Stirrups too LONG?

[Shady_Indigo]

I ride my own mare, Shae, without a saddle most of the time, for various reasons im not going in to, but once a week i also take lessons at a riding school on riding school horses. I put my stirrups how i like the, which happens to be very very long (so long that my legs look too long on a 16.2hh horse (im only 5 foot!) But i still keep them in ears/shoulder/hip/heel line, they are just really long (i don't have long legs...) i keep my heels down easily. My instructor ALWAYS tells me my stirrups are too long and to shorten them up at least 2 holes! :O
So i do what she says and i feel so uncomfortable and bunched up it's horrible. it makes me bounce around like crazy in canter! How can i say that i like my stirrups that way for a reason, without offending my instructor?
I look at my friends riding with their stirrups the length the instructor teaches them to have it at and it shocks me im thinking they should have them at least 3 holes lower!!!

[chapsi]

Throughout my riding life I got to know several school's and instructors, some good qualified pros. The great majority always worked and encouraged me to develop a good independant seat, balance, body posture. All these aspects when duly achieved do lead to using stirrups quite long. Obviously, many riders tend to short their stirrups for jumping or hacking.
In short, stirrup length depends on the riders competence and the kind of riding.

[virtuallyhorses]

If you go by the classical riders the angle at the back of your knee should be around 110 degrees - check out the Spansih Riding School photos -or some of the other top dressage and classical dressage riders.

http://worldzone.net/recreation/virtuallyhorses/files/RidersSeat.jpg

[IrisSilverMoon]

^^^^^word...

for normal riding my stirrups go about two holes past my ankle, that's just where I learned to have my leg. It keeps my ankle nice and loose and keeps me from gripping too much with my knees i think. For jumping i shorten my stirrups like four holes!! :p

don't worry about how long they are unless you are jumping, if that's where you are comfortable and don't have position problems go with it. ;)

[Wally]

If you are reaching for your stirrups this will make you unblalnced and untidy. If, as you seem to be doing, you are keeping your heel low, and not losing them, well you can't be far off!

Most folk DO ride too short, if the stirrup is intefering with your seat in any way they are too short, they are there to aid your seat not influence it!

I ride longer than the photo below.

[Jay.o]

i find it so much easier to ride with out stirrups at all but when i do ride with them i have them quite low so my legs are longish but not TOO long so that i am reaching !

wally - what picture below ?
LOL

[cvb]

ok - I'm all for respecting your instructor. But there should be a tactful way you can ask what the instructor is seeing.

Hmmmm

something like asking her to explain how to find the 'right' length so you can find it at home as well ?

or ask her what she thinks you need to work on most, then ask how that relates to stirrup length (depending on what the answer is)... ?

I'm sure a tactful and modest request for enlightenment would help clear this up...

[Spydgal]

As Jay.o. said, if you can keep your heel down low and are not reaching for your stirrups then surely you are in a good position. Particularly as you are keeping your line down the side of you.
I am amazed at how short some people can ride ... I just cant do it ... I have to go longer. I feel like I will topple over sideways and not keep my balance if they are short ... maybe thats me lacking skill though !!

[virtuallyhorses]

Perhaps you could take one of those throw-away cameras along to your lesson - ask your instructor to take a few photos - first in 'your' position and then in her position and as someone said, ask her to explain why she feels you're too long.

This will also confirm whether you really do have the correct alignment too. Don't forget that the thigh is supposed to provide support, if its almost straight it's not going to do that. If your legs are too long\straight it will also cause you back to hollow and your knees won't feel like they're pointing down.

Sometimes things feel really bad just because they've changed - talk it over with the instructor and be prepared to give the new length\position a go. :) After all if you're going for lessons shouldn't you trust the opinion of the person you're learning from?

I've just been correcting my position (yet again :o ) with some more lessons and thought I had the correct alignment and had my heels down. Yep my heels were ALWAYS down (jammed down) but my alignment was 'false'.

When I was first corrected it felt like my legs were crammed\bent into too short stirrups (length hadn't changed, just my position) - but after a while it now feels so good I can't believe the difference.

[Dizzy]

I would listen to your instructor, if your balanced and your wieght is dropping through your heel, you shouldn't really be bouncing in canter if your stirrups are only up by 2 holes. Many folk raise their stirrups by 3 or 4 holes to jump, and look at jockeys, they don't bounce, they balance and absorb the stride.

Lesley

[Mellany]

Surely the 'ideal' stirrup length is one which results in the rider feeling balanced and secure. This will vary according to the height and conformation of both rider and horse and personal preference of the rider. I'm 5'9" very long legs and ride a 16.3 TBx. Personally, I hate my stirrups at the moment, riding with them feels all 'wrong' so I tend to go stirrupless. I'm sure it's due to the stirrup bars being too far forward (thanks Heather of EE). I have to constantly battle to keep my legs hanging underneath me. We all aim for the 'perfect' position, ie. one which allows us to ride securely, in balance and in true harmony with our horse. If this is being acheived, does it really matter if our legs look too long/short or if the angle at the back of the knee isn't mathematically accurate to some classical dressage riders? Methinks not.

[cvb]

very few instructors are going to be teaching a particular angle, length etc of leg - they will teaching overall position, results, etc

And the whole point of having an instructor on the ground is that they can see things we can not from on top, and have the experience to help us improve.

Yes, they also can not FEEL what we feel. But sometimes we think we are doing ok, but they see that it will block further improvement.

It is true that everyone has different conformation, but we still need the joints to absorb movement, flex, apply aids.... It just looks a bit different when a 5'4 person like me does it vs a 6ft long limbed person does it.

We are still both aiming to get good results.

[FreedomStar]

for just regular working and schooling and such, it is better to have your stirrups longer, then shorten them up for jumping. For instance, the regular stirrup length should be long enough so that it hits between the anklebone and the bottom of your foot, and jump length is anywhere from your anklebone higher.

[Waikato Valuta]

I dont remember where i read this. They said that the longer the stirups the better the rider. Are your legs dead straight or is there a bend. I knew someong who would always ride with there legs straight it looks fuuny but she refused to change. But if you are ridding with a bend but long stirrups then i think good for you. I usualy ride long unless I am ridding a young, green or naghty horse as i feel i have more suport if anything go's wrong.

[Shady_Indigo]

ouch riding with no bend in your knee would hurt! You wouldn't be able to absorb the movement very well would you?
I just can't bring my self to have stirrups like most of the other riders at my barn do, when i do i just feel like im perched on top of the saddle like a little jockey.

[Emma_G_NZ]

I ride with my stirrups quite long really, it happens if you ride bareback alot! I noticed that I actually had them quite short, until I started riding bareback...
Also a GP position is much shorter than a dressage position, so dont forget that, I have my dressage saddle about 3 holes longer than I did on my GP, and even then I used to have a bit of a dressage leg!