Saddle slipping to right - best way to stop

[Unicorn34]

I'm very lucky to have been given a horse to ride by a local lady who no longer wants to ride. The horse hasn't been ridden regularly for quite a long time and we are taking things very slowly together.

The problem I have is that the saddle slips to the right all the time and I'm forever putting weight into the left stirrup to compensate. The owner knows and thinks there's nothing wrong, that I'm just not doing the girth up tightly enough. We are currently using an elasticated girth that I bought new about a month ago. The saddle girth straps are quite stretched through it being old but the saddle itself is in good condition.

My problem is that this isn't my horse and I don't pay anything for the privilege of riding whenever I want (1 or 2 times a week) so I don't want to moan about it, but am looking to find a way to stop the saddle moving.

I've tried a 1/2 pad between the saddle and full saddle pad but it still slipped.

I am thinking of either buying a non-elasticated girth so there's no "give", buying a non-slip pad or gel pad - but can't afford to spend tons of money on this.

One of my yard friends suggested getting the saddle reflocked, but again it's not my saddle!

Does anyone have any tried and tested ideas please?

I had this with a shared horse and asked the owner it would be ok to get saddler out if I paid (was £40, to give you an idea of cost). He rebalanced the saddle and recommended a non-elasticated girth. Unfortunately in my case he also pointed out that the horse had an uneven pelvis (which has since caused all sorts of problems). If the saddle is slipping that much it may well be the horse rather than the saddle.

Quite likely to be the horse, although girths with elastic only on one side are notorious for slipping.
Mine has had issues with her back legs, particularly back left, which caused front end problems and her saddle slipped to the right.
She's had treatment now and her saddle is straight. Saddle fitter twice a year.
We used a non elasticated string girth for a while but gone back to double elasticated recently with no problem.

Thanks for the comments so far. The girth I'm using is elasticated on both ends.

You need to get a saddle fitter out before the horse gets damaged .

I dont ride anymore but had a chuckle to myself because I have the same problem with my bra - the right hand strap keeps slipping despite rearranging! I have an unstable SI on the right so maybe your horse is wonky too 😊

Have you looked at both the saddle and the horse?

Balance the saddle pommel down on your feet, close one eye and line the centre back of the cantle up with the pommel - is it symmetrical? Are thd girth straps in the same place on both sides? Are the panels identical and straight?

Similarly stand on something and look at the horse from his tail - is everything straight and symmetrical?

Its likely one or the other is out. I would offer to pay for a saddler to check the fit. If its the horse a physio session to check it's nothing serious and to give you exercises to do to rehab the back.

There are some videos on YouTube which give a good basic idea of whether a saddle is in the region of fitting properly.

If it looks roughly ok, it would be worth asking for permission to have the saddle fitter out to reflock. If it is a hopeless fit, then agree with PP that the horse’s back could be damaged by further use.

A saddle fitter could also give you guidance on non-slip pads and non-elasticated girth types.

In the meantime you could do groundwork to build up strength and help identify any unevenness in the horse? Good luck :)

If this horse hasn't been ridden for a while, then the saddle really could do with checking.

It may be the saddle that is uneven; ie flocking, panels out, twisted tree;

It may be issues the horse has, such as pelvis;

It may be the rider that is unlevel

Or it may be a combination of any of the above.

You could try putting a Fybagee pad along the RHS panel, between the saddle and numnah, to see if this helps in the interim.

And as others have suggested, take a good look at the saddle off the horse and check for straightness and symmetry.

I agree with previous posters. Either the saddle needs checking, the horse needs checking, or both do. For example, hind limb lameness can cause saddle slipping even with a well-fitting saddle. Bunging on a grip pad and tightening the girth is not going to solve the root cause, even if the saddle then does slip less. A badly fitting saddle (the horse may have changed shape due to not being ridden) can cause a sore back. So either way, checks are needed.

saddle fitter out and retraining the horse to use its back correctly incl lunging. It will take months, as long as the horse isnt showing signs of discomfort, carry on, bear in mind youll probably have to get the fitter out again in 6 months time for a check.

Have you tried tightening the girth again after you have been on the horse for a few minutes? My horse used to blow out her stomach when I was putting the saddle on and always needed to be tightened up again after a few minutes

I've been given the go ahead to get the saddle fitter out, so should know what's best to do after that. I'd hate to think she was uncomfortable - she doesn't complain at all but is a tad overweight so understand that once she starts getting fitter and losing some weight I'll probably be back at square one again!

Well done - easy to side-step if it's not your horse but totally the right thing to do. Either way it needs to be fixed before it becomes a problem or a problem identified before it gets worse. Hope outcome is good and you have a lovely summer together.

Absolutely replace the girth to one that doesn’t have elastic. Try that first then go from there

The HKM standard girth is lovely- very soft string girth with no elastic. This is what I used until I was able to go back to elastic at both ends. Very good value dupe for the Stubben string girth.

https://www.justhorseriders.co.uk/products/hkm-girth-standard?variant=43803328217332

Good that the saddle fitter is coming out, also check that your stirrup leathers are level and that you are carrying your weight equally over both seat bones.
A non slip saddle pad/numnah can help and avoid sheepskin or fleece like the plague! The owner might agree to the horse having a physio session too, they could be very one sided which won't help.

Saddle slipping is a very classic first sign of lameness even if it is not currently evident to the untrained eye. It may be a saddle issue so worth checking, but don't get bogged down with buying new tack to try and correct it without having a lameness work up done first. At a guess, hock, hind suspensory or stifle issues. Saddle slip was the first sign our Advanced horse was uncomfortable despite his scores remaining consistently high and investigations revealed arthritic changes and various compensatory issues which made us feel super guilty that we hadn't noticed anything amiss beforehand. Good luck.

Thanks everyone, it's much appreciated