Groundseat

[Doug Mclean]

I made this saddle last winter and posted some pictures. My customer is not completely happy with the way this saddle is fitting. Maybe some of you can help me. I'm wanting to fix this problem for his satisfaction as well as my own knowledge. The groundseat is supporting his weight more on his hip bones than is comfortable. I'm not sure my pictures will show what you need to see! All input will be appreciated!

P.S. I have more pictures. I need some help reducing them so I can show you what I need to???? ( Cowboys should not have access to computers )

[Johanna]

Email me the pics and I will reduce them for you so they can be posted here.

admin@leatherworker.net

Johanna

[JRedding]

Doug, I think we'd need a photo taken at eye level of the ground seat and directly from the side. It sounds like maybe the low spot in the seat either is too far back, (behind the cantle points) , maybe not enough low spot, or no low spot. Post a picture from the side and you'll get plenty of suggestions.

[Doug Mclean]

I'm afraid I don't have picture of the exact angle you are looking for. This is probably the closest. I will have him bring the saddle in and get it in the shop with better lights and get some pictures.

Thanks for the help...

[TroyWest]

Doug,

It looks like the ground seat is too round, from base of cantle to base of cantle. It can be fixed but you have to take the seat off. As it is it's sort of like sitting on a log. It doesn't take long and you're quite uncomfortable. A seat like this makes you feel like you're sitting on the saddle rather than in it.

[jonwatsabaugh]

Doug,

I agree with Troy, it appears the crown across the seat is quite sharp. You want a slit bit of crown but it should be very gradual. Also, the low point of the seat should be a couple of inches ahead of the cantle corners. Get on Steve Mason's blog site and look through the archives within. If I remember, he has good photos of ground seats in progress. These are good toutorials to study for construction and shape. I know there are others also that have great pix...maybe they would share.

Jon

[jwwright]

I would agree that judging from the photo, although it is a difficult angle, that the seat in the area just ahead of the cantle points and further back is too round or poled. Personally, I like the area just ahead of the cantle points to be about as flat as I can get it, and just right close down to the strainer. There is going to be some convex shape there because of the shape of the bars. As for how far forward of the cantle points the "low" spot in the profile of the seat is, that is certainly a matter of personal taste, and desired usage of the saddle. But I think all would agree that the low spot does need to be forward of the cantle points. JW

[Johanna]

[Doug Mclean]

Thank you for posting the pictures JoHanna. When I try and put more than one picture on a post of that size it tells me there is not enough room. Am I doing something wrong??

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Hi Doug,

I agree with what others have already said about the roundness of the seat in front of the cantle. Imagine a rider's pelvic bones and the round profile of your seat under them... every time the seat puts pressure on those bones it will be forcing them outward causing alot of discomfort. The area where the rider actually sits should be relatively flat, kind of like sitting on a chair at the kitchen table. There will be some roundness to the seat from side to side, but it really shouldn't form any peak in the middle.

JRedding mentioned that your low spot might be too far back but couldn't say for sure from your original photo. From the photos that Johanna posted, I would say this is also an issue. This will force the rider back against the cantle causing hip pain when the rider tries to adjust their seat to different gaits. The rider will end up fighting the rise of the seat as they try to stay balanced with the horse's movement. I've posted a couple of photos below of what I consider a good seat shape.

If the seat you have put in is an all leather ground seat, there is a slight chance you can remove enough material to change the seat shape. If the leather is somewhat thin through the area the rider occupies, you may have to take the whole ground seat out to get the right shape.

good luck,

Darc

[Johanna]

Nope. Your pics are just a bit over half a MB, and regular members can only put 1MB in attachments up in one post. Contributing members have a higher setting, because we assume they are not potential spammers! I wish there were a way to distinguish brand new members from established ones with that setting, but there isn't. A member can use multiple posts to get around the limits, or some people just let me know what they want to do ahead of time, (like for a lesson or tutorial) and I can manually adjust their limit. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but there's always a few bad apples on the Internet, and a couple of folks have abused the system in the past.

Johanna

[JRedding]

Doug, I'm still stickin' with it's the low spot in that seat, the photos do make it appear to have a round shape but if there were an apparant low point ahead of the cantle the roundness that's appearing would take care of itself. Everyones saddles ride different according to what we beleive and how we do it, no one theory is perfect and the shape one person likes may be terrible to another. One very popular saddler in Idaho (who's retired now so don't guess) built a seat that looked like a barrel to me, I couldn't stand to ride it for an hour, I tried. But his saddles were very sought after for nearly fifty years in that part of the country. The best a guy can do is try to implement the suggestions offered, take what you can use and leave the rest.

[Doug Mclean]

I'm starting to see what you mean about the low spot in the seat. Maybe when I start working on this I will take a before and after picture.

Thanks everyone for the help.