>>> I agree that correct stirrup length is vital for posting. Otherwise there >>> isn't enough >>> bend in the leg to create a spring between the hip, knee and ankle.
I didn't mean to imply otherwise, I case I did. On the other side though, why would a stirrup length that allows for posting interfere with riding a gait? That's the part I wonder about... I think I know the reason in the Icelandic tradition... the horse is too often cued into gait by the rider physically sliding back onto the cantle of the saddle. How does he slide back on a moving horse? By bracing on his legs on the stirrups and pushing back. Can you slide back in your saddle on a moving horse without bracing your legs...and probably your whole body? I can't. I think that's our answer - the brace is the enemy of "English-style" riding, as we learn in our early posting without stirrup lessons, as is taught in Centered Riding, in Linda Parelli's "Fluidity"... (That is a generic, if somewhat inaccurate, term in the USA for riding hunter/jumper/dressage as opposed to riding "western." Of course, the brace isn't desired in good "western" riding either.) But, it seems to be basic tenet of Icelandic style riding: no brace, no gait. And getting back to the subject line, that's why I was happy to see this demo video. Those riders didn't have nearly so much brace (in general, from what detail I could see) as we typically see in the Icelandic show ring. When the brace disappears from the rider, it also often disappears from the horse. Karen Thomas, NC
