dressage saddles

Dressage saddles have evolved greatly over the past two or three hundred years. Here is my brief summary on their history:You can look at some of the oldest paintings and see riders with VERY straight legs, and often leaning back, sitting on their fannys, with heels way down and horses heads behind the vertical (very baroque).   Latter, during the 1930s to the 1970s you saw what looked like a modified jumping saddle with more forward flaps. These riders usually jumped as well, since this was the era of the masters coming from the military, i.e., the calvary. The saddles accommodated a rider who wanted to jump and do dressage in one saddle. These riders often had horses that weren't quite round by today's standards, and they rode with a fairly short stirrup and usually a deep heel, but their upper body was sometimes more forward.   Now we have a trend toward a very straight leg with a deep heel again, and most of the round horses are behind the bit. I vote for an improvement on all of them. I like a saddle with a fairly forward flap that allows my leg to bend so I can properly place my thigh and use it (without bend at the knee the only part of the thigh you can use is the back-- that makes you sit on your butt too much). Then, I want the stirrup bar placed a little bit  back from the old calvary riders' saddles, so I can get my fanny more to the front of the saddle and keep my leg back under me -- not that good for jumping, but good for dressage -- so I still need two saddles! By sitting here I can get a more supple horse, because I'm not pushing the back down with my backside! I can give a lighter ride, even when I'm sitting in the saddle because I'm more in a crouch (elastically, like a cat ready to pounce), not sitting in a lounge chair.   So my tip to you is this: ride in a jumping saddle every day for two weeks. Use quite short stirrups (they should hit your ankle at the ankle bone), lean much more forward than you think you should have to, and keep your back flat -- not arched, not rounded. Make sure you engage your entire leg, not just grip with calves. Turn the toes in as much as you can, without losing your calf. Keep your hands on the neck and figure out how to ride with your weight and your legs. Do a lot of bending and go forward so your horse gets through and supple (see other blogs). Then go back to your dressage saddle and I bet you are ready to throw it away! It will press your thigh back WAY too far and you will see what I mean about riding on the back of your thigh cuz you'll be doing it, or at least you'll feel how it makes you want to arch your back! So, in summary, riding on the back of the thigh, with the heels way down with an arched back, will make a horse drop his back. You're asking him to make you a hole, or as Mary Wanless says, "a man trap." Read her work for more info.