hi it's josie and today i'm going to answer
a question from one of my email subscribers actually and
they asked well they stated that they keep losing their stirrups in canter and is there any tips i
have for them and i do have i have two tips that will help you keep your feet in the stirrup in
canter but firstly i want to tell you a bad saddle position a saddle that doesn't fit properly on
the horse tips you forward tips you backwards you need to sort that out because you need to
have a stable saddle that sits with you in the deepest part of it and also your stirrup length
can have a lot to do with it if your stirrups are too long then you're forever going to be reaching
for it and if you slightly get off balance you're going to lose it so you could try shortening your
stirrups one hole but be aware when you do that and start to ride it's going to feel very bizarre
give it some time before you decide that you hate it and you have to go back because i see
a lot of people who are doing dressage ride way too long and i was one of them i think my
stirrups are up two holes from where i used to try and ride now from where they were years ago
so i'm going to give you two tips i'm going to show you them
in action but i do have to tell you that rebel has a very sensitive back
he does not like me moving around on his back too much he'll often just stop
spider was the best horse to do this with he was very tolerant of me moving around on his back but
he's out injured at the moment so rebel it is so please just bear with us if he looks pretty awful
as i'm trying to show you something because he does not like me moving around too much
so once you've sorted out that your saddle fits correctly the deepest part of your
saddle is in the middle so you can sit in it and your stirrups are the correct length
now if you have them down you can see where mine sits i might they say they
should hit you in the ankle bone it's a bit hard with rebel looking out there
yep mine mine basically just sit just below my ankle bone like literally just below them
because you need to be able to have weight in your stirrups you don't stand in them although
you do have weight when you come up you also use your leg i've done a video on that and i'll link
that at the end but you must have some weight in your stir otherwise you are going to lose it
so one of the first reasons i know that people lose their stirrups and why do i know these guys
because i used to have the problem is that they grip with their thighs when they're
when they're cantering and just watch what happens to my seat when i grip with my thighs
i don't know if you can see that but as soon as i grip i pop up when you pop up off the saddle
your actual leg draws back up and if you're if your stirrups are just long enough that
you can just put your toes in them you'll lose them so when i i pop up i pop up when i tighten
my thighs so my very first tip for you to help you keep your stirrup in the canter
is to make sure that you have soft thighs and to have those soft thighs and release
your thigh from the saddle i don't mean roll it out when i tell you to take it off in a minute
it comes out sideways basically let me see if i can come straight at the camera and show you
so it comes out that way not you don't roll like that you lift
it out and it doesn't have to be a lot it just has to be a little bit and i'll see if i can
show you how that looks on the horse so rebel please forgive me moving around on your back
good so if i'm cantering and i pinch my thighs rebel's not gonna like this
not only do i bang in the saddle but i don't i don't lose my stirrups because i've got
stirrups that are at a good length
but i feel my whole leg come away from my horse my whole seat pardon me not my leg i feel my
whole seat come away from my horse so you need to open your thighs and it doesn't mean rolling them
so when you're cantering on your horse even on a circle think about just lifting the
inside leg away it doesn't even have to come off the saddle just be aware
if you're trying to grip on with your thighs and allow them to relax and as
they relax your way and i relaxed then and you saw i happen to rebel your weight will go down
so think about your thighs you can lift them off if you're able to but if not
think relax the thighs relax the thighs relax the thighs
and you can actually see
that my leg hangs quietly when my thighs are relaxed
now the other tip i want to give you
for not losing your stirrup in the canter is that you should have weight in your stirrups
even now i've got weight in my stirrups i'm not standing on them to get out of the saddle
but there's weight there if you lose your stirrup and your horse is just going along quietly
you have lost the weight in your stirrups how much weight now i don't want you to go around stomping
on your stirrup in a minute when i show you this because that's just not nice for your horse
but i want you to think about when you're down the beach and you step into the edge where the
water washes up and comes away that sand there so what you do when you put your foot in there is if
you put a tiny bit of pressure you sink so that's the sort of pressure i want you to think about
keeping in your foot enough to just keep your foot in the very soft sand and if you feel it
come away just think about squishing into that sand and you can even wriggle your toes
because i used to ride with very scrunched up toes and that gives you a very stiff foot
so let's have a look at that in motion so even as i come out of the saddle here
i can feel the stirrup on the ball of my foot i can feel like i'm just sitting on
some very soft squishy sand at the edge of the beach so when you get your horse into canter
i want you to think squish squish squish squish squish squish squish squish squish squish squish
so i'm thinking deliberately there of making sure that my weight is in my stirrup and i've only got
the weight that i would i don't i'm not even squishing now because i don't have to but i did
and then what i'd like you to do is put them both together
open the thigh squish the sand open the thigh squish the sand open squish open squish open
told you rebel doesn't like me messing around on his back sorry buddy let's go the other way
good boy
so it is i'm not going to do it because it upsets him but you would be
thinking open squish open squish open squish open squish open squish open squish and to me
it goes in the rhythm of the canter good boy so no stomping that's just awful even sitting here now i
am pushing down onto the stirrup with the ball of my foot squish squish squish opening
my thigh opening i'm just relaxing when i say open you're just literally relaxing so you're
not clamped up there so you got open squish open squish and it does go in the rhythm of the canter
if you check the description i'm putting together a membership if you think it's something that you
would be interested in add your name to the emails there and i'll be sure and let you know when it's
available i'd love to see you there and thanks so much for watching guys