Saddle Fit Woes aka In Which I Need a New Saddle… D’Oh!

So I had the saddle fitter out to Copper the other day (a week and a half ago now? Gee, that went fast!) because of the way his saddle has been slipping around on me.

Basically the long and short of it is: the Wintec 500 All Purpose saddle fits him just fine. It does not fit me.

- The Random Hat sits on a fence -

I need to shorten my stirrups two holes from where they are at the moment so that my weight is keeping the saddle anchored in place as I rise to the trot/circle/go faster – as in canter –/etc. 

Ouch.  Yeah, I know I generally tend to ride long, but that is way short, and really my joints won’t like it. My ankles and knees tend to hurt if they are jammed up like that for a long time. Now from my reading I know I could potentially help this problem by purchasing some composite stirrups with a wider foot bed, but there’s also the problem of that pesky stirrup bar.

I know that’s the point of All Purpose saddles, to BE all purpose, but really, can’t I get one with the stirrup bars set back under the thigh, but with a shallower seat to get the best of both worlds??

Basically, if I want to keep pursuing dressage, I need a dressage saddle. I’m fighting with the positioning the AP shoves me into every time I ride. It’s messing with my leg position, which is messing with my seat and back. My saddle fitter told me I had a “duck butt”.  (-__-‘) Yay.

Now, to be fair, that’s partly my posture post-three babies and two c-sections. Yeah, that stuff really messes with your abs. My lower back is slightly sway because of that. So my butt is going to poke out more than is correct until I can get the abs strength back to correct my skeletal alignment.

So. There it is.

- Wanna to do moar of dis - 

Now, the conundrum remains – do I sell the AP to fund the dressage saddle? Or do I say goodbye to my ‘new camera fund’ and buy a second saddle?

A break down of my rides usually consists of 2/3 training in the arena, and 1/3 trail riding. Yes, I would totally use a dressage saddle on the trails because why not?

But the thing is, I like jumping. Even though I haven’t jumped in years because I’ve been pregnant/post-pregnancy, had a young, green horse – Joey for a year and a half instead of Copper, etc, I still want to be able to jump.

I can’t if I don’t keep the AP. Which also could probably use longer billets on it to help anchor the saddle in place. $120 odd dollars plus whatever I need for the new girth as well as a new dressage saddle. Fabulous.

So is anyone looking to sell a Wintec 500 dressage saddle with CAIR panels, an adjustable gullet system that is less than four years old?

Because I’m looking to buy.

See ya,

bonita