Having stress incontinence while horse riding may lead to some saddle wetness. But don’t be ashamed if you feel like you can’t control your bladder; leaking urine while riding is actually more common than you might think. Here you can read more about why your saddle gets wet and how you can take care of it!
Incontinence and horse riding
Stress urinary incontinence can cause you to leak urine while doing physical activities, like running, jumping or sneezing. It is common to leak urine when there is a high impact, like when horse riding. You might experience leaking urine when dismounting from your horse, when showjumping, or maybe it only happens at the sitting trot. This can happen to all women but it’s especially common after childbirth or when you enter menopause.
Read more about stress urinary incontinence and why you get it here.
How to take care of a wet saddle
If your saddle has gotten wet, you should take care of it as soon as possible to avoid the leather getting damaged. You don’t have to buy a new saddle straight away, but like with getting water on the saddle, it is not good to leave it soaked for too long. Wipe it off and let it air dry.
So how do you clean your saddle from urine? Firstly, you should check with your saddle manufacturer what they say about getting urine on your saddle and what you should do about it. You could maybe try putting a bleach and water solution on it and let it soak for five minutes. Then you wipe it off with paper towels.
Regardless, you should always make sure to wipe the saddle, clean it with saddle soap and use conditioners to take care of your saddle. Add the conditioners in thin layers, instead of a thick one.
I wish I knew about this when I was riding!
If you have told yourself “I am not going to pee all over my saddle today” – then you’ve come to the right place! You don’t have to give up horse riding because of bladder leaks, there is help for you. Efemia Bladder Support is a device that reduces bladder leaks due to stress incontinence. In a recent study, the bladder support was tested by women while horse riding. The study showed that Efemia can help you to stop peeing during riding. Read more about the results from the study here.