Christmas Holiday Horsey Fun

I know your girls use safety stirrups. But I have said this before - I would not let my own kids or grandchildren ride like that with their feet pushed so far into the stirrups.

Show them some pictures of Michael Jung jumping. It isnt just safety and balance - With the tread of the stirrup under the ball of your foot, your toes and ankle joints are very free to move. We were taught that way, with it one of the basic foundations for all of us learning to ride. We were expected to be able to spread and wriggle our toes, when sitting, rising and in forward seat. It is on my agenda for January as I discovered to my chagrin that I cant ride Grace standing in my stirrups. Not clear whether this is due to my being ten years older or my not trusting her as I trusted Maisie.

But your girls havent altered a bit over the last two years.
 
I dream of being able to ride as well as your twins!
They always look as if they are enjoying it so much and they are super confident.
Well done girls x
 
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They are looking great :) What secure lower legs they have too!

They are clearly very capable little riders - you should be very proud :)
 
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They just love it. And so do I! Max is angelic. He is so honest. Lucky girls, and lucky mum to be able to share it with them.
 
Wow, that's looks so much fun! Haven't the twins come on? They are doing so well and hopefully there will be no turning back with confidence now. Well done them
I do agree with Skib about the stirrups though. Been biting my tongue for ages. I'm really surprised that their RI hasn't worked on it with their regular lessons. They can't balance up through the hip properly with the stirrup jammed under the arch of the foot.
 
They are working on it. They have worn cages for a while to get used to the feel and they repeatedly re-site the stirrups to be on the balls of their feet. Their foot position is fine in flat work and over single fences. But when they are jumping courses they have so much else to focus on that they slip back into bad habits. I am exactly the same. After 40 years of riding, I STILL draw my lower leg back when jumping unless I am actively thinking about it.
 
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Great photos! And yeah, the feet in the stirrups is true but as you say, we all have our faults - look at my lower leg in my avatar! ;-)
 
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If you draw your lower leg back your toes point down and your weight is tipped forward making your seat insecure. For jumping - especially XC - you need your legs further forward so you can balance dynamically over your feet. For steps, drops and downhill jumps you really need to have your feet quite far forward. My RI keeps yelling "toes towards his ears!!" to help me to remember.
 
Another way of looking how secure your position is, is imaging where you would end up if the horse disappeared. You should land on your feet. If your lower leg is too far back, you'd land flat on your face! Too far forward and you would land on your ar$e. Heels down and you could balance, toes down and you couldn't balance as easily.
 
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They look like they are having a lot of fun! Love Oscar! Yeah they're position does need work to be more secure but they're kids it will come with time and practice. The more they do and the confident they get the position will get better. Everyone has things to do improve on, I know I have!
 
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