EHAL Magazine August 2017

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

EHALmagazine.com |

August 2017

Everything Horses and Livestock®

you anchored and down in the saddle. Shorter

stirrups allow the rider to drop his/her heels which

helps to lock their leg in place beneath them. If your

lower leg is freely swinging around, you lose your

anchor. A rider that has his/her legs underneath

their hips will have good balance.

When a rider keeps their stirrups too long, they will

have to continuously reach for them, causing the

lower leg to slide forward in their attempt to stay in

them. The lower leg is no longer in proper position

when it is out in front of your body and you are no

longer effectively balanced in the saddle. By raising

your stirrups you will not have to stretch your legs

out to reach them, which will permit you to maintain

proper leg position for good balance.

When your stirrups are too long, you will have prob-

lems keeping your heals down, then your leg slides

forward causing you to sit back on your bottom.

When you sit back on your bottom you aren’t doing

much by way of riding, just sitting on top the horse

like a bag of potatoes. Shorten your stirrups and

you will find it much easier to get up off your bottom

and sit on your seat bones instead.

A good way to judge how long your stirrups should

be is by placing your fingertips at the very top of the

fender (get up under the flap), grab the stirrup with

your other hand and pull it up to your armpit. Using

your arm, you a can measure the proper length –

the stirrup should hit you just under the armpit. If

the stirrup can extend past your armpit, then they

are too long.

There you are, set to race! Your work in the prac-

tice pen with these changes will bring a whole

new light to when you run in competition – slow

is smooth and smooth is fast!

Til We Meet Again! ~ Shannon Rowl

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