I am suffering from increasingly painful arthritis in the hip and was struggling to mount and especially to dismount. It was agony after a ride - even a short half-hour hack - to lift my leg over the cantle. Each time I got stuck and ended up lying in pain along the back of my long-suffering mare!
My solution was to try the Total Contact Saddle, having looked at it online for around a year or so. I got one on a week's trial (you get your full deposit back if you return it in good condition so I had nothing to lose except the return postage). And for me, personally, it has been a godsend! Without the extra bulk of the saddle the whole riding experience is so much more comfortable, and I can dismount in one easy move (well, apart from the hitting the ground bit, but that's a whole other story! )
It wouldn't be a great solution for anyone with balance issues, but I love riding bareback, so that wasn't a problem for me. I have quite a wide-backed mare, but using a Best Friend Bareback Pad topped with a Heather Moffatt Seatsaver there are no saddle slippage issues and I feel safe and comfortable. It only took a short ride in the school and a couple of hacks to prove to my own satisfaction that it's the perfect solution to my current problems.
Oh, and my mare loves it too! And it's lovely to feel her breathing underneath me - I feel far more connected to her and she seems a lot more responsive to even the slightest aid.
My solution was to try the Total Contact Saddle, having looked at it online for around a year or so. I got one on a week's trial (you get your full deposit back if you return it in good condition so I had nothing to lose except the return postage). And for me, personally, it has been a godsend! Without the extra bulk of the saddle the whole riding experience is so much more comfortable, and I can dismount in one easy move (well, apart from the hitting the ground bit, but that's a whole other story! )
It wouldn't be a great solution for anyone with balance issues, but I love riding bareback, so that wasn't a problem for me. I have quite a wide-backed mare, but using a Best Friend Bareback Pad topped with a Heather Moffatt Seatsaver there are no saddle slippage issues and I feel safe and comfortable. It only took a short ride in the school and a couple of hacks to prove to my own satisfaction that it's the perfect solution to my current problems.
Oh, and my mare loves it too! And it's lovely to feel her breathing underneath me - I feel far more connected to her and she seems a lot more responsive to even the slightest aid.