quote form Richard Austin "The only reason he's holding the horn is too keep from using his hands."

Watch those cutters and you can see them stressing thier arms while holding on.They brace each time the horse changes direction. They remind me of these buckle bunnies that are barrle racing.I'm not saying those old guys could not ride, but they are not the only ones to ever sit a saddle.

As I mentioned, what do you do when you need your hands for other things? Your legs, feet and butt are for riding,your hands are for doing the things on horseback that you need to do.

Most of the members who post on this thread and forum spend hours in the saddle.1/2 of them are working ranchers.We don't climb on a horse and ride it for twenty minutes or just do arena riding.
I'm not a Sunday rider, and I have been riding for almost 60 years, breeding, training and riding mules for almost 45 years. So when someone comes along and says no that's is all wrong,I sure get suspecious.

Maybe there are certain disciplines than can use a different stirrup. However, for general rough country riding and puttting lots'a miles on every day. The flat bottoms tirrup and cocking that stirrup like the crooked stirrup can serve the biggest majority quite well. I don't know about the crooked stirrup because I have never tride them,butI have tried Ox bows and at the endof the day you are hurting.

Last edited by saddlesore; 02/18/12.

If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles