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 The Horse Rider's Stirrup Length

There is no  official rule that refers directly to the rider's stirrup length, so really it doesn't matter what stirrup length you have.  However you do have to fulfil the following rules:

1. Thighs and legs steady and well stretched downwards

2. The heels the lowest point

If your heel is up, your stirrup is probably too long.

Here are the current top 4 world & Olympic champions and their stirrup length.  Often a lot shorter than we think!

See see three red dots.  One on the hip, one on the knee and one on the ankle.   It's quite uncanny that all of them ride at the same angle.   And, considering the leg is BENT when the foot is in the stirrup, if you take your feet OUT of the stirrups, the bottom of the foot must therefore be below the stirrups.

The major texts I have reviewed have all set the riders stirrup at the same length for dressage (and funnily enough the same for reining, campdraft & speed games).   They all say for the rider to take their feet out of the stirrup, look up and the stirrup should sit just underneath the ankle knobble.

For these four top riders, from 3 different countries all to have the same length, probably shorter than you think is definite evidence that you should really start to copy some of the champions.