TMI - but where else can I ask

[ChIcKeNeLlEn]

I went on a hack yesterday and I bled (def not period) and this is the second time this has happened.

I'm back in the saddle after 10years or so, has this happened to anyone else?

Also, for comfort purposes, can anyone recommend like a gel saddle pad? Or anything to help comfort wise? The saddle is so hard I ride in

You need to see the GP, sounds like you might have an erosion on your cervix.

The last gel pad I had was a Heather Moffat Seat Saver. I don’t know if they’re still available as I bought mine years ago. I can recommend it though - it’s suede covered so gives good grip too.

was the blood coming from inside or could it have been caused by friction due to your hard saddle? If the latter, are you tilting too far forward onto your pubic bone?

@DustyLee123 I do have that. I also had a LLETZ done. My cervix must be a mess!

Probably best to call the gp and run it by them.

@Petrine thanks will have a Google!

I have an acavallo gel seat saver and it's great, does really make a difference on long hacks. Do agree with others though that although some chafing/soreness is normal, to the point of actually bleeding is not so do get yourself checked out!

It sounds a bit as though the saddle doesn't fit you very well (in an ideal world the saddle should be fitted to both horse and rider although obviously as a riding school or someone else's horse this isn't possible) - if it's too small for you you'll find it hard to sit properly. When I was taking lessons last I found with certain horses I was much achier in the hips/legs than with others and I think a lot of this was to do with saddle fit as well as the build of the horse. I also do have to be conscious of my posture particularly when tiring as I tend to slump forward, if you engage your core and tilt your pelvis upwards so you are balancing your weight over your seat bones you should find the rubbing from the pommel much relieved as well as being in better balance with the horse!

I have used a heather moffett seat saver and found it very helpful.

A friend has an acavello seat saver that she loves. You need to be careful that the gel doesn't mark your saddle and consider whether the extra grip from the gel out is something that will help you or not

I can't help with the bleeding problem but like previous posters I highly rate heathers seat one savers... Her saddles are excellent too. There's a sale page on FB, but mine will be buried with me.

Oooh definately need one of them then so will look at the saddle savers. Agreed it's probably a shit saddle but unfortunately can't do much about that.

I went on a dog walk earlier and it kind of felt like my bladder was falling down. Somethings not quite right so going to call the GP tomorrow. Yay, joys of being a woman. If this gets in the way of me riding I'll be livid. It's taken me so long to finally do it and now this