Fitting The Rider

[JinxedDream]

Okay, photos....

Bareback

Under saddle, same horse.

That's about it. That's the only standing under saddle photo I have.

[Matt S]

I am going to go out on a limb here. It may just be the angle of the photo but it looks like your stirrups are too short. I was always taught (admittedly from a modern English seat school) that your ear, hip and heel should be in vertical alignment. Amongst other things it makes rising (posting?) In the stirrupsuch easier and you get a closer contact with the horse.

[JinxedDream]

They might be a bit on the short side but if I make them any longer, I lose my stirrups.

This is when I had them longer

My coach told me to shorten them a few days later.

[Matt S]

I need to point out I am neither a riding instructor, nor do I play one on TV, and I've only been schooled in the English style. But I think your leg is too far forward -- as I said, I was always taught that the heel needs to be directly underneath the hip and the ear. To do this, your stirrups need to be like in the photo you just posted. Rule of thumb is the stirrup tread level with your ankle bones with the feet out and legs relaxed down. Alternatively you can judge this from the ground on a GP English saddle by putting your middle finger on the stirrup bar under the jockey and making it so the stirrup tread is at your armpit with the arm straight.

Like I said, this comes from one style of English riding. Bringing the leg underneath you brings your centre of gravity underneath you too -- which I find gives me a more independent seat.

[JinxedDream]

I'm aware of that. However, if I make them longer again, cues become difficult. You can see just how far down my boots are along her side. I know on my fat pony, my toes would touch her knees. I take the arm length and then shorten it a hole. When I did ride English in first year college, I was running the irons up 3 to 4 holes just so I could keep my legs on the horse not around the horse (it was a 16.2hh warmblood).

[keplerts]

I think your stirrup length is fine in the first photo. I believe your feet are pushed forward because that is how and aussie saddle in setup to place you feet.

Most people ride with their stirrups way to long. Just goes to show there are lots of opinions

Good luck on this one Jinx.

Tom

[JinxedDream]

^ I think that is the thing about horses and riding... there are so many different opinions and ways. I did find more Aussie saddle photos and all are similar to what I'm doing. Saddleseat as well. Oddly enough not dressage which is what an Aussie saddle was built on (the traditional ones that is).

I've been researching ground seats. So many options!

[AdamTill]

This might be of interest:

http://www.equinestudies.org/whos_built_best_2008/whos_built_best_2008_pdf1.pdf

[JinxedDream]

This might be of interest:

http://www.equinestu...t_2008_pdf1.pdf

Thank you! That was great!

[vacacaballo]

JinxedDream, as Deb Bennett lays out in the above article, the female pelvis wants to naturally sit more forward than a male's. The Aussie saddle clearly has a less dramatic rise to the seat, allowing a little more forward rotation of the pelvis...and allowing the saddlemaker to move the low-point in the groundseat forward.

Twist your stirrup leathers though. Life's too short. That will really help with the torque on your knees. http://twistandwrap.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-twist-wrap-your-stirrup-leathers.html

Don't worry about the position or angle of your feet, in terms of classical equitation seat. The correct position is what feels good to you and keeps you pain-free. But, I suspect that if you had a saddle that allowed you to rotate your pelvis forward and was also narrow enough to get your legs under you, the vertical alignment you're comfortable with will be closer to your alignment while bareback. The wear spots on the 14" western saddle are pretty telling. I bet your hips were really hurting.

I wonder if a traditional Poley-style Aussie Stock Saddle (not built on western bars) would suit you better. They can have really deep upright seats that would put you closer to the bareback position you seem to find most comfortable. I'd also love to know how you fared in a barrel racing saddle, many of which seem to have a less aggressive forward rise to the seat, with the stirrups set at the 3/4 position.

Good luck.