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[RC] Narrow v. Wide Twist - katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxMarv said: If you have knee pain when riding, check your stirrup length, one or both may be too long and the pain may come from continually trying to keep your feet in place. In my experience assuming that you aren't riding in a saddle with to wide of a twist :), if, while riding endurance, you get sore knees, it is probably because you are riding with a stirrup that is too short rather than one that is too long. Coming from a hunter/jumper background, when I first started riding endurance I rode with a much shorter stirrup than I do now. If it is an English type saddle with stirrup leathers instead of fenders, the leather twist should follow the curve of your leg. If it does not, the leather forms a bump about where your knee is. The twist of the saddle that the original poster was referring to is, in essence, the width of the saddle where it contacts your crotch, not if or whether the fenders or stirrup leathers are twisted. Although, because I am duck-footed, if I ride in a western saddle that has not had the fenders turned so that they twist my toes towards the side of the horse, this, too, gives me sore knees. All that said, twist is but one of many different variables there is in saddle fit for the rider, not just the horse. And yes, getting this right is almost as important as getting saddle fit right for the horse. Unfortunately, I have not come up with a way to determine whether a saddle fits a rider without riding in it any better than I have come up with a way to determine whether a saddle fits a horse without putting it on the horse and trying it out. The only way to know if it might work for you is to put it on a saddle stand and sit in it, if it isn't comfortable sitting in it on a saddle stand, it is unlikely to be comfortable for you when riding a moving horse; however, the converse is not also true, since there are plenty of saddles that are comfortable to sit in, but not to ride in. After you find one that is comfortable to sit it, then put it on a horse and ride in it. I know of no other way. kat Orange County, Calif. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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