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[Typical Aquarius]

Oh crap! Sorry, my internet went all weird right when I tried to post.

I meant to say:

If you don't squeeze with your knees, how are you supposed to post properly? You shouldn't be relying on your stirrups to post, and you should be able to post without stirrups or a saddle (I can).

Sorry to be questioning you, but what you just said goes a lot against what I've been taught. My trainer is a very good rider and has competed and done well at both provincial and regional levels in many different disciplines, so she knows what she's doing.

I'm with you here, Toppyrocks. I'm definitely a little confused. My instructor has been teaching for years, and has never once corrected me when I used my knees for stuff. Clinging with your knees can be bad, but you have to use your knees for some things also...

[simply,]

You need to grip with your upper calf and have contact with knees. If you do not have small contact with the knees you are unstable still. Your lower calf should have contact, but not be that tight for you need it to urge the horse on. People can grip with their knees, but your leg will swing and if you have spurs on you will find yourself spurring your horse on. May show jumpers [typically men and europeans *coughgermanscough*] grip with their knees, but they have to be very strong and I mean very strong. Their core is amazing, but sometimes they still end up on the neck. Don't grip with your knee, but still use it.

Gripping with the knee. Gripping with knee. A pretty solid leg, with the whole lower leg and knee contact.

[scene_kid]

When doing it with our a saddle and/or stirrups you leave yourself no choice but to grip with your knees (unless you use their shoulders) yet if you have the stirups why not use them. Plus with the hip swaying it's very hard to grip with your knees and have your hips at the front of the saddle without your lower leg coming too far back (pleaded bear in mind I only teach English riding in britian.

Edit *** omg in the 1st pic their lower leg is soo far back it's scary!! If that horse put a foot an inch out that rider would be on the floor!

[Toppyrocks]

You need to grip with your upper calf and have contact with knees. If you do not have small contact with the knees you are unstable still. Your lower calf should have contact, but not be that tight for you need it to urge the horse on. People can grip with their knees, but your leg will swing and if you have spurs on you will find yourself spurring your horse on. May show jumpers [typically men and europeans *coughgermanscough*] grip with their knees, but they have to be very strong and I mean very strong. Their core is amazing, but sometimes they still end up on the neck. Don't grip with your knee, but still use it.

Gripping with the knee. Gripping with knee. A pretty solid leg, with the whole lower leg and knee contact.

Yes, that's more what I'm getting at. I was having trouble explaining myself. So there should be some pressure with the knees, but not only your knees.

[scene_kid]

I focus more on dressage than showjumping. Not saying I dont jump. I just only compete at dressage

[Toppyrocks]

I focus more on dressage than showjumping. Not saying I dont jump. I just only compete at dressage

I do dressage and hunter jumper, and hunt seat and english pleasure too. So when you say don't grip with your knees, do you mean not at all, or only grip enough to keep contact?

[OneRowdyNight]

Rode a bit today and Rowdy was very unhappy about wearing his bell boots he refused 5/6 jumps I pointed him at, then was fine when we took them off. I think they were rubbed a bit from working in them yesterday. They're Pro's Choice overreach boots and it said on the packaging that they don't rub? D: I don't want him to be uncomfortable, but he needs the boots on, because he clips himself alot. Tips?

[|iris|]

I focus more on dressage than showjumping. Not saying I dont jump. I just only compete at dressage

I do dressage and hunter jumper, and hunt seat and english pleasure too. So when you say don't grip with your knees, do you mean not at all, or only grip enough to keep contact?

I do Dressage, and I'v previously done hunter/jumper, show jumping, and western. I usually just grip enough to keep contact, but still a bit. I

[Dolphinlover~]

I had a good lesson on Woody today. It was a private lesson so it was really fun. It took me a while to warm up and get into my "zone" but once I did (and shortened my stirrups XP) everything fell right into place. At the end of the lesson we did a course with five jumps, some 2'3" others 2'6". My trainer was really pleased and said I rode that wonderfully and that it was my best riding of the day :3 Yep so it was a really good lesson towards the end once I shortened my stirrups xD

Try jumping without them. You can still do all the necessary movements. Just makes you relise how pointless they really are

I have jumped without stirrups before. But it is a lot easier to jump with them and having them adjusted correctly. Even my trainer appologized when I asked her to shorten them because she told me to shorten them for jumping since she thought that they were too long in the first place

With all of the discussion on gripping with your knees, your not supposed to grip really tightly, which would make you unbalanced but you need to keep slight pressure with you knees to keep contact, just like Ari♥Sonny said. So it really doesn't matter your discipline.

[MochaTheLlama]

Okay, I didn't mean to start a whole discussion about it, I worded it pretty wrong. But what I meant by gripping with the knee is by keeping contact with the horse, helping to support myself up in the posting trot since you shouldn't be relying on your stirrups, and my instructor told me the contact with the knee/calf will help keep me in place when my horse and I are 'airborn'.

If my instructor told me to do it, I'm going to do it.