# Foot in the stirrup



## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

As some of you know I had my horse Saro at a trainers for a few days. While I was riding, she came over and shoved my foot all the way into the stirrup up to the heel of my boot. She quoted Baxter Black's Always be ridin’ yer horse. "‘If you plan on getting throwed, ride on the balls of yer feet. If yer gonna ride it out, shove yer feet all the way into the stirrup"

I always assumed I should be riding on the balls of my feet. Is that wrong? This is of course the same person who said she didn't believe in helmets or in teaching a horse a one rein stop. :shock: 
All of this just seemed very dangerous. Is there any situation when you would ride with your feet all the way up, heel to stirrup edge? Bronc riding maybe? 

Just FYI I am not going back to this trainer. Just one of those maybe she's right moment so I better ask the experts on the HF


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## LovesMyDunnBoy (Aug 11, 2011)

I wouldn't ride like that unless I completely without a doubt trusted my horse.. Which means I never would. Horses have brains, therefore they're unpredictable. I personally wouldn't, plus riding on the balls of your feet helps to keep your heels down 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

I'm sure there's arguments for either style in certain circumstances. However, my default position is balls of the feet in the stirrups. This allows you to a) slip the foot out quickly in case you want to dismount for safety b) greatly reduce the chance of the foot inadvertently slipping through the stirrup and c (and I think most importantly)) stretch your leg down which helps maintain a proper position - the better you can keep your position centered to the horse's movement, no matter what the horse is doing, the better you stay on and keep control (I'll see Baxter Black's quote with the old expression 'head up, heels down').

By the way, I think the one way stop is a very useful tool and it doesn't hurt to have a helmet at the ready if you think one is called for.


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## CowboyBob (Feb 11, 2013)

The only time I ride with my foot all the way to my heel is if I am riding in Oxbow stirrups other wise it's the pad of my foot. 

Is it Right or wrong?? I don't know. If you are taking lessons from this person then take the chance to learn and try her methods you might find you like it, if not once the lesson are done don't ride that way. 

If you were just riding your horse and she was there, I would smile and ride the way I want to ride. If she make a thing about it, just nicely tell her your not paying her to train you, your paying her to train your horse.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Some of it has to do with the type of stirrup, if you're using a thinner Oxbow type stirrup, you tend to ride with your foot in the "home" position more than on the ball of the foot. 

A one rein stop is a good thing to know and a hard hat or helmet is a good thing to wear. You're right the that trainer is throwing up a bunch of red flags.


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

I would say if you want to get thrown and hung up in the saddle ride with your foot all the way forward. Even if you are just standing on the ground you have better movement and balance on the balls of your feet


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## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

I've always been taught to ride on the ball of my foot. A friend of mine from camp had a girl try to stick the stirrups around her ankles because her mom "said to"....no child your mom clearly doesn't know crap about horses so forget that and listen to us


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Here is an old thread - one of the first I made on HF:

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-riding/question-stirrup-position-ball-foot-mid-74556/

FWIW, in my completely unprofessional opinion, the One Rein Stop is overrated. CIRCLING a horse to slow it down, terrain permitting, is great. I'm just not convinced using one rein to cue a stop has any great value.

I wear a helmet about 95% of the time, but have no objection to someone choosing otherwise.

I also like using an Australian 4-bar stirrup instead of a 2-bar English stirrup. That may affect how I like to place my foot. I don't put it in up to the heel, but I ride with it deeper than most recommend. Please understand that I do not ride great, teach riding or claim to be a horse expert.










Some campdrafters:
















​


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## ScarlettEqQueen97 (Jul 20, 2013)

For me, I always have my stirrups on the balls of my feet, but I've seen them go "home" or all the way in. Sometimes it's okay, but you get points docked in eq classes and you have no flexion in your heel for going over the jump. Then you fall back, get left behind, catch the horse in the mouth or fall off. As for helmets, always. Rule at the barn. And one rein stop? Indespensible! I'd find a new trainer.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your replies  @ bsms, I agree a one rein stop is not always feasible. If you're in dense woods or anyplace where it's impossible to disengage the hind quarters. I think many people see the clinicians on TV practicing a one rein stop and think what it means is to draw the nose to the toe. This of course is deadly at high speeds. The idea is to circle the horse and disengage the hind quarters thus slowing the horse or stopping a buck or a rear. Once the power of the hind is taken away the horse has no choice but to slow down and eventually stop once the circle is made small enough. I've had to ride out several runaways when there was no room to turn. Not fun when your ducking tree branches! As soon as I was able, I circled (or one rein stopped) the horse. Vida, the horse of my heart and the one in my avatar didn't know whoa from apple butter when I first bought her. One rein stopping was the only way to stop her. That was almost 10 years ago and she now knows whoa but we got really good at one rein stopping in the process :lol:
As far as stirrups go, I have Easy Ride trail stirrups on all my saddles. If you're not familiar with them, they are pretty wide. If I stick my foot all the way in, I'm pretty well stuck in them if I fall off. I can see the reasoning behind the ox bows and the thinner stirrups. You have more play for tipping your foot back and out in an emergency. My husband says I should just wear boots 2 sizes too big. That way if you fall off you can just slip your foot out of the boot. That would make the walk home a real ****** though :wink::lol:


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

If I had a stirrup I could physically get my foot thru, I'd either change stirrups or get a boot with a bigger heel. I'd be afraid to ride with a stirrup I could get my foot through. That is me, though.

As another trick in your bag of stopping tricks, this is worth knowing. It saved my butt once, and once beats being out of ideas and needing to stop:


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

bsms, I saw that video some time ago, thanks for the refresher. It's hard to sit up and back in the saddle when the branches are smacking you in the face though :shock: My Saro seems to always want to run off when we're in the trees. Smart horse or stupid rider? :lol: When she does it, I am usually laying on her neck and inevitably my feet come out of the stirrups. I wonder in those instances if I would have been better off if my feet were further in the stirrups...Hmmm another thread in the making?!

I have a fear of getting my thigh impaled on a tree limb. I get queasy just thinking of it so when we go through trees, I often lay down on her neck with my legs up almost on her butt. That's at normal speed of course. 

I read the old thread you had shared. Very interesting and helpful. I always wear boots with a good heal. I've come off Saro numerous times in the last year and have yet to have a foot caught. *knocking on wood* I never do. I'm getting too old to hit the ground very often and I have big clodhopper feet so they could get caught pretty easy.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

EZ ride Stirrups These are what I use


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

With those stirrups, I would be very leery of riding with my foot in the "home" position, simply due to the grippy pads on the bottom of them. I can't see that a foot would easily slip out of those.

Me? I almost always ride with my foot in the "home" position...but I can't really expect anyone else to follow my reasoning on that. Since I ride a lot of colts who may or may not cause shenanigans, I like to be in the best possible position to stick with them. If I'm riding on the ball of my foot and I have to wrap my legs around them to stick a buck or a bolt, I'll often feel my stirrup slip off my toe and then I know I'm done for. However, if I keep my foot all the way in, then my stirrup will stay on my foot and my chances of staying with the horse greatly increase.

BUT, I ride in slick bottomed roper stirrups like this









That's the same kind my Dad has rode in for decades and the same kind that I've rode in my entire life. Between the two of us, there have been countless falls of all severity and neither of us has ever been hung in a stirrup. Not to say that it won't ever happen, but I figure if it was likely, it would have happened at least once before. I've never even had a moment when I _thought_ I might get hung.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I've tried using that type of stirrup and my toes go numb. Is that something that's being caused by my riding position? I would truly love to be able to ride in a different type, I agree the grippy pads do make it difficult to get my foot out of the stirrup sometimes. I have to have no tread on my boots or they stick. I've even started doing the English type dismount. I've been thinking of tearing out the pad but then they wouldn't be as comfy. Trade offs...what a ****** lol


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

What type of saddle are you riding in, Vidaloco?


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## amberly (Dec 16, 2012)

When you ride, you want to be on the balls of your feet and your heels down.
Please, always wear a helmet 
But this position helps with your balance and is safe for if you are going to have horse spookiness issues. If your foot is all the way in, then if the horse spooks you have a very good chance of getting your foot caught in the stirrup. Where if you are on the balls of your feet and heels down - you will be much safe and it can help with your balance better.


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## hemms (Apr 18, 2012)

Funny... My feet go numb in the EZs... ;p
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

amberly said:


> ...If your foot is all the way in, then if the horse spooks you have a very good chance of getting your foot caught in the stirrup...


Are you speaking from experience, or repeating what someone told you?

What I've noticed is that sports like polo, steeplechase, campdrafting, cutting etc are the ones where people ride with their foot deep in the stirrup. Julie Goodnight, in the link I posted earlier (although her link is now dead), said,_"Even though I teach students to ride with the stirrup on the ball of the foot, I tend to ride in the home position, particularly when riding Western. It's one of the rare times I will say "Do as I say, not as I do." For most riders, it is safest and most effective to ride with the stirrup on the ball of your foot._

_ For some disciplines, like cutting, working cow and even reining (my favorties!), riders like to have their foot all the way in the stirrup as an insurance policy against losing the stirrups. When the horse is moving dramatically and performing at high speed, it could be disastrous to lose a stirrup at the wrong moment. "_​That was why I asked years ago if anyone knew of any statistics or studies. It seems odd that sports involving aggressive motion by the horse would favor the home position if that position was likely to result in your foot being caught. There are lots of old wives tales in riding, and I suspect this in one of them.

Mia used to spook daily. For about a year, as she was getting used to the desert, she would jump forward or sideways multiple times every ride. Since I didn't come off her, I don't know if riding in the home position would have been dangerous. My suspicion is that, if anything, it helped me stay on her. As an inexperienced rider, losing the stirrup when she was already scared would have been a bad thing for both of us.

Another campdraft picture (since I'm fond of Australian style saddles, and since Mia sometimes used to spook like that - glad she doesn't any more!):










I'm not asking anyone to start riding like that, but I'd love to see if anyone has any evidence it is bad.​


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Vidaloco, have you considered trying a 4-bar stirrup? I really like the additional width. I tried a padded stirrup on a few rides, but my foot kept getting caught in it on dismount, and that seemed like a bad sign.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Maureen, I'm unsure if the reason _your_ toes got to sleep is due to how you ride or not. I know that if _I_ ride with too much weight on my feet in _any_ stirrup, not only do my knees start hurting, but my pinkie toes will go to sleep and cause pretty severe pain. However, if I make sure and keep my weight off my feet (I try to only keep enough weight on them just to keep them in the stirrup), I don't have a problem.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Off topic, but I've sometimes wondered why no one seems to have invented quick-release stirrups, along the lines of ski bindings or bicycle toe clips.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

jamesqf said:


> Off topic, but I've sometimes wondered why no one seems to have invented quick-release stirrups, along the lines of ski bindings or bicycle toe clips.


I've seen them for English stirrups, they have a hook and a rubber band on the outside bar of the stirrup instead of metal, supposed to break or stretch and release your foot when loads of weight is on them. I've never used them so can't speak to the usefulness of them.

I never like having my foot home, just personal preference. Also have seen plenty of horses bolt through a one rein stop....


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

They do have them, James. There are all sorts of different styles of breakaway stirrups
Smart Rider and English Breakaway Safety Stirrups

Breakaway Stirrups Horse Saftey Stirrups that break away if you fall to prevent dragging by STI

Sidestep Safety Stirrups - Brown

But those aren't always sensible or feasible for every rider.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I hadn't thought about it but your right (as usual) Jennifer. It is when I get lazy and start balancing off my feet instead of my butt that my toes go numb duh! 
I have some stirrups with the smooth leather bottoms, I'll try them and see if I feel more like sticking my foot home. That might be a better idea than ripping the pads off the stirrups I just bought a few months ago. Possibly a new purpose for duct tape?! 
I've never felt like my foot was getting caught in the stirrup anytime I have come off. I have never gone off backwards though, always forwards or sideways, or Saro sits down and I just step off :shock:. Maybe that make a difference. I know an older gentleman in our saddle club came off earlier this year and was drug quite a ways. Not sure on the particulars beyond that the injuries weren't life threatening. I do remember him always having his foot stuck way in the stirrup whenever we've been on rides together. I do believe it was a forward spook situation so he might have gone off the back. 
bsms all my saddles have western stirrup rigging so the 4 bars would be an odd fit. 
I'm beginning to think my husbands idea of just wearing boots a size to big is the best idea. 
Thank you all for your input ♥


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