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Very interesting explanation, Diane.  I have short legs so maybe that's 
why I hate horses that have big, scopy trots.  I've also found I dislike 
horses whose movement pushes me up more than forward - they have 
straighter hind legs with more open joints and, according to Deb 
Bennett, are built for racing (galloping, not troting).
Laney

Diane Trefethen wrote:
> I have to weigh in and support Angie on the shorter stirrup issue.  Mind 
> you, we are not talking jockey length here, just short enough to be able 
> to rise and fall with the motion of your horse.  If you have shortish 
> legs, when riding a horse with a big, scopy trot, it is impossible to 
> avoid getting your pelvis whacked on every stride if you have stirrups 
> that are "as long as possible" while "still being able to keep heels 
> down".  Why? Because the horse's motion is so high and long that you 
> cannot get out of his way.  As he rises, you are not pushed up out of 
> the saddle - you are carried in the saddle.  Then as his back starts to 
> fall, the momentum from being pushed upward drives you higher.  You peak 
> and start down and smack into the now rising on the next stride saddle, 
> once again to be carried upwards.  With shorter stirrups, some of that 
> upthrust can be absorbed by the uncoiling of the knees so that at the 
> peak of the stride, all the kinetic energy has been dissipated, your 
> upward momentum relative to the saddle is zero, and you can descend as 
> the saddle falls.
>
> If you have longer legs, the only way you could possibly begin to 
> appreciate the problem would be to imagine that you are on a 25 hand 
> tall horse whose trot was commensurate with it's height.  In that 
> situation, you too would not be able to stop rising after the horse's 
> stride peaked... unless you shortened your stirrups.
>
>
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