I have been out riding and am catching up on my
mail tonight. Sorry if somebody else said this and I missed it.
This is not only correct but it is the purpose of
the twist. Western saddles have gender. Men's saddles have not only a narrower
twist to accommodate the narrower pelvis, but they also have a much flatter
seat. (One of you guys can explain why, hehe.) Women's saddles have a
wider twist (wider pelvis) and a steeper "rise." The easiest place to see
this difference is to compare a barrel saddle (a predominantly
female sport) to a roping saddle (a predominantly male sport.)
When looking at trail or western style endurance saddles, they still have
gender. You just have to look a little harder to see.
The bony pelvis of a male is different from female. Ischial spines are
closer together.
A narrow twist might work better for a male. There are always differences
within the gender as well..Generally speaking males have a narrower pelvis and
women a wider pelvis. One of the obvious spots is in the ischial spines and
that is right where you sit
On the opposite side of twist width is my
problem. Too narrow a twist will cause severe and painful rubbing in
the crotch, but a slightly wider twist will allow the pressure to be on the
outside points of the pelvis. I guess each person has his own
anatomical issues.
Robert. Here is a site that tells a bit about
what the twist is. My husband is more comfortable in a saddle with a
narrow twist, as it does not spread his pelvis as much, and then in turn,
he does not have knee pain. We would have never thought knee pain could be
associated with how wide the saddle is to the rider, but once he got a
narrow twist, the pain was greatly reduced.
