Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

One point that I didn't see mentioned is the fact that though humans are 
bilaterally symmetrical, there are often minor differences including the 
length of each leg.  Further, injuries, even minor ones, can contribute to 
foreshortening of one limb.  Adding the possibility of a small left or 
right curvature of the spine gives another example of how one's legs could 
be just a bit different in length as one sits "evenly" in the saddle. 
Also, if one limb is slightly shorter, as you walk you will exert slightly 
more force on that limb.  This contributes to wearing the sole of your 
boot/shoe a bit more, shortening that side even more.  These differences in 
length could be so small that they are virtually undetectable to the human 
eye but sit in a saddle for 50 miles and if your stirrups do not adequately 
support the shorter limb, you will feel it.

If this is your problem, where your holes are punched in your stirrup 
leathers becomes critical.  A minor discrepancy might not be a problem for 
a person with legs of equal length or if the short stirrup is on the side 
with the short leg, but if the longer stirrup leather is on the side with 
the shorter leg, riding balanced and even would require considerable effort 
leading to fatigue, muscle aches AND a horse that also spent a fair amount 
of effort trying to help keep you in balance.


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