Blast from the past...Easi-Sit!

[Iron Maiden]

I've recently managed to get hold of a Saddle Co Easi-Sit dressage saddle Very exciting! Problem is, it makes me feel like I've completely forgotten how to ride I have my stirrups 2 holes longer than usual & my leg position feels like it's improved, but I also feel like I'm perched up on the horse & I can't sit deep because I'm tipping forward. Now I know that this is almost certainly because I don't sit properly, & the set back stirrups won't allow me to slouch into my usual chair seat, but it's a bit disconcerting. I've looked back at old NR threads & it does sound like they don't suit everyone, but I don't find the saddle uncomfortable - just weird - so hopefully there's no physical reason why I can't get the hang of it. So my question is - does anyone have any feel for how long it takes to get used to riding in an Easi-Sit? Any clues gratefully received

 

[Wally]

They changed the design half way through, and the newer ones with more of a defined twist are horrid! I have two of the older ones with the very wide seat and twist and they are great, the narrow twist ones make me tip forwards, but Frances' daughter loves hers.

 

[Iron Maiden]

Thanks Wally! Reckon mine's probably one of the newer ones then The seat doesn't seem to be very wide. I'm getting somewhere with it - did a bit better tonight than I have previously - but it's hard flippin work!

 

[Wally]

This is the one I like, the others have a much higher/narrower twist.

 

[Iron Maiden]

Yes, the seat on that saddle does look a bit different to mine. It looks well used and cherished I'm going to try warming mine up with a hot water bottle before I ride in it next - might help me sink into it a bit more, perhaps I'll feel a bit less perched

 

[Ginger Thing]

I love mine, found it horrific at first but soon got used to it, and now find my GP saddle really odd! I did try to sell it but had no interest as everyone wanted treeless instead, but now it fits my other horse and I'm really glad I kept it. I like to hack in it too, only use my GP if I'm going to jump.

 

[Iron Maiden]

Yay! Good news from Ginger Thing I did hack in the ES the other day & it was fine, apart from a slight white knuckle moment when Mrs P went rather fast down a steep slope & hopped over a stream (I felt like my lower leg was in the next county so I just leant my hands on the back of her neck and hoped for the best )

 

[Wally]

Have you got big knee rolls on it?

I made some nice big ones and it hleps on slopes and hacking.

 

[Iron Maiden]

I've put some small knee blocks on it, otherwise my knee just shoots off the front of the saddle. They do help but I'll try some big knee blocks on it & see if they are better. I was convinced that the saddle was sitting too low at the front at first but there's loads of wither clearance so I think it's just the cut of the saddle.

Thanks guys, this is really helpful

 

[Wally]

When I was teaching, a lot of folk found the Easi-sit strange to start with. But once they got used to being in a proper position they felt happier in it.

So many saddles allow a chair seat, to some degree or another. Heather's posh, expensive barry Swaine saddles and the Easi sit, to a lesser degree, place you in a very upright position and it can come as a bit of a shock to the old muscle memory when you are placed, suddenly, in such a straight line, so to speak.

I think the stirrup bar being where it is and the shape of the seat makes one sit on a pelvis in a correct position, whereas before we might have been sitting on the back edge of our seat bones, suddenly sitting on an upright pelvis can make you feel as though you might be tipping forwards.

 

[buttons]

I have a dislike for the easi-sit saddle - having ridden in loads of good dressage makes, treeless etc, - I find the easi-sit has far too much padding in the seat. It lifts you far too far off the horses back - that's what makes you lean forward, you cant get really "down" in it or get any seat support for your fork.
If it had a deeper seat, it would be fantastic as the bars are in the correct place to make your lower leg position correct - thus making you sit up tall and straight, but the seat is what lets it down.