On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 07:06:34AM -0700, Kaaren Jordan wrote: > The endurance set up eliminates the pressure from the stirrup attachment at > the top which is triangulated through the internal rigging via the hard use > buckle with hard use. Putting it at the bottom eliminates any top pressure. > The downside is that it restricts leg swing/movement..which can be a good > thing with some riders. It steadies up the leg & keeps it in a centered > position. If you can get used to the endurance stirrup attachment, it is the > best for any kind of distance riding according to Dana.
....as a rider, i have mixed feelings about the leg restriction (keeping in mind that my legs are short and i am short, and the shorter the stirrup length the greater the restriction). i am not sure mine *is* putting me into a properly centered position relative to my horse, but i am still breaking it in (to both of us, i presume). my hope is that when that's done it will indeed do that. (i had a stubben rex that somehow helped me bundles with that when i was a kid.) for the moment i think it tends to put my feet a bit ahead of where i'd like, but this just underlines my "i need to call kaaren and talk about how the new saddle is going" feeling; it's not (yet) a judgement against the saddle, and even then may end up being a "not for every rider" kind of thing. as a rider and teacher i have one thing i LOVE LOVE LOVE about the fixed stirrups: they stay where they are when you drop your stirrups. so if you are working without stirrups (say to get one leg a long way back for a hind-end cue without a whip, or to practice feeling the security of your seat) your legs and your horse's sides aren't getting nearly as battered as with free-swing-type stirrups. one sensation user's tuppence. --vicka
