Working without stirrups and always ending up w/twisted leathers!

[Whistler]

Does anyone have any tips for picking up their stirrups from no stirrup work (mid trot or canter) without twisting the leathers? I seem to always always do this on the right side, without noticing until my trainer points it out or I happen to look down.

Another thing is that my horse gets very annoyed by the stirrups hitting his sides during the canter. I really try to keep them tucked between my feet and the girth pretty well at a slower pace, on a circle but when using the full arena I just start to lose it. Maybe I am not sitting the canter well enough and it’s not so much a leg issue? And poor guy, he just gets all worked up.

[DejaVu]

Practice? Also maybe when you go to get your stirrup think about when your stirrup leather is flat on your saddle, and how your stirrup hangs. Notice how you can simply put your stirrup back on your foot by just moving forward. Atleast that helps me to visualize it.

For the other thing, you can always cross your stirrups over the front of your saddle. Sometimes it helps to pull the buckle down so it isn’t irritating your leg as much.

[CindyCRNA]

I have seen that some totally remove the stirrups/leathers .

[Canaqua]

Funny you should ask this. I rode in a Greg Best clinic last week (yes, him again ;)) and one thing he liked was my leg on the flat. He asked me to go trot around so he could show people what he was looking for…he, unexpectedly, asked me to drop my stirrups at posting trot and then pick them back up. I don’t do a lot of no stirrup work, so I was a bit nervous. To my own surprise, it went very smoothly. His explanation, to the observers, of why I could do that (drop stirrups and then pick them up, without changing anything) is that I had even pressure from mid-thigh to mid calf, so the leathers didn’t move from where they’d been when I had my stirrups. Didn’t know I was good at doing that, because I never do it…the point was the even pressure all the way down the leg. I wasn’t entirely sure what the take away was, but it seemed that many folks are so afraid of pinching with the knee that they don’t keep the even pressure all the way down the leg.

[TaterTotTB]

Normally when I do no stirrups, I pull the buckle down and cross the stirrups over my horse’s withers, especially if I plan on doing it for a while. It stops them from twisting up or banging the horse’s sides and is overall pretty convenient. I also get distracted by them when they are not crossed for some reason, so having them out of the way helps me focus on my position.

[VaqueroToro]

[QUOTE=TaterTotTB;7075300]
Normally when I do no stirrups, I pull the buckle down and cross the stirrups over my horse’s withers, especially if I plan on doing it for a while. [/QUOTE]

This, if the skirt will allow it (some are built weird).

[Bluey]

Yes, you should cross the stirrups to keep them from banging, if you are going to work without them.
When practicing to drop and retrieve them, then you don’t need to, of course.

Best learn to ride without stirrups on the longe line if you can.

We used to spend part of many lessons longing each other for a bit.
Just don’t overdo it, longing can be hard on the horses.
Longing is too small a circle to work on it long.

[Green_Acres]

OP, don’t mean to hi-jack this but in equitation classes…are you always given the option to cross your stirrups?

[Whistler]

Canaqua, I am going to try what Greg Best told you about keeping even pressure all the way down the leg. In my lessons we practice taking the foot out of the stirrups, sitting, posting, sitting and picking them up again, so crossing them won’t really work in a lesson, but on my own I’ll practice that way.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I am also curious to know the answer to Green Acres question above for eq classes…

[RugBug]

Your horse should be able to tolerate the stirrups banging…so I would work on getting them used to it. In equitation, you do have the option to cross your stirrups, but I’ve had classes that you only did a small part with no stirrups so there was no way to cross. that could just be the level I show at, but there is no way to cross when you have to “drop your stirrups at X” sitting trot to gate or some such.

I have also received a no stirrups compliment from Greg Best. I’m not sure if it was for my posting trot or picking the stirrups up or the whole thing, but he told me it was the best he’d seen for a long time. I HAD been practicing, because I do have a hard time picking up my stirrups…at least I did in my old saddle. Which brings me to:

Sometimes there is difficulty because of where the stirrup bar is and how the leather hangs compared to how your leg naturally hangs. If they are way off, it can be a lot harder to pick up your stirrups. I never had a problem with this as a kid in my PdN knockoff, but my next saddle put me in a bit of a chair seat and I had A LOT of issues (this is the one I was riding in for the GB clinic). I have almost no issue in my newest saddle (Delgrange).

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=RugBug;7076350]

Sometimes there is difficulty because of where the stirrup bar is and how the leather hangs compared to how your leg naturally hangs. If they are way off, it can be a lot harder to pick up your stirrups. I never had a problem with this as a kid in my PdN knockoff, but my next saddle put me in a bit of a chair seat and I had A LOT of issues (this is the one I was riding in for the GB clinic). I have almost no issue in my newest saddle (Delgrange).[/QUOTE]

I definitely agree with this! I’m really picky about saddle balance and stirrup bar placement…I have a long femur which means that many stirrup bars are placed too far forward for the stirrups to hang in just the right place. I’m 51 and have a 40 hour a week desk job, so I can’t really maintain the strength necessary to fight a saddle to stay out of a chair seat! After trying lots of saddles, I found a used Oldara that was ALMOST just right…then I wrapped some vet wrap around the stirrup bars to push the leather back another 1/2"…this way the stirrups hang right where they need to when I have my legs in the right place. Helps a TON with picking stirrups back up, in addition to being able to ride without all the muscle tension necessary to stay in the right place on an ill-balanced saddle.