Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

That's why I can't relate to this conversation....I have long legs and am about 1 foot taller than Angie.  'Course....Joni is also taller than Angie.  ;-))

Laney Humphrey <laneyhh@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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.
> > 
> > 
> > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> > 
> > 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!!
> > 
> > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> > 
> > 
> > 
>
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> 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!!
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

---

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.