I think we should do No Seat November!!! Get off your horse’s back and ride in two point for a month 
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Go for it.
I’m feeling pretty anti- No Stirrup November right now! I usually find dressage easier with no stirrups so I dropped them for a while to work on straightness in canter-trot-canter transitions. Very helpful! Unfortunately, I realized in the shower later that something about my current horse and saddle conspired to give me a raw spot right where my underwear sits and OUCH! I think I may be an involuntary convert to No Seat November for a while instead.
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This, plus shorten your stirrups at least 4 holes. I guarantee you will be fitted by the end of the month!
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Fitter, not fitted.
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Or saddle saver November!
I rode a pony in a kid’s saddle and it rubbed my seatbones bleeding and raw. Switched saddles and the problem went away. It was freaky! I hadn’t gotten rubbed like that even after riding all day or when I was just getting back to riding. Just a combination of the green pony’s gait and twist of the saddle.
I certainly like this idea better than my college coach’s “take all stirrups and lock them up for the month, no exceptions.” A gradual increase in time without stirrups, allowing for proper warmup of horse and rider before dropping them.
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I don’t get how it takes an entire round of 10 jumps to get stirrups back without your horse breaking to trot. Your horse is significantly behind the leg if this is truly the case.
I suck. What can I say? It was truly embarrassing.
You’re not the one who sucks here. If they don’t get it, then they haven’t ridden a horse like the one you ride and can’t understand what you mean. But I undestand what you mean. BTDT. And for the record, you absolutely don’t suck if you can make it around a course of jumps with no stirrups at all. Keep on keeping on!
And for those who don’t ever ride without stirrups, I agree that waiting until November is a terrible idea and isn’t fair to the horse. Maybe try working your way up through the year and make it “no-stirrup” post warm up. EVERY RIDE. You never know when you will need to ride without them and it’s a handy skill to have!
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Thankfully my barn participates in no stirrup November in a sensible way. The length, at which gaits, etc depends on the rider/horse/goals. I am firmly against completely pulling stirrups for the entire month. I don’t think it is beneficial for the rider or the horse. We should all do small amounts of no stirrup work in our hacks and lessons, but I see zero reason to do an entire month.
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I disagree. Knowing what will work for your horse to get through the round is smart. And without having been there, no one can say whether your horse was behind the leg or not. Or anything, to be honest.
I’m sure you have enough feedback from your own ride and your coach’s input (or anyone else who might have been there) to move forward. No need for an anonymous mean girl critique on the internet.
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Trust me, you’re fine. My trainer had me try to jump a tiny crossrail one time without stirrups and my butt was falling over the cantle. If you can stay on over a course of jumps at any height, you’re better than me.
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…which is why the alleged combination of not being able to get your stirrups back anywhere on a course of ten jumps and thus “having” to jump a round of ten 3’ jumps with no stirrups in an equitation class seemed like Things That Definitely Didn’t Happen to me…
“Oh I don’t know how to drive stick so I had to win the entire Indy 500 in 1st gear”
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meupatdoes – I’m honestly confused by your answer. In my post, I commented that I was glad I had done a month of no stirrup work the previous year because it came in handy when I lost both stirrups on course and was able to continue. (And a little explanation here might be useful: – My horse is big. I’m short. I drop my stirrups as part of almost every ride because I’m a believer in the benefits. I have learned that when cantering on this horse, when I go to pick up me irons I struggle to maintain the pace and rhythm of the canter because in order to retrieve my irons, my leg comes of the side of my horse. I’m sure it’s my deficiency but our collective conformation doesn’t help. When I lost my stirrups near the beginning of the round, I could have pulled up and excused myself; I could have struggled to get my irons and risked breaking to the trot or losing the pace; I could have given up on riding the remainder of my plan and instead kept trying to retrieve them. Honestly, I didn’t think about any of that – adrenalin kicked in and I just kept going. I had already lost any chance I had of placing (which was a bit disappointing since I had had a pretty decent first round the day before) but I went ahead and rode my plan and my tracks and despite my horse apparently being “significantly behind my leg,” made all the strides and got all the leads on a pretty technical jumper/medal final type course.)
Folks have all sorts of reasons for doing or not doing the no stirrups November thing. I got my first horse in my 40s and he was a spooky TB – no way could I remove my stirrups for an entire month in November. Fast forward to my 60s and I have a horse where I feel safe enough to do it and so I did. But that’s just me and where I’m coming from – no judgments on those who keep their stirrups. I shared my story only as an example of how for me it came in handy.
Edited – this is all in response to meupatdoes. I can’t get the right response buttons to indicate that!
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Part of my issue is also that “no stirrups” is not beneficial to all riders. I have knock knees. Even at my advanced age, I can post the trot indefinitely without stirrups – because I am pinching with my knees. And that is bad. It is a tendency I fight with stirrups, so why do I want to further encourage that habit?
I will admit that ditching the stirrups does help me to sit deeper at the sitting trot or canter because I can just let my leg hang down longer.
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I thought about this thread today because my saddle is off getting repaneled so it has turned into No Saddle November for me! There aren’t any other horses in the barn that have my horse’s shape, so instead I’ve been riding him in a bareback pad. I had a dressage lesson in it today, and yesterday we jumped around a bit at a XC venue. <-- this makes me sound very brave, but really they were BN fences at best! My jumper is very, very bouncy so I kept it low because I don’t need to get lawn-darted.
What is cool is that my horse LOVES the bareback pad (not surprising since his saddle was pinching him, poor lamb), and it’s making me think about my seat a heck of a lot more!
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Instead of the traditional 4 weeks of No Stirrup November this year, my trainer went with a rotating “challenge” - a different theme for her intermediate/advanced students each week to go over some areas where they might be weak/deficient. First week was no stirrups, second week was bungee reins (soft hands/elbows), third week was all trotting (trot fences, ground poles, etc.), last week was gymnastics, and I believe this week will be a “bonus” week of some sort, not sure of the challenge.
It’s honestly been great, a fun change from just grinding at no stirrups constantly. I’m a pretty die-hard subscriber to doing at least a good chunk of time per week on the flat without stirrups so the traditional NSN hasn’t been an issue in the past, but doing something different each week was pretty cool!
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Absolutely! Mainly because it corresponds with buck you off weather! 
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