]There are several versions of HOTY rider. The older ones are nice and bendy (with nice happy smiley faces to match) but the newer ones (known by many as the 'tarty' ones because of the facial exprssions! lol) are almost impossible to pose as the wires are so inflexible. The way most people deal with it is to cut chunks out of the plastic at the joints so the wires can bend unhindered.
Apologies Ailie but it's for your own good!
Rubbish photo but it shows the fact that she can now move her knees. XD This is quite an old photo as what I usually do now is to cut a slash across the front of the knee or, more often, cut around the knee entirely so the lower leg swivels. Same with the arms, and I often cut the hands off and wire them into the arm so I have a much greater range of movement. Oh and I always cut inbetween the fingers (CAREFULLY! One of mine is missing fingers now as I wasn't watching what I was doing!) so they can hold the reins properly.
Un-altered...
...after some surgery...
I actually rewired these two entirely and chopped off the legs at the knees so they're a little shorter than normal HOTY riders. I like having a bit more variety at my yard!
Always remember!
Blades are sharp, flesh is squishy - DO NOT MIX THE TWO!
Use a craft knife/scalpel rather than scissors so you don't snip the wires.
If you end up with really pointy joints from the cuts, glue a little washing up sponge in there. It adds padding but doesn't interfere with the movement.