# Why do I keep losing my stirrups?



## rachelgem (Oct 22, 2011)

i used to sometimes lose my stirrups if they were a nit too long, could that be it?


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

If you are posting in the trot, you are probably holding too much body weight in your knees and calves, not enough in your heels. Double check your stirrup length for sure, this may be why you aren't able to put enough weight in your heels and thus causing you to loose your stirrups. 

You also need to practice more and get you and your horse more comfortable so you will sit deeper just like your instructor is telling you. If horse and rider are tense, you loose connection. You need to be able to relax and enjoy the ride 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I love that expression, "Sit deeper" . What the heck does that actually mean? How does that translate into actual body movement? It is really up to personal interpretation since the expression does not tell you HOW to do this.

For some people this means dig their seatbones more into the saddle by rolling the pelvis backward (the top moves back so that the seatbones face more forward)

For some it means roling the pelvis forward and getting more on their peepees. others lift up their legs to take weight bearing off the thigh and put it on the seat. 
Other grip with the thigh, kind of just generally squeezing more with the entire upper leg.

Others exhale and maybe even curl the abdomin around their belly button.
Some draw the elbows and shoulder blades back.

So, just saying, "Sit Deeper" is hard to transmit, especailly to a novice rider.

AS for losoing the stirrups, it is almost always due to gripping up with the calves. YOu can have your heel pointed down and still grip up with your calf such that the stirrup iron falls loose of your foot. It is just something that you have to learn to not do and it usually takes time.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

AllThePrettyHorses said:


> ...She said I need to sit deeper, put more weight in my heels and stretch my leg down. I get that but at the same time, I don't. I'm still not entirely sure how I should be stretching my weight down. Any help or advice?


I think she wants you to have a lower center of gravity. That might require you to get your leg more under you (shoulder/hip/heel alignment). 

Sometimes, it can require letting your seat and feet bear the weight, and get it off of your thighs or knees. I started riding at 50, and my hips and legs were so tight that it took me forever to loosen and relax my leg. I still sometimes have to make a conscious effort to spread my knees and thighs to prevent making my knees a fulcrum.

'Put weight in your heels' is a counter-productive phrase for me. When I try that, I put tension all thru my leg and thus end up with MORE weight on my thighs, and less in my seat and heel. I usually also start gripping with my knee. For me, "Toes Up!" works better.


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## apucke3 (Nov 3, 2011)

Having your heels down is all about muscle memory. It is impossible to get your heel down past a certain point until you've been riding awhile and a lot.


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## AllThePrettyHorses (Dec 15, 2010)

My heels are definitely down, at least until I go to canter. Even when I ride bareback, my heels still just naturally fall down more than my toes.

I think she does want me to have a lower centre of gravity, bsms. That makes sense.

Is it possible my stirrups are too long if I usually lose them at the canter but not at the trot?


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## GotaDunQH (Feb 13, 2011)

Actually, I've found that if you lose your stirrups, you are gripping too much from the knee up through your thigh. There is no weight anywhere below the knee....so you have not weight in the stirrup. And using MORE calf is better...keeping an equal pressure from your hip down to your feel, with a feel of your horse from your WHOLE leg.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I actually had a similar issue riding English today at a canter. But, I figured out how to keep pressure on the stirrups without going into western mode. Just had to rotate my pelvis forward a bit.

When I barrel raced, I tended to lose stirrups because I brought my knees up a smidgeon and lost my stirrups. All I had to do was shorten them a hole and- problem solved.


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## Zuzana (Dec 15, 2011)

Hi there, just to add to everyone's comments:
you may also be losing your stirrups because your knees move upward at the faster gaits. Then your stirrups - which were at the correct length with a properly placed leg - are suddenly too long. Makes sense?
So if that is the case - the solution lies in training yourself to maintain your leg position (especially your thighs) no matter what the gait. 
you may have to keep thinking "knees down" or even get a feel like you are kneeling, or trying to reach your knees down and forward. 

do your best over the next few rides to find out what really happens - you should be able to see your knees move up in the saddle - just look down. And eventually you will be able to fix it too!

good luck
Zuzana


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

bsms said:


> I think she wants you to have a lower center of gravity. That might require you to get your leg more under you (shoulder/hip/heel alignment).
> 
> Sometimes, it can require letting your seat and feet bear the weight, and get it off of your thighs or knees. I started riding at 50, and my hips and legs were so tight that it took me forever to loosen and relax my leg. I still sometimes have to make a conscious effort to spread my knees and thighs to prevent making my knees a fulcrum.
> 
> 'Put weight in your heels' is a counter-productive phrase for me. When I try that, I put tension all thru my leg and thus end up with MORE weight on my thighs, and less in my seat and heel. I usually also start gripping with my knee. For me, "Toes Up!" works better.


 I agree with all of this. 

The root cause of losing stirrups is the rider blocking his weight from flowing down to the heels by tensing the hips and/or legs. The tension can exist in the hip joint, the abdominal or lumbar muscles, the knee, the lower leg or any combination of all.

The bottom line is that the seat bones are being blocked from going down solidly into the saddle by tension somewhere below. When the seat bones bore down into the saddle and the lower extremities and core muscles are active but flexible, the weight flows down to the balls of your feet. The balls of your feet cannot move since they are resting on the irons (stirrups) and thus the heels sink down.

The best way to fix this problem is to be lunged without stirrups at the trot and canter by a competent instructor. It sucks and is hard work, but there are no shortcuts.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

AllThePrettyHorses said:


> Is it possible my stirrups are too long if I usually lose them at the canter but not at the trot?


I doubt it. I think it you may be tensing more at the canter (maybe you are still not completely relaxed with the faster gait?) and that's when you lose them.


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