Classical redneck

I took Champ and Cersei on a trail ride, and spent most of the ride sulking about how my stupid stirrups are hung too far forward. When we got back, I thought about it for a bit and I think I've fixed them.

My saddle is rigged kind of weird. It's got a normal 7/8 cinch, but it's got a back ring that's set up to optionally rig it "Mcclellan style." This first picture is a pretty good representation of what my saddle looks like. (I checked National Bridle, where I got my saddle, but they don't rig the saddles the same anymore.)

Anyway. There's a very sturdy back ring that sits underneath and about an inch to the rear of my thigh bone. I've been toying with various ideas of getting the saddle modified to hang the fenders "correctly", or taking off the fendered stirrups and attaching some English leathers... but why fuss with all that? I ran a piece of leather from the back D ring through one of the holes in the fender leather and tied a knot. Once I got the leather exactly the right length, the fenders were pulled back to exactly the right spot. And the best part? It will fail safely. If the leather strings break, the stirrups don't FALL OFF, they just move forward.

I did a brief test ride with my modded stirrups. It's extremely weird. I think it's perfect - from my POV my ankles hang under my hip bones, and K and T, observing on the ground, agreed. But it's definitely weird!

I hope this helps the horses carry me better. If not, it'll be easy to undo!