Many riders, especially beginners, are afraid of losing the stirrup. To prevent this from happening, they seem to deliberately pinch their leg in the stirrup. Such a rider automatically lifts himself with his foot as a lever from a deep landing, and his hips are rigidly fixed. He can no longer accompany the movement of the horse with his body – that is why such a game, started with a stirrup, is far from harmless.
A very useful exercise: from time to time, deliberately take your leg out of the english safety stirrups. If at the same time you take out only the sock, then the stirrup itself returns to its original place. This exercise allows, in the form of a game, to overcome the feeling of fear of losing the stirrup, and shows that with the correct position of the leg, the stirrup always finds its place and remains on the leg by itself. Thus, the rider does not need to hold it down with special efforts. In this case, you need to be very careful in the event that the length of the stirrup reaches the level of the horse’s ulna, so as not to cause it severe pain.
For beginner riders, it is easier to ride on shorter safety stirrups at first, since it is too difficult for them to maintain balance with a straightened leg at first. Children should generally ride without stirrups a lot in order to practice the feeling of deep seating and then practicing how to put on stirrups.
In order not to worry about the leg falling out of the stirrup, you should use the magnetic safety stirrups. They will help fix the foot in the desired position. They are easy to detach when dropped to minimize accidents. These stirrups are suitable for both professionals and amateurs.
