>>>> It is usually possible to ride in a chair seat (because the saddles are >>>> often quite long and flat) but it's also quite possible to ride in a >>>> good seat.
Man, you got that right! When my husband is in a slouchy mood (and that used to be almost 100% of the time) he can maneuver himself into a perfectly-imperfect chair seat in his 100% perfectly fitting, perfectly designed dressage saddle. (He no longer rides in his dressage saddle, but he can still slouch with the best of 'em when he wants to.) I noticed that when Mic said that English saddles "put" the rider in a chair seat, and I have to speak up. I don't have as much experience with Icelandic saddles as I do with English saddles (some literally made in England, some "English style") and I don't buy that, not about English saddles. There are so many factors that affect the postion the rider is "thrown into". If the saddle is too narrow, it tends to tip the low-point of the seat way too far back, and THAT puts a rider in a chair seat. Likewise, if the saddle is too wide (not that it's a common problem with Icelandic's...) the saddle will sit low in front, and that tends to put the rider too forward, with his/her legs behind them. If the seat of the saddle is too big, the low point of the seat may well be too far back, and that will put the rider into a chair seat, but if it's too small, it can do the opposite. These situations are ignoring the design of the saddle itself - just noting what gravity does. I've heard people on the Icelandic lists talk about some hunter-style riders being in a "chair seat" when they did NOT appear to be so to me at all. What I saw in the particular pictures was a rider with a shorter stirrup, with their knee resting on the more forward flap of a saddle suitable for jumping. The flap, and the position of the rider's knee has nothing to do with the "chair-seat-ed-ness" of the rider however. Emily and I started taking huntseat lessons when we first started riding 20 years ago, and we were taught exactly the same "rule" as I heard in dressage - ear/hip/heel should basically align. I'm not a big stickler on that position being 100% absolute, but I think it IS a valid rule of thumb. I'm not saying that all huntseat riders ride in an ideal position, but that was certainly the ideal that Emily was judged towards when she showed hunters. The rule of thumb I've heard about saddle design that makes sense to me is that the stirrup bars should be approximately four inches in front of the deepest part of the saddle. If that's true, and the saddle sits level on the horse's back, neither tipped forwards or backwards due to poor fit, the stirrups should hang such that the heels will be under the rider's hips. My daughter was quite attached to her forward seat, close contact saddle when she rode Thunder, and she continued to use it when she switched to showing dressage. I had a "real" dressage saddle that she could have used. But, she had taken responsibilty for her position, and frankly, that saddle didn't "put" her into a chair seat. She always got great comments on her position, and the judges never once commented on her showing dressage in a jumping saddle. Karen Thomas, NC
