Re: Re: riding position a different problem

["Dave & Abby Bloxsom" <cyclone@snet.net>]

  A riding instructor told me not to have more than 10% of your weight in
your seat.  Let's say 4 oz is less than 1% of your weight on your stirrups,
this leaves 89% of your weight where????
I'd never heard either of these, though I'm inclined to go along with the 4
oz in the stirrups thing somewhat more than the 10% in the seat.

I teach that a rider's weight should be distributed mostly in the seat,
somewhat less but nearly as much in the thighs (NOT gripping with the knees,
it's more of a compression through the back of the thigh which lifts the
seatbones off the saddle and keeps the rider from getting seat-bone-sore),
and then only the weight of the leg on the stirrup.  This is the seated
distribution.  In the posting trot (which, for the record, I personally use
90% of the time) much more of the weight is on the foot, but not in the
heel - more sort of on the "flat" of the foot.  My own preference for
distance riding is for a long stirrup length, and standing with my heel ever
so slightly above the level of the stirrup.  My knee still has a bend in it,
almost identical to what I'd have if I were working in the dressage ring.

FWIW
-Abby Bloxsom
ARICP Certified Instructor
Recreational & Distance Riding