Dear Jessica, this is kind of a weird problem but I don't know who else to turn to and your answers are always so kind. I am a relatively new rider of 46. My lifelong dream has been to own a horse, but I am working toward that goal in the right way: taking lessons and leasing a horse for a year before I buy a horse. I have had one year of lessons and thought that I was doing very well. But now I am leasing a horse and things are going badly, in a strange way. The horse (16 year old QH gelding) is very sweet and obedient.
I have no problem handling him or tacking him up or riding him. At least, I should say that I have no problem mounting and dismounting and giving him signals when I am riding. The problem is something else. It's the area of my body that sits on the saddle! I used to hear other riders talk about "crotch pain" or "sore seatbones" when I first started my lessons, and I thought that I was really lucky not to experience any of that. But now that I am leasing Dakota, I feel those sore seatbones at every ride. I read through your archives and thought that the saddle might be too small for me, but I checked and it fits fine (I am 5'3" and short-legged and the saddle (English) is a 17 1/2".
What can I do? Is there anything I can do? I have heard about "seat savers" and tried a fleece one that helped a little bit, but I don't know if this is something I should do. Dakota's owner says that the saddle doesn't hurt her (it's her saddle and it fits the horse) and she doesn't see why it should hurt me. She has watched me ride and so has my instructor and nobody can figure it out. All I know is that it's making me reluctant to ride, and that is horrible because this is what I've wanted all my life! Help me please.
Carly
Hi Carly! Welcome to the wonderful world of horses and riding. ;-)
It sounds to me as though you've been very sensible so far. Don't hesitate to use a seat-saver if it helps. There are seat-savers made from fleece, like the one you tried. There are also seat-savers made from genuine sheepskin, and from foam, and even from the sort of gel that's used in bicycle-seat pads. There's no point in making yourself miserable, and trying to "tough it out" won't help your riding, either. When something hurts, the normal human reaction is to wriggle and twist and compensate, so if you are suffering from "sore seatbones", your riding position will suffer too, as will your effectiveness.
One thing that you haven't checked is the position of your seatbones and how their placement relates to the placement of the saddle seams. There's probably nothing wrong with you OR the saddle, but it's quite possible that the two of you aren't compatible. The twist or "waist" of the saddle is the narrowest part at the top, where you can see a sort of "hourglass" shape (the top of the saddle widens at the pommel and the seat). Seatbones are variable, and it YOUR seatbones are aligned so that they are just on top of those seams as you ride, you are guaranteed to be miserably uncomfortable.
If this is the case, a foam or gel seat-saver will probably do the trick.
Special padded riding underwear might help too.
When you start looking for your OWN saddle, you'll have one more piece of information, and one more factor to keep in mind as you shop. ;-)
Jessica
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