I thought you meant 'short arms deep pockets' and was going to suggest a garbage bag on a string...
There's many a kiter out here with a lot more experience than me regarding the good and bad points of the numerous kite brands out there, but I do unfortunately suffer from ‘Ducks disease’, along with the ‘package deal’ of ‘not-so-long arms’ 
, so I’ve contemplated this subject for many hours. IMO the short answer (no pun intended) is to have a kite with a good ‘trim’ range. This allows you to trim the kite so the bar remains close to you as the wind increases for that particular kite size. Example, the Cabs have a very short de-power strap, so as the wind picks up you pull the trim strap to depower, and the bar stays close to you and in a comfortable position, but the trim strap is so short that you run out of trim very quickly, and as the wind picks up the bar then gets further and further away from the kiter. For me, riding a Cab in the upper end of the wind range for that particular kite is not very comfortable.
On the other end of the spectrum, I had an Airush with a simple rope, pulley, and cleat, trim system, where the ‘trim’ range was huge, and I found it very easy to trim the kite so the bar was in a comfortable position.
The Core also has a large trim range, especially for an above the bar depower system, it probably has twice as much trim range as the Cabs, so I also find it works well for the short-limbed 
. One negative side to the core bar is that although the trim strap is quite long and it provides heaps of trim range and less ‘reaching’ for the bar, the trade-off is that the amount of total available de-power (i.e. if you get in strife and let go of the bar) is much less, because the longer trim strap takes up some of the available depower travel from the bar. 
Another commonly used solution for those with short arms is to go for a seat harness which keeps the whole bar system just a bit lower on the body, and the bar closer to the kiter.
cool, thanks for that. I have a core riot 11 and love it so it looks like she will have to get the core riot 9 ,what a shame
burls gave some good points.
I would suggest a below the bar trim system so she can always reach it.
Also don't be afraid to modify the chicken loop (make it shorter) that will get the bar a bit closer.
a tight harness or seat harness would also help get the bar a little closer but both are an annoying sacrifice to freedom of movement in my opinion.
give the wainman hawaii kites a try...together with a seat harness,,,fixed the problem for me.
i just replaced my core bar for a 2010 north trust bar it is available in four or five line config and will fit most kites.
it has an adjustable clam cleat for the depower. this means you can adjust the depower throw of the bar to however short you wish. it just means you will be using the trim strap a bit more.
I am a short arm person and for me either a Griffin or my favourite as I like wave kiting a Griffin Argo 2010
Add to this a sliding hook and you have it made
From someone with "ducks disease" who's had many kites, getting the attachment point low ie a seat harness is a key factor in giving you that little bit of extra reach. I can't use a waist harness for this very reason. Everything is too far away. I also fly mostly one handed so a kite with light bar pressure is important so you can stear one-handed. One handed you have exceptional reach when you need to spill some air in the gusts. Small chicken loop, if available helps.
