Who rides reeeeeaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllly long?

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HaffiesRock

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I ride short and always have done. A couple of my friends ride so long that they look really unstable. I understand a long leg for dressage but what about hacking? Im talking legs so long your foot is barely touching the stirrup.

Just wondering :)
 
I ride dressage length all the time schooling and hacking but actually prefer riding without stirrups at all when schooling by a long shot hehe but won't hack without
 
I much prefer riding short but am trying to go longer as I think it's better for my riding. My sister and I are the same height-ish and when she rides my horse she lengthens the stirrups by 4 holes...
 
This is my friend on my pony tonight. Just looks uncomfortable :O/

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Not offensivly to your friend but jeezzz that does not look comfy at all. im an inbetweeny i like riding short and always have but since getting my new horse and starting dressage theyre slowly creeping down longer
 
I tried riding long once. It ended in a comedy fall out of the side door whilst the pony continued trotting innocently around the arena. Thereafter I always rode a hole or two shorter than was probably ideal
 
elsiecat said:
I don't understand this comment?

I always ride in longer stirrups for hacking as I feel more secure being able to 'wrap my legs around' a bit more. I don't do so because I think I'm a dressage rider? :confused:
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I was referring to the photo above. Should have clarified. Riding that long that it renders your leg ineffective, has no value really, unless health issues of course.
 
I ride very very long, even in a gp saddle out hacking. I'm not unstable or reaching for the stirrups, but unless jumping I always ride dressage length. Partly because I spent most of my childhood riding bareback, so its habit. Partly cos to me, dressage isn't about doing a test, its about training horse & rider, something that is important all the time. So wouldn't compromise my position cos its just hacking. Will jump stuff out hacking at that length too. Only exception is hunting where they are a normal hunting length, or to disguise the fact I'm too leggy on small ponies. Even then, with short stirrups on a 13hh pony, if it starts playing up first thing I do is kick my feet free. But too long stirrups without the muscle & balance in place to back it up don't do anyone any good, that's when you get the unstable, stretching for stirrups effect.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
I was referring to the photo above. Should have clarified. Riding that long that it renders your leg ineffective, has no value really, unless health issues of course.
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It does not render your leg ineffective, provided you know how to use them and arent using them for pony club kicks.....

That person looks wrong because they are bracing against the stirrup, hence the leg sticking out half a mile, rather than distributing the weight correctly between seat and feet.

I ride long, always have due to hypermobility, but now because im mainly interested in dressage and because it lowers your centre of gravity and means your knees arent acting as a spring board to ping you off.
 
TigerTail said:
It does not render your leg ineffective, provided you know how to use them and arent using them for pony club kicks.....

That person looks wrong because they are bracing against the stirrup, hence the leg sticking out half a mile, rather than distributing the weight correctly between seat and feet.
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Hence my comment. I'm not on about all people who ride long, I ride long myself, but people who ride long bracing out a mile on their toes or similar, then I do not see the point in it.
 
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I used to ride veryyy short but recently have being doing lots of no stirrup work to try and get in the habbit of riding longer. ride short out hacking though as feel more secure!
 
I ride long. I wouldn't say reallllly long, but longer than most folk I know... bul then most folk I know ride in GP saddles and do lots of hunting and jumping :p I ride all the time in a dressage saddle, and if I didn't ride a bit longer, my knees would be over the front of the knee rolls :D. Like the poster above, I also ride bareback a lot, so in case of emergencies, my first thought is to wrap legs around horse. I hack bareback but I don't slouch along, I try to sit correctly and am conscious of my position and the horse's movement.

As a result, I feel quite unstable in a GP saddle, sort of perched with my legs all bunched up!
 
I ride " long" when schooling and hack out in jump length stirrups. I find for me it's good to keep swapping between the 2 lengths as if I ride in the same all the time, it kils my knees ( which are knackered anyway ) when i change lengths. The length of my stirrups when schooling are what I feel comfortable in as will ride a lot without atirrups and sitting trot. Hacking, I will at some point be riding in XC position even if only in trot to keep a small amount of stomach fitness going!
 
I have always ridden long as it just seems more natural and feels secure to me, recently an instructor shortened my stirrups a couple because she likes to ride short herself, well it HURT my poor old knees so much I have them even longer than before now!
 
mandwhy said:
I have always ridden long as it just seems more natural and feels secure to me, recently an instructor shortened my stirrups a couple because she likes to ride short herself, well it HURT my poor old knees so much I have them even longer than before now!
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It hurts because you are riding in one length alll the time! As I said before I have knackered knees so I alternate between jumping and dressage so have no problems.
 
I ride long but not reeeeeaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllly long. I'm tall with long legs and my horse is relatively short and wide so it helps for me to be able to wrap my legs around her big barrel :)
 
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