>Women are built differently from men but we all ride in
>the same saddles. My belief is that where we hurt first
>is a combination of our own particular anatomy taking
>into account that most women's hip joints are placed
>and angulated differently from men's which makes
>our legs angle in towards our knees while men's hang
>straight plus the saddle we ride in. You also have to
>take into account the ascending angle of your pubic
>area from sitbones to pubic arch - some shallow,
>some steep, and how far apart your sitbones are
>and how all this matches the seat of your saddle.
>Then there is the issue of how much "flesh" you
>have on the inner sides of your thighs and whether
>your saddle gives you the right amount of room
>for your flesh.
I believe Deb Bennett (a PhD paleontologist--accustomed
to analyzing bones) was the first to point these differences
out vis-a-vis women equestrians around two decades
ago in an influential series of articles she wrote for
"Equus."
I was really trying to get some kind of confirmation from
the guys that the theory actually works out in practise:
that after hours and hours in the saddle, the guys
really *don't* hurt in the same ways in the same places.
But then again, I guess asking a bunch of guys to
publically discuss their physical limitations is kinda
stupid.
Another gender difference...
I think maybe I'm going to experiment with deliberately
improper leg positions (knees and toes pointing outward)
just to see if it makes any difference. I've already noticed
that "heels down" isn't a biggie with endurance riders.
Linda B. Merims
Massachusetts, USA
