You can't reject the importance of stirrups to a rider. Stirrups are an essential item on the horse tack list. Riders use stirrups for mounting, dismounting, balance, pony control and every now and then for protecting themselves from a potential fall.
So why in the name of all that is horse heaven do instructors demand that their students learn to ride without stirrups? If you've ever been baffled by this question, I've got some clarifications for you.
Before I answer the issue of why instructors ask students to ride sans stirrups, I have a bit of guidance for you. When riding without your stirrups, lay them across the horse's neck or the shoulders, but don't lay them across your saddle. It'll take you one experience with severely bruised things to learn this lesson yourself the hard way, but I am protecting you from that experience. Laying the stirrups across the horse's shoulders and neck will cause him no discomfort. The stirrups will bounce in total harmony with the horse's movements. Try to get the buckle away from the stirrup bar, and place this across the horse's neck. You can avoid pinching and bruising your upper legs by doing this and shoving the stirrup leather flat underneath the saddle's skirt.
Riding without stirrups is meant to help you analyse and improve your sense of balance and steadiness. When you're riding without the safety of the stirrups, you are presenting your instructor with an exposed view of your abilities, or absence of them. When you are without stirrups, you have got to kind of feel out the position astride your horse that works best for you personally and that may involve a large amount of wriggling and shifting. While the natural tendency is to rock forward so that you can absorb the impact of the horse's movements better through the upper part of your body (and also because the horse's neck can be grabbed if necessary) this could make the pony tense. You need to relax and sit back. You have to learn to absorb the impact of movement thru your lower body areas: the lumbar region, hips and pelvis. The higher part of your body should be upright and still, moving just enough to flow with the horse's movements. You need to try to sit as loosely as possible in such a way that your weight presses down on the horse's centre of gravity.
Riding without stirrups helps twitchy riders gain some confidence. While it can be a rather frightening experience at the outset, riding a gentle horse without stirrups will enhance your sense of balance and give you better control of application of aids. If you are particularly uncomfortable at the beginning, you should not feel embarrassed to ask that you start off at a walk. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can slowly progress to a trot and then to a canter. No-stirrup work truly develops your sense of security, but you should not be averse to admitting your primary fear. It's better to start slowly and build up. Excess fear can communicate itself to the pony.
The rider with more experience benefits from no-stirrup work in that he is able to develop a sense of feel and reduce riding strain. Strain can build up without the rider even being aware of it: it can start at the ankles, at the neck or at the back and shoulders. You become a better rider when you're really mindful of your body and the signals it is transmitting.
The inception of stirrups is army, they were designed as part of pony tack to enable cavalry riders to remain stable during battle. Clearly, in the days before stirrups were invented each rider rode without them, many riders rode with no pony tack of any sort at all. Since horseback fighting is nearly part of history now, it can be debated that we do not need stirrups any longer. But like all devices that ease life, once we have it, we don't wish to give it up. If you truly intend to become a top class rider, though, you should perfect the art of riding without stirrups.
So why in the name of all that is horse heaven do instructors demand that their students learn to ride without stirrups? If you've ever been baffled by this question, I've got some clarifications for you.
Before I answer the issue of why instructors ask students to ride sans stirrups, I have a bit of guidance for you. When riding without your stirrups, lay them across the horse's neck or the shoulders, but don't lay them across your saddle. It'll take you one experience with severely bruised things to learn this lesson yourself the hard way, but I am protecting you from that experience. Laying the stirrups across the horse's shoulders and neck will cause him no discomfort. The stirrups will bounce in total harmony with the horse's movements. Try to get the buckle away from the stirrup bar, and place this across the horse's neck. You can avoid pinching and bruising your upper legs by doing this and shoving the stirrup leather flat underneath the saddle's skirt.
Riding without stirrups is meant to help you analyse and improve your sense of balance and steadiness. When you're riding without the safety of the stirrups, you are presenting your instructor with an exposed view of your abilities, or absence of them. When you are without stirrups, you have got to kind of feel out the position astride your horse that works best for you personally and that may involve a large amount of wriggling and shifting. While the natural tendency is to rock forward so that you can absorb the impact of the horse's movements better through the upper part of your body (and also because the horse's neck can be grabbed if necessary) this could make the pony tense. You need to relax and sit back. You have to learn to absorb the impact of movement thru your lower body areas: the lumbar region, hips and pelvis. The higher part of your body should be upright and still, moving just enough to flow with the horse's movements. You need to try to sit as loosely as possible in such a way that your weight presses down on the horse's centre of gravity.
Riding without stirrups helps twitchy riders gain some confidence. While it can be a rather frightening experience at the outset, riding a gentle horse without stirrups will enhance your sense of balance and give you better control of application of aids. If you are particularly uncomfortable at the beginning, you should not feel embarrassed to ask that you start off at a walk. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can slowly progress to a trot and then to a canter. No-stirrup work truly develops your sense of security, but you should not be averse to admitting your primary fear. It's better to start slowly and build up. Excess fear can communicate itself to the pony.
The rider with more experience benefits from no-stirrup work in that he is able to develop a sense of feel and reduce riding strain. Strain can build up without the rider even being aware of it: it can start at the ankles, at the neck or at the back and shoulders. You become a better rider when you're really mindful of your body and the signals it is transmitting.
The inception of stirrups is army, they were designed as part of pony tack to enable cavalry riders to remain stable during battle. Clearly, in the days before stirrups were invented each rider rode without them, many riders rode with no pony tack of any sort at all. Since horseback fighting is nearly part of history now, it can be debated that we do not need stirrups any longer. But like all devices that ease life, once we have it, we don't wish to give it up. If you truly intend to become a top class rider, though, you should perfect the art of riding without stirrups.
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