Craig,<br>Here in England we ride with.. yes you guessed it english saddles and they do some weird stuff here e.g. putting the stirrups high with the knees forward and try to get support that way.<br>Well what I always been taught is:<br>Make your stirrups long but that you can still stand in them. Having them long makes you sit better in the saddle, more grip.<br>As with Western riding you put the weight into your heels and you bent your toes inwards. This does two things, pressing the knees against the saddle, giving more grip. Secondly bending your hells away from the horse which is far more comfortable for the horse and rider. Esspecially if you wear stirrups, you stop having the contact with your heels against their bellies. You see an awlful lot of people riding here with their heels wobbeling against the horse his/her belly. Not good. But when looking at the Royal riders even though they ride english they bent their heels away from the horse!<br>Reinhardt