Learn to Ride Without Stirrups

#nostirrups #seat #dressagerider

November is here, and you know what that means! It’s time for no stirrups! Riding without stirrups can help you develop your independent seat. In this video, I’m riding Mercurio and talking all about how to ride without stirrups and why it is helpful.

Okay, now back to the video. Riding without stirrups is a great exercise to help develop your independent seat because when you ride without stirrups, 100% of your weight goes into your seat, and there’s nothing to brace against! This causes all of the correct riding muscles (like your transverse abdominals and glute meds) to fire to keep you stable and moving with your horse.

Before you ride without stirrups, make sure that you have a safe horse, and that you warm your horse up a bit before you drop your stirrups. When you are ready to ride without your stirrups, cross them in front of your saddle so that they are out of the way.

Riding without stirrups is hard and a skill you must develop. Eventually, you want to be able to ride in both directions and at all three gaits. Here are a few tips for riding without stirrups:

- Start out at the walk, and then progress up to the trot and canter as you feel comfortable.
- When you first drop your stirrups, do a few slow and controlled ankle circles in both directions and try scissor legs - alternating your legs forward and back. Make sure that your seat moves with your horse when you do these exercises.
- Go up to trot and focus on keeping your leg quiet and long, with your toes pointing up and forward, just like you would when you ride with stirrups. Make sure that your seat is moving with your horse, and that you can soften your hands without your position changing.
- If you get tired, take a walk break. Focus on quality over quantity when riding without stirrups, and give yourself a break before you feel your position fall apart.

Riding without stirrups just for five to ten minutes a couple of times per week is plenty to work on developing your independent seat. After you finish riding without stirrups, notice any differences you feel when you take your stirrups back. You want to try to keep the same feeling in your seat that you had without stirrups as you continue your ride with stirrups!

Watch the video where I talk more about riding without stirrups on Mercurio! I hope these tips help you with your horse!

Happy Riding
Amelia

00:00 Intro/No Stirrups November
01:17 Safety First
02:03 Exercises at the Walk
04:35 No Stirrups at the Trot
06:20 Take Breaks!
07:06 No Stirrups at the Canter
08:34 Picking up Your Stirrups
09:44 #nostirrupsnovember Challenge
10:50 Outro

[firearies]

I like working on things I hate, so a few years back when my trainer started making us ride without stirrups to warm up, I noticed how little control I had over my body and how unbalanced I felt without the stirrups there. So I started taking them off for a little while to warm up some days. Now I’m able to do a whole lesson without needing my stirrups, and I ride at least once or twice a week without them just because I ended up liking it so much. It also makes me feel badass when people wince when they see me trotting around (posting trot) effortlessly ;)

[ademirj]

Good morning Miss Amelia.
This video of yours is great! My riding teacher sometimes asks me to ride without stirrups. Now, after seeing with more understanding and clarity the benefits obtained by walking without stirrups, I will do this more often.
And... I will take a photo and/or video to send you.
Thank you very much for your magnificent class!
I wish you much success.
God bless you! Always.

[ENHorseLuvr]

Instead of no stirrups November, I'm going to do no stirrups winter! Riding without stirrups the whole winter will help to build my strength for show season

[animallover]

I rode a whole winter without stirrups and people thought I had went to train in Europe. I put my stirrups in the tack room and replaced them a week before my first show . Now I prefer to ride without them

[lavonasmith]

I think this might help my bracing! Thank you!

[deirdrepratte]

I love November!! I feel that I ride better and sit deeper without.

[juliecastro]

My Instructor used to have me do this when I was learning to sit down in the saddle.

[higginsba]

Gorgeous boy! Defo need try this at my next lesson.
If I dont get in to the canter right away I find my legs/knees end up scrunching up & fwd as I keep trying to give the canter leg aide 😬😔

[Aliencry]

I ride in a thin line bareback pad as my horse is currently awaiting a new saddle and fitting (we’ve been waiting a few months), and rode in a saddle yesterday and hated it! I feel like so much is lost and I miss the close contact. It has made sitting the trot effortless though. I will probably continue to do half my rides bareback once we have fitted tack again.

[amandafrench]

Smashing video, thanks for this Amelia :)

[Chey]

In the winter when I’m just doing light rides like not jumping or reining I just ride bareback because I can’t be bothered to put a saddle on in -30 and snow and sometimes when I’m practicing English EQ I just take my stirrups off and it kinda looks so funny when I record it because it’s just like what if they built saddles with no place for a stirrup, could you imagine how much better riders would be if they didn’t use stirrups and we actually went by the rule that the saddle is only for ones butt comfort?? Sometimes I also only ride with a saddle pad on my horses back to test how good my balance actually is to be able to keep a saddle pad on my horses back with no girth

[meinthewild]

I did this drop your irons thing many years ago. My problem then, and I suspect would be the case now, is I got so used to riding without them, I stopped using them altogether. I would literally drop them during my shows. I never put the right one on my saddles and ripped the left one off right after mounting. This went on for about 2 years until I was eliminated because I rode without my irons. I feel like this rule should be changed to make riding without your irons an option. It was really difficult to learn to use them again.

[maureendollente]

My horse has a very bouncy trot. I can only trot without stirrups for 2 or 3 steps. My lower back hurts so bad if i try to do more than that. My son who is an advanced rider (competed in show jumping) is very good at riding bareback and won't trot bareback on our horse either. He prefers to canter bareback on our horse as the movement is much smoother. I did do a lesson on a lesson program horse and trotting with no stirrups was much easier. However i think with some horses it feels near impossible to trot no stirrups.

[tagadaki]

I feel like riding without stirrups helps you a lot with balance tbh. My level is trash, my hands are all over the place and my legs are not in a good position when im riding, but because I rode a lot bareback or without stirrups, I never feel like Im gonna fall, I just know im chaotic and sad for the horse who tries to understand my bullshit, but always, always feel comfortable on the saddle and never feel like im losing balance. I also remove them pretty often while galloping as I think it's easier for me to place my legs withouth having to pay attention to stirrups. My teacher also make us remove the stirrups and go pedal on top of the head of the horse while hanging to the back of the saddle. That's craaaazyy for abs and ensure you to trust your horse and work your balance. Horrible and painful but great exercise 😆

[abarlow]

Hello!
My trainer has me ride without stirrups at the trot only, and I'm having quite a hard time keeping my balance, leg position, and even confidence. I completely trust the horse I ride, but I'm a bit stuck.
😕

[myhorses]

I started dropping my stirrups for about 5-10 minutes after each ride. I'm finding that my guy really slows down and gets behind my leg. Getting him to trot without stirrups is difficult. Could I be sitting too deep and blocking his movement or somehow shutting him down? What can I do to help free him while riding with no stirrups? I'm really enjoying it.

[saisaivipa]

Tried this today, that’s why I’m here. It was a disaster. I couldn’t keep my balance at all. Went all the way to canter but found the trot harder. Slid left and right, almost slid off the horse! Had to grab the front of my saddle. So is it lack of core strength or just a matter of getting used to finding the balance? Or a bit of both?

[miamancini]

Your saddle looks very comfortable. What brand is it?
Thank you❤

[teresawort]

I ride bareback. I only do walk & sit the trot. I ride for 10-20 min at a time. I will add the ankle circles & scissor kick.

[Thatbrunette]

Your lower leg looks so loose! I find when I do no stirrup work I have a very tight calf to try help myself avoid locking up the hips and gripping with my knees. Is this incorrect and do you not try hold yourself up and rather let all your weight settle on your seat bones? :)