If you ride with your leg too straight you are already off, you just haven't hit the ground yet
~Buck Brannaman 7/9/10 Dayton Clinic
In this photo you can see that the DOR has a habit of riding with her leg too straight. Now usually that has not been a problem for her, in fact for over forty years it seemed to work just fine. But as she got older and her balance wasn't what it used to be she has run into some situations where she can't stick to the saddle the way she could when she was younger. A sudden side-ways jump, a sit and spin, and a sudden screeching halt can all cause her to become unbalanced and risk a fall simply because her straight leg does not give her any leverage to balance or grip with.
She shortened her stirrups a couple of months ago to add an nice bend to her knee. The results have made the DOR very happy. Her seat balance is better and when Sir Royal Pain pulled one of his "jump 1 foot up/2 feet to the left, followed by his patented sit and spin to the left" the DOR remained centered and balanced in the saddle. She was please to find some of her younger saddle sticking seat still there.
I wonder if she knew this earlier when I had the werehorse incident if she would have been able to ride it out...probably not because I was bucking like a professional bucking horse.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!
4 comments:
Ya know, looking at these photos makes me wonder if I need to do the same thing. I tend to ride kind of stretched out myself, to avoid knee strain.
I do that , ride with stiruups longer to avoid the pain in my knees.
However in endurance I have to ride with them shorter so I can post the trot.
hmmmm .....
Yay for staying on!!! :)
Post a Comment