nuumed shimmy numnah on the big hunter at work he is weaker on the left side and has less muscle tone. He has a 3mm shim in the front left pocket to fill that gap. He actually started with 6mm.

 

[Mary Poppins]

Personally if it was me I'd look at asking your saddler to come out and fit it with a pad that can take shims as that is easier and cheaper to change as he is changing shape than flocking. He may just need a shim on the left side for example till he levels up but it may require a thicker shim to start then a thinner one etc. We use a nuumed shimmy numnah on the big hunter at work he is weaker on the left side and has less muscle tone. He has a 3mm shim in the front left pocket to fill that gap. He actually started with 6mm.

Thank you. I just had to look up what a shim was. But something like that would do the job I think. Ben has a complete lack of muscle tone everywhere which is going to take a long time to come back. I like the idea of using shims rather than reflocking the saddle every month of so.

 

[No_Angel]

Personally if it was me I'd look at asking your saddler to come out and fit it with a pad that can take shims as that is easier and cheaper to change as he is changing shape than flocking. He may just need a shim on the left side for example till he levels up but it may require a thicker shim to start then a thinner one etc. We use a nuumed shimmy numnah on the big hunter at work he is weaker on the left side and has less muscle tone. He has a 3mm shim in the front left pocket to fill that gap. He actually started with 6mm.

I agree Shimming would probably work out cheaper and easier.

 

[domane]

Do NOT get the saddle adjusted to fit him! The saddle should always remain symmetrical. Yes, you can either buy a pad with shims or a cheaper version is to buy a couple of those cheap leg wraps that go under bandages, cut out a shim shape (or two) and then stitch into position on your numnah. As Ben muscles up again you peel off the layers like an onion.

 

[Mary Poppins]

Do NOT get the saddle adjusted to fit him! The saddle should always remain symmetrical. Yes, you can either buy a pad with shims or a cheaper version is to buy a couple of those cheap leg wraps that go under bandages, cut out a shim shape (or two) and then stitch into position on your numnah. As Ben muscles up again you peel off the layers like an onion.

That sounds an interesting idea, but my sewing skills are really not very good!

I think that I will spend some time taking measurements and photos of his back so I can see how it has changes over time. When he was at this worst, his back was very, very sore as he compensated for his stifle injury. I want to spot this early if it happens again so need to really get to know what his back feels like when it is 'good'.

I think I am slightly obsessive about his saddle fit as well. I just want to make sure everything is as comfortable as it can be for him.

 

[Huggy]

There is always something to spend money on with horses. I had Ben's saddle checked by my brilliant master saddler before he started ridden work and she changed his gullet up another width size to reflect the amount of weight he has put on.

Now when I ride him it is slipping to the left. I think that this is due to uneven muscle tone he has because he is weaker on his right hind and therefore lacks muscle on his left side. We are hoping that if he gets better he will start to use both hind legs more evenly and therefore the muscle on each side of his body should even out. But in the meantime I am thinking I should get the saddler to flock the left side of the saddle to ensure that I am sitting evenly? Or I wonder if I there is some kind of pad I could put under the saddle on his left side? It isn't a huge movement, but enough to look in the mirror and see that I am wonky. The girl who has been hacking him for me has noticed the same thing so it isn't just me.

Has anyone had this before and what did you do?

Aha! Same here but to the right! I was puzzling about it, then when I got saddle sorted, same thing. The friend I ride with pointed out it was just the back - the front was dead centre. We've come to the conclusion that Hogan, having been unworked for 2years, needed the muscles "evened out" so to speak. In Hogans case, it doesn't seem to make him uncomfortable, so I'm going to just try and work him in such a way to build up the left hind. Is there any rubbing or displaced hair under the saddle? Hogans doesn't leave a hair out of place, front or back.

 

[Jessey]

Hind limb lameness can cause saddle slippage (sue Dyson at AHT has done studies on it), might be worth a chat with your vet before making changes

 

[OwnedbyChanter]

Another vote for pads. If you adjust the saddle to fit now there will be no room in it for the muscles to grow under it.

Had a long chat with my saddlers the other day and she is moving away from a saddle that fits perfectly to the back on horses that need to build top line and muscle over there back.

We refitted ginger with a slighty wider gullet and us a pad. The difference is amazing he has so much more movement and he is filling out around his withers which I have never managed to achieve before