How to Adjust the Stirrups on a Western Saddle

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Kelli on behalf of Expert Village, I'm going to show you my tips and techniques to saddle your horse with the western saddle. So one thing that you would want to do especially if you are riding in a western saddle for the first time is make sure your stirrups are the proper length. You would want your stirrup a little bit longer than you would in a English saddle. So you would want your stirrup just a little bit longer then the length of your arm. If you do need to adjust it underneath your stirrup fender, there is going to be a buckle here which you can slide up. There is a little buckle that comes out which you could move up or down into the holes to adjust it accordingly to your length. Then you slide this buckle down back over it. Then you may need to pull on your fender to lengthen it or shorten it however, whatever direction you are going. But you also want to make sure that your stirrups are even. Sometimes you can tell if the length is right for you or not until you are actually on the horse and get a good feel for it. But you want to make sure your stirrups are even so you would not have on longer then the other. Cause that would throw you off balance. If you need to adjust them, you just want to get off and move the buckle the way that you need to. So that is how you want to make sure your stirrups are the right length of your legs. "