Why is riding without stirrups easier than with stirrups!?

[mydogs]

I am riding again after a break for several months so I am a bit out of shape at the moment. My muscles are tight so I do a lot of warm up without my stirrups and I noticed that my seat feels more balanced, it is much easier for me to give leg aids, and I feel more “connected” with the horse. As soon as I pick up my stirrups, I lose all of it… if I try to give a leg aid I can’t feel my calf against the horse as much so I use my heel, which causes me to lose my stirrups.

Other than “keep your heels down”, what else could be a potential cause for riding better without stirrups? Ideally, I am mostly interested in understanding any biomechanical explanation (ie: what muscles or joint play a role in this).

Granted, in my case, my saddle puts me a little bit of a chair position. But finding any used saddles in my size is extremely hard to do, so until I can afford a new one or want to continue the dreaded saga of saddle shopping for more months, there isn’t much I can do about my saddle.

[CHT]

Could be your saddle bar is too far forward, or your stirrup length isn’t where you need it to be right now and you are having to reach for your stirrups. My guess is your hips are tight and your stirrups just needs to be a bit shorter.

[Graymaresrule]

People tend to brace against their stirrups.

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

I agree, I think you should raise your stirrups one hole and see if it helps. It is a small change but it can impact your entire leg position.

[merrygoround]

Without seeing you ride, it is hard to make suggestions. Any of the above scenarios could be correct.

[mydogs]

@Graymaresrule

People tend to brace against their stirrups.

How does a rider “brace” against their stirrups?

[Nestor]

It sounds like you’re tight in your hips when you have your stirrups. I’m guilty of the same. If I don’t warm up without my stirrups, I’m pretty useless as a rider - I’m tight and crooked and can’t feel it. So I warm up without stirrups, at the walk, then start my ride. If my trot warm up includes quick trot-walk transitions, I’ll do that without stirrups as well. Then I do my regular ride, with stirrups. Every break I take, I drop my stirrups and reassess where I’m at.

Your saddle may be a lot of the reason as well. Being in a chair seat throws off your ability to use your leg and seat correctly.

[AppendixQHLover]

I have terrible tight hips and hip flexors. Being a desk jockey doesn’t help and it is how I pay for my horse SO it is life.

[TequilaMockingbird]

I do the same thing Nestor does. It really helps, especially if you have tight hip flexors. I’m also a desk jockey so it’s pretty much a necessity that will probably never go away.

Drop your stirrups during every walk break and try to stretch your legs from the front of the hip. It helps if you pull the meatier part of your thigh out of the way first.

[Dressage_Strider]

Include this stretch in your warm up without stirrups:
(1) One at a time, keeping your leg straight, push your heel as far forward as you possibly can, as if you are trying to touch it to your horses head. This should rock you back slightly, so that you feel your seat bones. It will also stretch your calf muscles.

(2) One at a time, keeping your leg straight and toe up, push your heel back towards the horse’s haunches. This should rock you forward slightly, so that you feel your pubic bone. This will also stretch your hip flexors.

(3) keep your leg laying against your horse, and then pretend your horse gained 300 pounds - so pull your leg straight off of him. Careful not to just pull your heel back to his tail, or knees up. This stretches your hips open and forces you to balance on the space between pubic and seat bones. You should feel the “triangle” of pubic and seat bones, and feel balanced over it.

Pick up your stirrups. First at the walk, practice standing and sitting. Force yourself to find your balance over your “triangle” each sit. You may have to do #3 the first few times, or every few posts.

When you pick up your trot use #3 every few posts to ensure your hips are staying open, leg long.

It will be impossible to do if you are relying on your heel to cue horse as well.

[no.stirrups]

You already know the answer - the saddle puts you off balance. Once you get a saddle that fits right it will be easier with stirrups than without.

[outerbanks77]

@mydogs

How does a rider “brace” against their stirrups?

Pushing against the stirrup to “keep your heel down” results in stiff knees and ankles, which makes it hard to apply the aids, as you mentioned. For dressage, you don’t want heels down, but rather the foot should be fairly level, with an elastic ankle and your foot not too much into the stirrup.

Perhaps you could try riding with just your to in the iron, instead of on the ball of your foot. That makes it nearly impossible to brace, and if the stirrup bars being too far forward is part of the problem, this position will mitigate for that. If you can try different stirrups, that might help as well - for instance, jointed vs. not, or lightweight synthetic stirrups vs. heavier irons. I found that jointed irons did me no favors with a dressage length stirrup.

Lastly, it sounds weird, but doing ankle exercises can help, especially if you don’t ride in stiff dressage boots. So calf raises, standing on one leg, etc. If your ankles are strong, it’s easier to stay in position without stiffening.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Dressage_Strider

(3) keep your leg laying against your horse, and then pretend your horse gained 300 pounds - so pull your leg straight off of him. Careful not to just pull your heel back to his tail, or knees up. This stretches your hips open and forces you to balance on the space between pubic and seat bones. You should feel the “triangle” of pubic and seat bones, and feel balanced over it.

If you haven’t done this one before start with pretending your horse gained 50 lbs. Personally, I find this exercise very helpful but it hurts hurts hurts. If I go straight for a big hip left I get horrible spasms but can avoid that by doing some small lifts first.

I might be the only one with that issue but I wanted to put it out there in case I could save someone else from the first time experience of “I think I ripped my hip off” feeling by pushing too hard.

[Mondo]

Actually, it shouldn’t be “easier with stirrups than without.” It should be the same, regardless. The exercises suggested above for improving your seat are all good ones. IME preferring to ride without irons is a phase that riders go through as they pass from beginner to intermediate. You can consider your seat (and therefore aids) more advanced when you don’t care whether you have your irons or not. Just MHO.

[Foxtrot_s]

A number of reasons - above - but no stirrups allows rider to ride deeper in the saddle.

[vineyridge]

Riding is all about balance. It’s easier to find your balance when you are bareback or have no stirrups.

IMO, one should try and find a saddle that gives you the same feel (balance) with stirrups as without.

[cnm161]

@no.stirrups

You already know the answer - the saddle puts you off balance. Once you get a saddle that fits right it will be easier with stirrups than without.

I <3 this answer with that screenname. So good.

[kcmel]

@no.stirrups

You already know the answer - the saddle puts you off balance. Once you get a saddle that fits right it will be easier with stirrups than without.

Not necessarily. I am one of those “brace against the stirrup” people. It has nothing to do with saddle fit.

[alicen]

With your horse standing square, take a picture of where the stirrup falls naturally. Then have a mounted picture taken with your leg hanging down naturally without stirrups. Compare.

[mvp]

@mydogs

How does a rider “brace” against their stirrups?

You are stiffening your knee, probably your hip and perhaps your ankle in order to “keep weight” in your stirrup/keep from losing it.

If you feel well-connected to the horse at the bottom of your pelvis without stirrups and lose that when you have them, I promise you, the cause is stiffened joints somewhere from the hip down.