# big knee blocks jumping..your thoughts?



## aregona (8 April 2012)

i have always really liked a good knee block on a jumping saddle. I have an albion monoflap, and a wintec cc with added bigger knee blocks. 
I needed a new saddle for maggie mare and the saddler brought out a shires optimus for me to try which i have to say i am very impressed with  

basically i use my albion on my narrow wb but recently thought i would try the new optimus on him which has less of a knee block than i am used to, as soon as i started jumping i felt unsafe but just tried to ignore it and carry on. 

i am finding it more and more difficult to find a jumping saddle i am happy with (in my budget as must be second hand) as they never seem to have enough knee block. 

So im thinking its time for me to 'learn' to ride without a big block, i have swopped all mine on my saddles for smaller ones but just wonder what everyones thoughts on knee blocks are....good / bad?? do you love them or hate them??


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## CrazyMare (8 April 2012)

I'm in the hate them camp. I have very flat, very plain saddles out of choice with absolute minimal blocks. 

My 4 yr old has just got an Albion as it was all she didn't try to buck me off in that was within budget and I find the seat far too deep and closed in for my liking


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## aregona (8 April 2012)

its really interesting though as i have found so far that you eaither love or hate them. I'm just finding that i am relying on them to use as an anchor coming into a fence so hence why i feel it is time to say goodbye.....i'm not looking forward to it though if im honest, i feel like my seatbelt has gone :/


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## JenTaz (8 April 2012)

I much prefer having the larger knee blocks for jumping, i feel like i have alot more support especially when taz over jumps them, i find it better for hacking aswell with more support at the knee for doing work out of the saddle, they really are like marmite i know of alot of people who hate them but i dont think i could go back to riding in a normal saddle


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## kerilli (8 April 2012)

i can cope with either, i don't really pay them any attention unless they are obviously in the way or far too short for me. i think saddles without them actually make you improve your position though (e.g. all the big boys and girls loving their Butet, Devoucoux etc), they encourage (force?) you to have a better lower leg position, plus the really blocky ones can lock you in... and i wouldn't relish that personally.
a friend years ago had a very very blocky saddle for xc, iirc it was a Stubben sj saddle, and after every xc she was bruised black and blue from the blocks. she thought that was totally normal... that put me right off them!


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## millitiger (8 April 2012)

Hate, hate, hate them!

Much prefer jumping saddles with minimal, or even better, no blocks.

Hence I am looking to part/x my Impala in as soon as Vinnie is fit and muscled as it makes me feel very insecure with all of the blocks everywhere (I have even had the blocks changed for smaller ones and still hate it).


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## aregona (8 April 2012)

millitiger- thats cracking  the impala didn't have enough for me  that's quite funny. 

I never had this problem until i had my first bated saddle, then a saddle sold me the momentum which didn't have as much block as my caprilli so the saddle gave me a rather large pair (about the size of an easter egg cut in half) of blocks from a wow saddle and its gone from there, every time i went to buy a new saddle i find the blocks just not big enough but i really like the optimus so im just gonna learn, any ideas how i can now improve my balance jumping other than just practise??


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## racingdemon (8 April 2012)

Loathe loathe loathe blocks...... Give me a flat seat, no block saddle everyday (was jumping my sons pony in a showing saddle earlier) 

 And have a personal opinion that big blocks and XC horse falls are a bad combination!


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## Jesstickle (8 April 2012)

I hate them too. I know I don't compete in the league of most people here but I can't stand them. I'd rather find my own (often poor) position than be forced into something which is supposedly ideal. 

I don't think it helps that I've had knee surgery and my knee is absolutely peppered with scars. If the block is big and not totally perfect for me I find them really uncomfortable as my scarred bits end up digging in to them.

Multiple reasons to despise big blocks on saddles!


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## star (8 April 2012)

dont have a lot of experience of jumping saddles but i went from hunting in my old VSD to an Albion K2 jump and the difference in the security of my position was amazing - look different and stay on board.  I have kept the same saddle for hunting and eventing the new horse and I absolutely love it.  I dont feel boxed in by it, just nice and secure.  Incidently I just bought a new dressage saddle and after starting off saying I hated big blocks I more and more liked the ones with the slightly bigger block as long as it was in the right place.  I cant see they can be the work of the devil and I seem to be a lot more secure with them so I dont think I'm going to torture myself and learn to ride without them.


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## Morganlafaye (8 April 2012)

I can guarantee that knee and thigh blocks on a saddle are ALWAYS in the wrong place for me, as they seem to be designed for people with much longer legs.

So I've always found blocks completely useless. I have an Ideal and the blocks are in the wrong place, always digging into me, and all the 'help' just locks me into a really poor riding position. 

I tried a Butet recently, and now know what all the fuss is about. I've never ridden in a saddle that gives me such a secure lower leg position! Even better, I found a second hand monoflap for a shortie with blocks on the outside, that only come into effect if you slide forward out of position, but otherwise not used at all. Absolute best of all worlds in my opinion. 

So glad I managed to find one second hand that fitted the horse, because I'd have needed to rob a bank to afford a new one!


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## cptrayes (8 April 2012)

WOW don't make big knee blocks on jumping flaps, so I split mine open and packed them out with camping foam. I couldn't find a saddler who would do it. I like a block in front of my knee when I am jumping big hedges out hunting. I don't find that they ever cramp my style or force my position, but when I do this, I want blocks.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuL6xpZs-q4/TqCNep9gtKI/AAAAAAAAAxM/K6BUGQ9p5ZA/s400/radar+hedge.jpg

I think part of the problem with big blocks is that you need the flap cut exceptionally far forward in order to sit in the right place and have the extra width of a block in front of your knee. Thankfully, the WOW can be set forward with a change of screw placement.


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## aregona (8 April 2012)

fair comments star  i would be trying to change if it wasn't for the fact that i struggle when buying a saddle, i also struggle if i ride someone elses horse as you can guarentee i hate the saddle. if i had a decent budget everytime i needed a new jump saddle i would just get the saddle i wanted but i don't. 
i have recently retired 2 horses and one is off with injury so with the arrival of a new horse and my youngster broken in last year i seem to see the saddler every 2 months!!!! can't wait to get my saddle problem sorted


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## aregona (8 April 2012)

see now i wonder if im doing the right thing.........i believe my persition could always be improved but i wouldn't say its a 'bad' persition as it is.....


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## Scarlett (8 April 2012)

I used to not ride in anything but big blocked saddles, then I realised that instead of helping me they were stopping me gaining a better position and I ditched them! Big blocks are ok if you fit into them but as someone with a slightly longer thigh than average they actually push me out of position.

Since ditching the big blocks my saddles have got gradually flatter and less blocky - jumped today for the first time in an old school Barnsby Milton that I bought on the off chance, felt both super secure and like I was able to really ride the horse rather than being held in one place. 

I think any saddle that doesnt fit your shape and leg length, big blocks or not, will compromise your position and balance.


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## kirstyhen (8 April 2012)

I can ride in either (a lot depends on how the horse is built IMO)  but I prefer my mono flap with small blocks. Although I hated them when I was breaking Mal in, I wanted something to cling on too!

I've jumped big Quorn hedges in it and felt perfectly safe and secure in it.


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## kerilli (8 April 2012)

^^^^ what Scarlett said.

aregona, your position is good, and i bet if you rode in a saddle with no blocks it'd be just as good...


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## LizzyandToddy (8 April 2012)

I find I ride in a much better position without them, but I do have very long legs, in particular my thy


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## KatB (8 April 2012)

Much much prefer flat minimal saddles as means I have to be in decent balance to be able to ride well! My position has improved since using close contact saddles too.


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## porkpie (9 April 2012)

I have an Albion K2 with the nice big knee and thigh blocks, before that I had a Stubben MF Spezial with big blocks.

I love them because they make me feel secure and I can keep a good lower leg position. However - I don't feel like I coudn't ride without them - yes they give me security but I woudn't be lost with out them (although I might fall off!!!)

Horses for courses - sorry, pun!


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## CrazyMare (9 April 2012)

Scarlett said:



			Since ditching the big blocks my saddles have got gradually flatter and less blocky - jumped today for the first time in an old school Barnsby Milton that I bought on the off chance, felt both super secure and like I was able to really ride the horse rather than being held in one place. 

I think any saddle that doesnt fit your shape and leg length, big blocks or not, will compromise your position and balance.
		
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My Barnsby Milton is my favourite - Its like a well worn in pair of boots, just fits me perfectly.


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## emma.is (9 April 2012)

I suppose I'm a bit weird, I LOVE Charlies old dressage saddle with huge knee and thigh rolls that really kept my leg in place but I prefer to jump with small/no blocks so I can move freely


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## dafthoss (9 April 2012)

I like a little block there but have never been a fan of massive blocked saddles for flat work or jumping. I feel really insecure in a 17.5' saddle no matter what size the blocks are when jumping though as a shortie so it may be worth looking at a diffrent size saddle as well as block.


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## PapaFrita (10 April 2012)

CrazyMare said:



			I'm in the hate them camp. I have very flat, very plain saddles out of choice with absolute minimal blocks.
		
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Same here


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## BeckyD (10 April 2012)

I have moveable knee and thigh blocks on my Fairfax jumping saddle but no matter where I put them they are always in the wrong place.  I always seem to end up gripping them with my knees.  After my XC on Saturday I decided to take them off for jumping and try without, but I haven't yet done that as I haven't jumped since.  I do need the knee blocks for hacking out as I feel safer if I can grip them and wedge myself under them for the spins.  But I don't feel that the knee blocks make me safer when jumping - quite the opposite - although I may change my mind once I've tried without them


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## ihatework (10 April 2012)

My opinion is ... ignore what everyone else thinks and go for what you like!!!

Saddles are very individual, 1 blocky saddle might suit whereas another might not!

It's all about you body shape, the positioning of the flaps, the positioning of the blocks and even down to the type of horse you are sat on.

I have found that the Albion K2 Jump fits me like a glove. I love it. It would be considered a 'blocky' saddle. But in the same type of saddles there are some that I can't stand - the Ideal Impala and Black country Wexford springs to mind, tried both, and couldn't get off them quick enough - yet I borrowed my friends BC Quantum (flat, non blocky) and liked it a lot (not as much as K2 though!). I tried the next Albion model up, also very blocky, and it was awful - pushed me completely out of position!


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## Lanky Loll (10 April 2012)

For me it depends on the horse - when I was still jumping a lot I had a classic Stubben Siegfried for my WB - huge blocks which helped hold me in position as he could throw the odd big one and I found it helped me immensely but for my lighter ISH I rode in a close contact eventing saddle.  The vital bit with both for me was that they were forward cut as I ride pretty short and find with a lot of saddles that my knees end up off the end of the knee roll.
At the end of the day it comes down to what works best for you and your horse.


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## Saratoga (10 April 2012)

I'm definitely a minimalist kinda gal ;-) somewhere to hang my stirrups is about all I want! I'm the same with a dressage saddle though, hate the really blocky ones.


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## OliviaSJ (10 April 2012)

Hate big blocks , feel much more secure in saddle with no blocks! Might be because i have stupidly long legs too so pretty much no saddles fit me and puts my legs into a really un natural position. Also have to ride in my saddle with no blocks as my knee cap goes out of alignment if i dont as the blocks push on it.


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