Friday, June 5, 2009

I have to say that one of my pet peeves is that people cannot tighten their girths or shorten their stirrups safely and quickly while mounted. I think that most people do not tighten (or at least check) their girths after riding around for a bit. I was always aware if my girth was a bit loose because I could feel the saddle bouncing a bit on the horses back. Tighten the girth and it was easier to sit the trot. 

A rider must be able to quickly adjust the stirrups without taking the foot out and while keeping one hand on the reins and it should take a few seconds only. Sure you'll have to practice to be able to do this. I used to adjust my stirrups while trotting or cantering. :-)

Anyone who feels that this might be too difficult, check out this video: http://www.barnmice.com/video/metropolitan-mounted-police
Make sure you get to the end. What wonderfully trained horses! And riders with independent seats and hands. WOW!

2 comments:

Christine Headley said...

Pony Club is great for teaching kids how to do this at a young age. I am thankful everyday for the skills I aquired from my experiences in pony club!

Lendon said...

Christine,
I agree with you totally. Pony Club set the tone for my riding and horse care and safety for the rest of my career. It is too bad that there are so many Dressage riders out there with no pony club or equivalent background. And it is also too bad that Pony Club is backing away from the emphasis on stable management and written tests.