From: janelle
Your message last week on how to tell if the saddle fits the rider's conformation was very helpful! I've been looking for a new saddle and no one else I've run into has ever discussed the requirements of a female rider and stuff like that. Armed with the info from last week, I think I'll be able to make a more well-informed decision.
I would like to continue along the same lines and ask how to deal with a particular conformational 'problem' that I have. My toes naturally point outward like a ballet dancer's would. In fact, I took classical ballet lessons from age 5-13 which accentuates this effect. For example, when I point my toes forward, my knee turn inward slightly. When I point my knees forward, my toes go out at a slight angle. This creates a bit of a problem when I ride, because my toes tend to turn out more than they should. This becomes more apparent when I have to use my leg a lot, like on a horse that isn't particularly lively. When I have to use my leg actively I end up using the back of it more than I should because of this problem with my toes turning outward. In fact, if you look at my boots after I ride, you'll see a lot of dust on the back right behind where the spur rest is! (as a note, I don't use spurs)
How would you recommend I deal with this? Are there any particular exercises that would be helpful or special stirrups that might makes things easier for me? What prompted my to post this question is the difficulty I have keeping my leg against the horse when I do jumps that are over 3'. I feel very comfortable at 2'6" and even 2'9", but when I go a bit higher then I tend to get popped out of the saddle and my leg swings around a bit and even comes away from the horse slightly. I've always had trouble keeping my leg against the horse because of this toeing-out thing.
I really want to work hard to be able to overcome this and would appreciate any advice or suggestions you have!
If it would help in addressing this question, my background is in H/J work and I go up to 3'3" jumps in my lessons. I do not have my own horse but take lessons twice a week...one flat class(group) and one jumping class (private). In spite of the problems I mentioned I feel pretty confidant about most things except for jumping above 3'. Oh! One more thing. Maybe this is a common thing, but I find that I can maintain a better leg position when I ride without stirrups or even bareback. The problem really begins to show up when I use stirrups.
Janelle
Some (not many!) people's conformation allows them to ride with their toes pointing straight forward, NOT because they twist and turn until they can make their toes assume that position, but because that's the way their legs hang naturally. It's a gift, and they are lucky -- but you shouldn't try to imitate them unless your conformation matches theirs.
If your feet turn out slightly, you are in a group that consists of MOST riders (now do you feel better?). It's NORMAL for your feet to turn out a little. In fact, some people have feet that turn out MORE than a little -- and they can still ride effectively.
Here are some ideas that may help you.
You know about turnout and how it's achieved -- open the leg from the hip, tuck the derriere, and go from first position right through fifth position, right? ;-)
Ballet turnout -- even years of it -- doesn't have to interfere with good riding. You'll just have to learn a new position in the saddle -- and you CAN learn it. In fact, you'll like learning it, because it won't hurt or cause leg cramps, and you won't have sore knees or ankles during or after your ride. You won't have to slide off your horse at the end of a lesson and stand there holding the saddle and hoping that your legs will stop hurting so that you can walk back to the stalls....
First, your foot position in the saddle is linked to your leg position. Don't try to change JUST your foot position! You won't succeed in making yourself a better or more stylish rider, but you WILL damage your ankles and knees, probably permanently. I see a lot of this, sometimes, sadly, in very young riders. Sometimes their instructors are trying to achieve a uniform appearance among the students, and don't take individual differences into account. Sometimes the instructors are locked into a sort of fifties' hunt-seat timewarp, and want their riders to hold tightly with their knees and twist their ankles to bring their feet into the "proper" position. This is NOT A GOOD IDEA.
Sit in the deepest part of the saddle, just behind the pommel, so that your feel your weight on both seatbones evenly. Let your legs hang naturally. Adjust your stirrups so that the treads hit you just at or very slightly above the anklebone. Then pick up the stirrups, which you should be able to do just by lifting your toes.
When the stirrups are straight across under the balls of your feet, have someone on the ground look at you and tell you whether your stirrup leathers are vertical -- they should be! If they aren't vertical, then your saddle may be adjusted too far forward on the horse, or the stirrup bars may be too far forward on the saddle (an all-too-common problem). This makes it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for you to sit well or use your legs correctly, because your seat will always be behind your legs instead of directly over them. I suspect that yours may NOT be vertical, because of what you've said about riding better without stirrups than with them. That's typical of riders whose saddles have poorly-positioned stirrup bars.
If your leathers are vertical, that's great. I know what you mean by special stirrups -- you're thinking of offset stirrups, right? -- but NO, I recommend that you use normal Fillis irons with rubber pads, and work on your body position instead.
One of the best exercises of all is work in your two-point. Spend a few minutes of each ride, once you've warmed up and are ready to stretch, riding in your two-point position, keeping your hip angle slightly closed, your body just out of the saddle, and your legs under you with your knees relaxed so that your weight can flow down into your heels (please note: this is NOT the same as SHOVING your heels down). Start with one side of the arena, and hold the position as long as you can -- CORRECTLY. Pay attention to what you're doing! If you start to feel insecure, and your lower legs start to move around, that means that you have begun to pinch with your knees, which are now acting as pivot points. When that happens, your lower legs begin to swing, and you'll eventually lose a stirrup... so as soon as you feel at all insecure, take a deep breath, then exhale and at the same time relax your knees and let your legs grow very long, with low heels. Go around the arena and use posts, dressage letters, spots on the wall, anything -- whenever you pass whatever it is, go up into your two-point and hold it (correctly!) until the next spot or letter or post. Practice! At a trot, alternate posting six steps, two-pointing for six steps, and so on. Think up your own exercises -- just concentrate on keeping your legs long and relaxed and stretched around the horse. No grabbing, no gripping, no tight joints or muscles, no pivot points. You'll ride better and more effectively, you won't get as tired, and your horse will be happier too!
There ARE ways to rotate your legs inward, and here's the best one -- and here's where your ballet training comes in. You must rotate your WHOLE leg inward, FROM THE HIP.
At a standstill, with your stirrups adjusted correctly, stand in two-point for a moment, put your reins in your left hand, and with your right hand, reach back BEHIND your right thigh and grab your thigh muscle -- the big one that lies on the inside and back of your leg. Pull it to the back, and let your leg slide into place against the saddle, but stay in your two-point. Then change the reins over to your right hand, reach back with your left hand, and pull your left thigh muscle back behind the leg, and let THAT leg slide into place against the saddle. Then, very carefully, come back to a three-point position. NOW your legs should be exactly where you want them, in full contact with your saddle through the inner thigh, inner knee, and inner calf.
Try to keep them like this as you ask your horse to walk on. But be careful -- when you ask the horse to walk, squeeze INWARD, briefly, with both calves, and relax your legs again. Don't use the back of your calf, or your heel. This is part of the new way you need to learn to ride. You'll find it impossible to keep your legs in this position when you trot, at least at first! But keep trying, even if you get just a few steps at a time. It's hard to change old habits -- don't get frustrated if it takes a while.
When it begins to feel natural, you're on your way! And when you're comfortable and correct over low jumps, you'll find it easier to jump the larger fences. When the jumps get to 3', you might want to shorten your stirrups another hole, and then do a few days of two-point exercises to get your muscles used to the demands of this new position.
The problem you're describing with leg aids -- using the back of your leg actively on a sluggish horse -- isn't really anything to do with turnout. It has a lot to do with habit, though. ;-) And it also has a lot to do with a horse that doesn't listen to the leg. Carry a whip and USE it to reinforce your soft leg squeeze -- inner calf, remember! That's what the whip is FOR: to reinforce your correct aid, given by your leg in the correct position. The whip is there to save you from getting OUT of position while you get your point across! So carry the whip, give the leg aid you want your horse to respond to, and if he doesn't respond, repeat the aid and follow it instantly with a sharp smack behind your leg. Most horses figure this out VERY quickly, and from then on, they respond to the quiet leg aid.
Remember, you won't break a habit overnight. But check your saddle, see whether it's getting in your way, and if it is, change it. If it isn't, follow the rest of the suggestions and let me know how it all works out for you.
Jessica
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