Am I Doing Something Wrong?

[alfiedoodle]

Hiya - newbie to the forum here *waves*

My horse Alfie (who is a cobby chap, 15.2 and is just over 3 years old and he was started in February) and myself are having a few problems.  I'm pretty sure all the problems are my own rather than Alf as I've never met such a kind and honest horse in my life.  He's so quick off the leg he's a pocket rocket and very willing.

I've been riding for over 10 years and yet after getting on Alfie I feel like some kind of novice first time rider.  In rising trot I feel like I am going up and down like a piston at 100mph and I end up tipping forwards and then becoming unbalanced.  He's not even trotting very fast but I feel really unblanced and quite nervous (which I've never been before).  Also, when I try and slow back into walk, closing my seat and gently asking with my fingers I seem to become a bouncy sack of potatoes and then I get the 'no brakes' feeling.  I know it's me having these problems because I just feel so odd which I have never done before.

It is this reason that I have not even tried a canter in the field as I feel unstable and unable to bring him into a slower pace without becoming this bouncing sack of spuds.  I also find I seem to end up with my feet half in the stirrups rather than just on the ball of my feet.

I am using a GP Wide Wintec saddle - didn't want to spend a fortune as he may change shape and it's fairly comfortable but I do feel like I am fighting to stay in a correct seat.

Has anyone got any advice or at the very least advice on bringing youngsters to a slower pace without bouncing around on their young back which is obviously what they don't need.  He really has beared with me and my unstable seat because he's just a nice guy but I feel something is really wrong here.

Thanks much.

P.S. I was thinking of trying the EE stirrups to help with my general balance - would this help?

[Heather]

Hi Alfie and welcome to the forum!

Oh dear, I do hate sounding like a sales person here, but I can honestly guarantee that almost all of your problems are the stirrup bars being too far forward on the saddle, putting you behind the movement. I see this time and time again, and could strangle saddlers for carrying on making saddles in the chair seat balance, god love' em many of them are very good friends of mine in Walsall!!- but they still dont believe me, even thoough I can prove it time and again! Go to the thread on the general forum- think I called it pics of EETT module, and look at the photo of our complete beginner guinea-pig ( well conscript actually- being the 'other half' of one of the trainees!) Mark, and look at his position and balance!

If the bars are further back where I put them on all of my saddles, the leather hangs straight down under your leg, so you are not fighting the swing of the stirrup leather- this makes such a difference that you canot believe it until you ride on a saddle with the stirrup bars in the correct place!

Heather

[alfiedoodle]

Thanks Heather

So could you suggest a saddle that would suit Alfies slightly wide (he's not heavily cobby at all) and young shape (bearing in mind I'll be hoping to use the saddle for schooling, hacking and a bit of jumping in the future - nothing major)?  I'm just a bit paranoid that anything I buy now will be wasted as he changes shape.  That said though he looks very mature for his age so I'm all *unsure*  I've been gawping at EE saddles all this week and I'm wondering if they are good for growing youngsters.

The seatbone saver has helped me stay put in hairy moments and I was going to try the stirrups because they look great and might help with the fact he is very young and jumps sideways away from scary 'monsters in the hedge' leaving me sometimes with only one stirrup and then of course, you have to quickly find the bloomin' thing again!  He is not horrid or deliberately being ridiculous and I feel fine with his 'moments' but it'd be nice not to have to search for that stirrup during very sideways boings that occur when he spots something odd.

I've really tried closing my seat rather than hauling his head in (and consequently spoiling his mouth) but he doesn't respond and slow down - unless of course I'm doing it wrong.  I keep reading and re reading the EE book and I'm 99% sure I'm doing it right and people from the ground seem to be unsure why he is reluctant to slow down.  Unless of course, horror of horrors he is in some kind of discomfort.  Someone suggested a pelham but isn't this a bit much for his mouth?

Questions questions eh?
 

[GeneralPouchka]

hiya alfie

My youngster General has just gone into a SBS and its the best thing I could ever have done.  Hes a half-cob so a wide fit and its like a glove on him - so soft and superb and even when I am practicing (see my thread on an unstable seat) he doesnt seem to mind in the least.

If I hadnt just got my SBS then Heather's new Fheonix would have been a must.

If you can afford it get one now before you have back problems like I did with Gen (and that was with a made to measure saddle!)  And as they are treeless you wont EVER have to change your saddle no matter what your horse does in the meantime.  

Sylina

[Jessy]

Just wondering Heather, I seem to be having a lot of the problems that the topic starter is having on balance issues.  Are there any saddles on the market that have the stirrup bars in the correct place other than your own saddles? I remember seeing a Barnsbey dressage saddle that seemed to have the stirrup bars set pretty far behind but I must say I'm not used to looking at saddles in a different way and although I understand what you advocate in saddling I have yet to feel it myself in one of your saddles. Hope it'll be a light bulb moment!  

[Jolene]

Can I jump in here too?  I'm having terrible problems riding, especially at the trot.  I constantly lean forward and my entire lesson is composed of the instructor yelling, "Lean back!  Relax!" over and over again...  I'll get a couple good strides of sitting trot and then I lose it, start bouncing, and subsequently lose the horse's back and the instructor won't allow me to go back to a walk, makes me keep sitting.  Would the Fhoenix make a very big difference or is there something I'm doing that I'm just not aware of?  It's making me seriously consider whether I really want to ride *at all* anymore, there's really no enjoyment in it.

[GeneralPouchka]

Hiya

Check out the other thread I posted on unstable seat.

I was IN TEARS on Sunday - worried that I just could NOT sit on my horse and I used to ride to Medium level dressage - albeit a long time ago.  I blamed it on being fat, unfit and totally useless.  I just kept leaning so far forward I could have fallen flat on my face!

Since then Ive re-read Heathers book and tried the proper position.  Ive also had a lesson with Mike (Heathers ex working pupil who rides/competes my horse) and ive suddenly realised what ive been doing wrong for so long.

I just needed to learn to sit in the RIGHT position, not a case of just 'sitting back'.  Learning to relax, use my hips, try not to pull my leg back (dont need to in my SBS) and not to do so much.  My advice is dont try too hard cos the more you do the more you get frustrated and the whole thing escalates.  If your instructor is shouting 'sit back' ask them EXACTLY how you should be sat.  Mike put me in the correct position in halt - then  walk.  No point in trotting till I get it right in walk first.  

When I get the time/money etc I will definately do an equisimulator course.

Dont despair.  :(


 

[nhbarker]

I've been gawping at EE saddles all this week and I'm wondering if they are good for growing youngsters

They are GREAT for youngsters    Our 5 and 6 yr old have always been ridden treeless - in the SBS and Heather's previous prototype treeless saddle, and the saddles are fantastic.  

It IS still possible to ride badly in them (as I can often demonstrate ) but they do put you in a better position, and they are very kind to the horses backs.

Nic  

[sam&anita]

hi all.
i own a 4,5 yr. old andalusian gelding. i started riding him when he was three years old en used an old treed saddle which fitted him perfectly. after 7 months he got limps on his back, the saddle didn't fit him anymore because of his growing. so i took my savings and got myself an sbs. i have it now for quite a while and i love it and so does sam. the saddle grows with him. he has muscled up a lot and is still growing, the saddle keeps fitting perfectly whatever he growes. the saddle is very comfortable. last wednesday i was riding another horse with a treed saddle....o did my bum hurt ouch....the saddle stays in good place even though he sometimes spooks, bucks and runs. we have already jumped twice...not high, because he is still so young, but the saddle didn't move a bit. i can just say we love it and it was a good investment. i would say to alfiedoodle if you have the money buy an sbs...it's great.

anita and sam

[KarenRO]

Hi Alfiedoodle,

Reading your post and the thread on unstable seat was an eye opener for me.  I constantly feel like my lower leg is swinging forward, especially at the trot (rising or sitting) and my my lower legs have life all their own!    And I feel like I'm behind the movement at the trot.  I did shorten my stirrups a hole and although that does make me feel a bit more stable, my knee is now at the edge of my saddle (Rembrandt adjustable tree dressage).  I am sure that the stirrup bars are set too forward but as I can't get access to Heather's SBS saddles (I'm in the US), I'm not sure what to do.

Heather, I second Jessy's question.  Are there other saddles out there that have the stirrup bar in the correct position?  I did have one of your Easi-Sit saddles (WH model) but unfortunately, the foam in the seat made the twist too wide and I actually had bruises on the inside upper thigh.  What about your treed saddles?

Thanks,
KarenRO

[cathyb]

Alfie

Have you thought about checking out the For Sale on this forum, and eBay ?

I have my Easisit in the For Sale section, so this is partly a plug   but also to comment that a lot of heather's saddles, where they have trees, are adjustable. (Inc the Easisit).

So although they may cost a bit more "upfront" than a wintec etc, you know you can get them adjusted if your horse changes shape.