| Archive for It's About The Horse The Free Forum for those Doing Parelli - and a whole lot More! "Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful." Xenophon (430-355 B.C.), |
| mollyk |
Western or Englis???????I need a new saddle for my 5yr old gypsy cob who i've owned for 3 months. He came with a Barefoot Cheyenne and i've spent the last few weeks struggling to get used to it but i dont feel secure or balanced at anything more than a slow trot So i've booked a saddling consultation with Lavinia Mitchell thats gonna cost me around £100 whether i have the saddle or not! But thats not till 3rd Oct. So on Monday i rode in a NP. Wow what a saddle . It fitted us both beautifully, Loxley moved really well and i felt soooo secure and balanced right from the start.
So now i dont know what to do. I was taught to ride classical style with that lovely straight shoulder hip heel line, but obviously you cant do that in a western saddle. I also believed that the classical position was the best for the horse and the most effective for the rider. I'm in a quandry  I really dont know what to do Silly question but will i still be able to ride english in a western? I was thinking of having lessons from a centered riding instructor. Heaven knows what she would say if i was rinding in a Np.
Is the western position bad for a horses back? I have no idea 
Ideas please Ta Ali |
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| PasoBaby_CarolU |
I don't know why you think you can't ride in a center seat in a western saddle. Unless the saddle is a trail model with the stirrups farther forward, the correct western equitation seat has the same line between ankle, hip, shoulder, and ear that you use in Center seat. If you are going to train with your leg aides, then your legs need to be under you, not up by the cinch somewhere.
I know how hard it is to fit wide-body mutton withered horses...and how easy it is for a saddle to slide around them. If the NP you tried fits both you and your horse, buy it! |
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| bit |
Ha, asking the wrong person. I've been going back and forth, liking both. I am going to leave my treeless saddle behind. Fits my horse, but tends to slide back on her and puts me in a chair position. I've decided on western, for now. Just suits the riding I'd like to do, but I still intend to play with some dressage. Carol's right, western is the same as english as far as your position. If you found a saddle that feels good to you and your horse? Drrrr. Might be nice to make sure the saddle is fitting well. See if you need to tweak it a little, but other than that, get that saddle! | ||||||
| becdubie |
Maybe off topic.....but what's wrong with being in a chair position?
I've heard people say that you can't get your leg back to communicate to the HQ....but I've never had any trouble with that in either my Aussie or my BF treeless.....or bareback. Bareback you are sort of in a chair position. At least I am. |
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| cokey |
Being in a chair position you can't distribute your weight anywhere other than right under your butt! Although the design of a western saddle distributes weight better than an english saddle, so you "get away" with it slightly more.
However I've yet to see anyone in anything other than a chair seat in an NP, tbh.. The saddle isn't built up enough to have enough of a twist to enable you to sit any other way. So - depends what you want! If you want stability - go for the NP. If you want classical ear-hip-heel alignment, go for English. There are treelesses that put you in ear-hip-heel alignment (Fhoenix for example). Julie will no doubt chip in here in a minute, but I've had problems with saddles that Lavinia has fitted to cobby-mutton-withered horses. They've ridden up the neck of the horse, and she's had to refund 2 of my students. So that's not a panacea either! One of the students ended up with a Fhoenix. The other sold the horse so never had to solve the problem.. One possible cheap solution is to buy a seat saver for your barefoot.. They're designed to give the twist that will enable you to sit better, and to kind of hold you more securely.. HTH! |
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| jackspark |
Seat saver? Could you show me one? | ||||||
| Chablis |
Ditto. |
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| cokey |
http://www.bettersaddles.co.uk/acatalog/heather_moffett_products.html They call it the hip saver. |
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| mollyk |
Oh Cokey! You've put the cat among the pigeons now I was hoping that as Lavinia does nice wide saddles that she'd be the best english to go for. Now i'm not so sure.
The stirrups on the NP are slightly farther forward so although its not the old fashioned hunting chair seat its not the classical line either. And thats whats bugging me at the moment. Classical conditioning Lol. Anyways thanks for all your replies Ali
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| cokey |
Don't get me wrong - she fits saddles to hundreds of horses that do well in them. However, she's fitted to 2 of my students who had barrel shaped horses, and both of them found it impossible to keep the saddle from riding up the neck - it's the nature of the "wider saddle" beast, unfortunately! I had the same with my fluidity, so it's not just Lavinia...
It's not so much where the stirrups are that dictate chair seat or not (although they are a factor), it's the amount of twist in the seat of the saddle. If your hips physically can't open as wide as the saddle seat, you'll end up in a chair seat wherever the stirrup bars are placed. It's a physical impossibility not to! Good luck in your saddle hunting! It's a minefield! |
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| jackspark |
THANKS! It looks like just what I need...... more twist for my oh so round girls. |
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| misstux |
I just looked at this and think I am going to order one for my Ansur. The Striderman is very broad across his back and I haven't been able to get comfortable in my saddle. This sounds like it will be exactly what I need. |