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Re: [RC] Diagonals/Feet/Mane and being Crooked - Diane Trefethen

One point that I didn't see mentioned is the fact that though humans are bilaterally symmetrical, there are often minor differences including the length of each leg. Further, injuries, even minor ones, can contribute to foreshortening of one limb. Adding the possibility of a small left or right curvature of the spine gives another example of how one's legs could be just a bit different in length as one sits "evenly" in the saddle. Also, if one limb is slightly shorter, as you walk you will exert slightly more force on that limb. This contributes to wearing the sole of your boot/shoe a bit more, shortening that side even more. These differences in length could be so small that they are virtually undetectable to the human eye but sit in a saddle for 50 miles and if your stirrups do not adequately support the shorter limb, you will feel it.

If this is your problem, where your holes are punched in your stirrup leathers becomes critical. A minor discrepancy might not be a problem for a person with legs of equal length or if the short stirrup is on the side with the short leg, but if the longer stirrup leather is on the side with the shorter leg, riding balanced and even would require considerable effort leading to fatigue, muscle aches AND a horse that also spent a fair amount of effort trying to help keep you in balance.


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Replies
[RC] Diagonals/Feet/Mane and being Crooked, mark@xxxxxxxxxx