stirrup position relative to seat

["Jeff Brickson" <brickson@delanet.com>]

Chelle said:
<think he's shooting himself in the foot, unless he wants to sell only to
gaited horse riders. >

Or those extremely downhill types, which would put the seat more over the
stirrups *slightly*.  I agree, the customer is always right.

I've seen that nothing can tell you (brand of saddle included) whether the
stirrup (or seat!) position is "right" for you and your horse UNTIL you
actually use on the intended horse, trotting to see if you must lean forward
in order to post.  All you can say when you look at it on a rack or even if
you measure it is if it is *extremely* far forward (or back) and that you
know you wouldn't even try it.

Before you even consider moving the stirrups, though, maybe you should see
if the deep part of the SEAT is where you want it to be when the saddle is
in the "sweet" spot on your horse's back.  Moving the stirrups would be
useless if the horse is so uphill or downhill that you're in the one end of
the saddle so that the weight is not distributed properly.

Laminated wood is still used in some tennis rackets, golf club heads, and
some shoe heels and wedge sandals.  It has a certain resonance and feel, and
it does flex to a limited amount.  It is only one of a library of strength
materials used in order to distribute force when making things.

I don't know much about saddles, but these things I observed. There may be
some differences needed in saddles for endurance vs. speed sports where the
horse is working hard for a short time with more bending (besides very deep
seats and rounded skirts, but someone else would be more qualified than I.

bb