I will admit that I didn’t do it. I do ride without stirrups on occasion, but not w ith the dedication I had when I was younger and my trainer made me do it!

But if you want to see why it’s important to be able to ride without stirrups, watch Mark Todd ride more than half of the Badminton Course in 1995 with just one stirrup (I can’t imagine how off balance he must have felt).

Todd says that as he rode towards the lake on Bertie Blunt, “I almost felt like bursting out laughing at the thought of galloping down to one of the most difficult fences in the world with only one stirrup.”