Saddle slipped off when riding!

[underthehawthorntree]

My saddle slipped off to the side when I was trotting and predictably I fell off. Other than the girth not being tight enough is there another reason why this could have happened? It's never happened before and I thought the girth was on the holes it normally is.

I'm also not sure if the slipping thing/me falling spooked her because when I was trying to sort her saddle she kept on walking off or round in a circle even though someone was holding her.

Because she seemed a bit spooked I then walked her back to the yard and she spooked at a tractor!! Her owners (she's a loan pony) said she's normally fine with tractors.

All in all a stressful morning of riding!!

@Pleasedontdothat thank you , that’s exactly what I meant .

Im guessing she might have lost weight and the girth might need to be tighter in future.

Id tack up, pony would puff up so I’d potter around for a few mins doing stuff, when he’s forgotten about puffing out I’d see if I could get it up another hole. And once mounted check it again.

I'm constantly telling dc not to go by the holes the girth is usually on - it will vary from one day to the next and the elastic will stretch over time if it's an elasticated girth - be careful not to over tighten though. Unbalanced riding cab also cause saddles to slip so combined with a loose girth makes it even more likely - we have ponies at our yard whos saddles only slip with certain riders. It's difficult wit round flat backed ponies though, an anti slip pad is useful. She's highly likely to have lost weight though if her work load has increased. I doubt you're putting the saddle on to far back, there should be full shoulder clearance. Ime a lot of people put them too far forward

I've been spending a lot more time tacking up in the last couple of weeks and I'm making sure to take my time with the girth to make sure she's not puffing out and then checking again after we have warmed up. I do also think I could be a bit unbalanced with my riding and/or mounting which may have contributed.

I've not had the courage to go back out for a hack on my own since it happened though! It was a very undignified moment and she was so spooky afterwards! I'm building my confidence back up with lots of schooling

Can you get someone else to hold your offside stirrup when you’re mounting?

Do you mount from the ground or from a block?