losing inside stirrup in canter

[donnalync]

Help! When I first started to Canter, I was losing my inside stirrup....when I changed horses to a nice, old horse, I was doing great and noticed I never had the stirrup problem...of course, his canter was nice and smooth so it gave me a chance to work on my form. Well, today at my lesson, they gave me yet another horse...when I cantered, I lost my inside stirrup everytime! I asked my teacher why I might be doing that, and her answer was "because you are not an expert." That made me a little mad, because not every rider is an expert and not every rider loses the stirrup. The new horse's canter was a little bouncier...wondering if I am bouncing up and down and my foot is jiggling in the stirrup, causing me to lose it? Maybe I need to hug the horse with my lower leg more, being more still, and it will be better...... Any help would be appreciated so I can try a new approach for my next lesson.

[Mehitabel]

did you have to use a lot of leg to keep going? could be you are bringing your lower leg up when you use it. alternatively if the horse was bouncier, then you are probably 'gripping up' - drawing the leg up as you grip with the knee. that'd explain why you don't do it on a smoother canterer, if you don;t need ot grip.

[donnalync]

I did not have to use a lot of leg to keep him going and the thought of me gripping is scary as I pride myself on not doing that!......but hey, it is totally possible I was gripping a bit as I was trying to steady my ride, and moving my feet up.....I will try next time to be conscious of not gripping in the knee area and see what happens...thanks..wish my teacher would have made a comment like that so I could try the change while I was riding!

[DavidH]

As you only loose one stirrup and it is always the inside one I would be pretty certain it is a weight distribution problem. What happens is that the rider leans their upper body slightly to the inside. This shifts their weight to the outside seat bone and leg and takes the weight out of the inside stirrup. hence they loose it. Unfortunately this is the complete oposite of what you need to do in canter. The more unbalanced the canter, the more people tend to do it.
To solve the problem, before asking for canter shfit your hip to the inside so that your outside seat bone is almost in the centre of the saddle but keep your upper body verticle. When you ask for canter step in to the inside stirrup and keep your weight in to the ball of the inside foot. You may find that you have to shift your weight over after every complete stride and push down in to the inside stirrup to stop you rrom loosing the position. So 123 shift push, 123 shift push, 123 shift push. Canter will then become smoother, horse will give correct bend naturally and stay out on the track.

[donnalync]

David,
I am trying to process what you are saying and not sure I have it right. First off, you are probably right in that I am leaning a bit to the inside. The ring I ride in is small and there isn't much room to canter straight, so the horse is continually in a circle. But if I am leaning inside, why wouldn't my weight be in my LEFT seat bone...unless I am countering my lean with my right seat bone.....the other question would be, then why didn't this happen on the other horse I have been riding. Not once........

[DavidH]

But if I am leaning inside, why wouldn't my weight be in my LEFT seat bone...unless I am countering my lean with my right seat bone.
Exactly. You have to counter or you will become unbalanced and fall off to the inside.
The horse it didn't happen on had a much smoother canter. This indicates it was more balanced so stayed more upright and worked correctly which didn't make you feel the need subconsciously to lean in.

[donnalync]

David...Incredible.....thank you. I can't wait till my next lesson on Tuesday to work on this...hope I have the same horse.....