Re: RC: stirrup question, I have sore knees

[Linda Flemmer <bluewolfranch@yahoo.com>]

Brenda,

I'm in your shoes.  No ACL in one knee, partial
meniscectomy, and arthritis in both knees.  My knees
ache too if I don't vary my riding and use the right
stirrups.  Riding at "just a walk" is a killer.  I've
found that I do better if I change gaits and change
leg position periodically.  I ride an Arab, so I find
relief by riding the gallop at half seat, posting the
trot, and occasionally getting off & walking myself. 
Whatever you do, don't let your legs creep out in
front of you.  The angle will place a lot of stress on
the articular (leg bone) cartilage in the joint.  it
will really make your arthritis flare up.

I tried EZ Ride and Trail Techs.  I haven't tried
Cloud 9's.  EZ ride stirrups actually made my knees
worse.  I felt as though my foot slid to the outside
edge & that placed torque on my knees.  I'm currently
using Trail Tech II's - an old version.  New Trail
Techs are TT III, much wider across the foot.  I might
have the same problems with TT III's as I did the EZ
Rides.

The Trail Tech II stirrups only seem to help when I am
working at a gait other than the walk where I would
put more weight into the stirrups.  There is a rubber
donut that compresses & absorbs some of the shock.

Runningbear farms (http://www.runningbear.com) sells a
hybrid stirrup that is a combination of the EZ Ride
bottoms with the Trail Tech tops.  You might want to
look into those if you find you like the EZ ride
bases.

Linda Flemmer,
Blue Wolf ranch
Bruceton Mills, WV
--- "guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net> wrote:
> Brenda Brooks bjbpugs@aol.com
> I would appreciate your input on what kind of
> stirrups would 
> help my sore knees.  Looking at Cloud Nine, Trail
> tech or E Z ride.  <SNIP> I ride a Paso so don't
have to post,
> rode this weekend and only walked and knees still
> hurt.  So I thought I would try a different stirrup.
>  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thanks.  Brenda   bjbpugs@aol.com

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