Saddle twist is a personal taste thing. Many people, myself included, prefer a saddle
with a relatively narrow twist. I find it much easier to get my leg on in a saddle with a
narrow twist. My leg hangs better and I don’t have to work at keeping my legs long and
elastic.
This past winter I have put my horses and myself through “dressage boot camp”. I have
been struggling with the realization that although I have been riding for over 35 years
and have trained with many top trainers, I keep coming up against a lack of some basic
dressage fundamentals that I just somehow missed out on.
I have also come to the realization that I am a pretty good faker. I am truly skilled at
smoothing things over and making it appear that my horse and I are pretty correct
without really having a consistent connection or really understanding how to use my
seat as an aid. Period.
I have always ridden hot TBs who have a lot of natural go. My job as a rider has always
been to calm things down, to keep the lid on. I have never had a horse who I need to
inspire. This all changed when I got my Holsteiner, Chatzi last fall. He is not a dull
horse, he is bright and cheery and has a HUGE canter and jump. He is playful and
enthusiastic, but he is not at all anxious and doesn’t have the tendency to rush, ever.
This was new for me. I have always had horses that I needed to anchor, to slow down.
With Chatzi, this plan simply did not work. In the ring, I had trouble getting a forward
walk!
So, I enlisted us in dressage boot camp. Chatzi and I went to a dressage barn for the
winter and I put myself in the capable hands of an excellent trainer. I explained to her
what my issues were and put myself at her mercy.
The first thing she did was have me ride in her saddle. She is a big fan of a certain
brand of saddle that happens to have a VERY wide twist. She feels that these saddles
allow the horse more freedom through their trapezius muscles and the ability to better
build topline and move through their back. Since I was at her mercy, I figured I should
just jump in and do as she wished!
As you can imagine, my first few rides in this saddle were horrible. I found myself
sweaty and pumping and felt like I couldn’t get around my horse, let alone get my leg
on!
I seriously contemplated telling her I just couldn’t do it.
Then a funny thing happened! I started to realize that what I REALLY hated about the
saddle is that it wouldn’t let me revert to my old crutch of gripping with my thighs and
holding myself in the saddle or even slightly above the saddle with my legs. I couldn’t
get my thighs on if I wanted to in this saddle, let alone grip with them!
This saddle would not let me fake my way through real connection. I either had to have
it or I didnt have ANYTHING!
This saddle has been an excellent tool in helping me to drastically improve my riding. I
think that it is important as a rider and a trainer to young horses to step outside the
comfort of my own equipment, my own bag of tricks.
I have continued to ride in this saddle all winter and now into the spring. As I get used to
it, my seat and connection with Chatzi has continued to improve. I am beginning to
understand how to “drive” him.
I think I would have figured some of this out in the comfort of my own saddle but I don’t
think I would have been forced to forsake my bad habits without the wide saddle!
As much credit as I give this saddle, I can’t wait for the day when I put my own saddle
back on again and see what I can do!!!