Dreadful lesson, really disheartened

[Anvil83]

Hi, my riding was dreadful today, well in fact I've reached a plateau & don't seem to be improving at all at the moment, even though I've been told how to improve I just can't seem to do it.

Although I do feel more secure these days with regards to my upper body, I don't slouch as much as I used to, lean too far forward or too far back, I've been told that I have correct shoulder-hip-heel alignment but even though my legs are in the correct place they are absolutely useless! :o

It didn't help that it was raining today so my boots were more slippery than usual & my boots kept sliding around in the stirrups, they just would not rest quietly at all, I was really getting annoyed with myself. I might as well have been riding without stirrup treads, I'm not relying too much on them coz I read that the ball of your foot should just rest on the stirrups not push down. So I thought that it must be because my knees do rise a bit & my lower leg isn't that secure but how do you make your legs behave & stay there without losing your stirrups every 5 seconds :confused: ??? I try & try to keep my legs long & under me but it's no use, also the horse was quite narrow & small so I felt like I had nothing to gently hug with my legs. It doesn't happen as much when I wear my heavier, chunkier steel toe cap boots but I don't want to have to rely on them too much. I completely lose my stirrups when giving the canter aids. I'm a nightmare at the moment :D :o

Just wondering if there are any exercises off horse that I could do, or on horse, I've been wearing ankle weights to strengthen my legs, I've been cycling uphill, going Swimming & attending Yoga classes, but my secureness when it comes to my legs just isn't happening.

[eml]

I don't know where you are up to in riding but I have often found that cycling as an exercise causes problems with riding, muscles that are required to be short and active in cycling need to be long and supple in riding.

If you are in the early stages of learning then you will be very influenced by horse size and shape. My novice adults class are all happy on their favourites, but put on a narrower or wider horse than they are used to , struggle.

Plateau is common at all levels, even after 40+ year I still have them. I often remind people.... every time you sit on a horse is a new experience they are not robots they change from moment to moment , rider to rider.

[kiwigirl]

I just want to say you are not alone feeling like this. I am not sure how long you have been riding. I have about 6 months and still have many moments when my leg is not in the right position or I just do not feel like I have the strength to keep it there and squeeze the horse on.

And I can totally fell a plateau coming on as I have learnt so many different things in the last 6 months....

As for canter, I am in the losing stirrups phase. I think this is because I am really focusing on wrapping my legs around the horse. Previously I think I slightly stood in the stirrups to balance so never lost them. Weirdly I feel like I can give a better leg contact once I loose the stirrups!

Hope your plateau doesn't last long and you have a good lesson soon:)

[Wally]

First of all I agree with eml, plateaux will be with you all your riding life! :)

Firstly stop thinking of riding your horse as a negative or positive thing..... What I am trying to say is, that I might work 6 horses in a day, all different ages, experiences and temperaments.
You might start off on a really good note from a horse you didn't expect to work sense. Then get up another horse who you expect great things from only to have a total battle with them and, if anything, go backwards rather than acheiving anything. This can be dissapointing and baffling.

I have got to the stage now where I never let it worry me. If horses start to act out of character this concerns me, but take each experience and don't let it get you down, because underlying each lesson, unknown to you, you will be improving and learning.

You learn as much from a negative experience than with positive ones sometimes.

Often things drop into place when you stop trying too hard.

Esther.D and I both agree when schooling driving horses they will come ahead much faster just driving out on the road for pleasure, than an hour every day in an arena. Riding can be the same, just ride for pleasure for a few weeks, hack out or just ride in the arena for fun.

[shoniedaspony]

maybe an idea would be to play around with stirrup length, or see if you can do some work without stirrups for a short while- i had lots of problems with my lower leg and still do, i tend to find that i have fewer problems when riding without stirrups than with, as i find it very difficult to get my stirrups the length i am happy with.

dont feel disheartened, it always happens- i sometimes find, especially with my horse, if we work really hard on something, say walk to canter transistions, for a few sessions and feel we are getting nowhere, when we take a few days break and go back to it, they are much improved.

Maybe if you tried to focus a little less on your legs consciously, especially if working without stirrups, they might sort themselves out to some extent? worrying about where they are etc may make you more tense, and not help your leg position by affecting the rest of your riding?

But always, chin-up, the day when it clicks will be here soon, and when it clicks, you will feel so much better about all your hard work you have put in.

[lor]

I don't know where you are up to in riding but I have often found that cycling as an exercise causes problems with riding, muscles that are required to be short and active in cycling need to be long and supple in riding.


Ooh, i do loads of cycling, but is is very important to stretch properly afterwards, and i totally agree with Wally, i know you want to get it right, but the more you stop trying and just enjoy riding you will relax and it will fall into place.

dont analize things.... if you looked at stills of some of the best riders in the world negotiating a cross country courses, you will see times when they are all over the place! but are still safe balanced and effective riders :D

Trust yourself just to have fun and think about how you and the horse feel rather than how you look:D

[sophie33]

As a novice who worries and thinks far too much about everything I don't have much to add! But I just wanted to echo what someone else said about your stirrup length. I found that I really couldn't keep my lower leg still, then moved my stirrups up a hole and it was immediately much easier. I know I should be aiming to lengthen them but I kind of think that will come with time, and in the meantime I'd rather not feel I'm reaching for them!

[Blair Witch]

The key to not losing your stirrups is to keep your legs against the horse's sides and make sure that your heels are down at all times. Also, make sure your stirrups are the proper length, if they are too long you will lose them easily.

As for exercises, stand on a step or stool, any platform will do really. Stand on the edge and drop your heels as long as you can, then bring them back up and repeat. This will strenthen and stretch your calf muscles.

[vonandiz]

I too have had problems with loosing my stirrups and still loose them at least once in every lesson however this is happening far less. I was gripping with my knees - I didn't even realise I did this until is was spelt out for me - the solution seems to be 10mins of stirrup free work at the start of every lesson. Good luck and try to stay positive, I'm sure you'll get past this.

[Anvil83]

Thank you everyone for your advice :) I was told in my last lesson that my stirrups were a hole or 2 too short, they said that every time I go to squeeze with my legs I'm losing the stirrups as I'm having to bring my leg up. But then again I keep my legs more still in rising trot when my stirrups are shorter, I quite like them short, I even did the stirrup length check before mounting where you stretch your arm out & see if the stirrups reach your armpits. I'll try them longer in my next lesson to see if it makes any difference & I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Wally]

The stirrup to armpit thing is not any good. Everyone's body ratios are different.

If I do the armpit thingy I am in jumping position and even then too short for jumping.

There is also the take you foot out and leet the leg hang, if the bottom of the stirrup is level with the ankle bone that is the right length, I say if the bottom of the stirrup is level with the welt at the top of the heel of your boot, that's a better flat work length.

[shoniedaspony]

i spent years measuring my stirrups to my armpit before realising that was infact making my stirrups too short....

its difficult when you have a limited time to ride and dont have time to play around with your stirrups-also, although im sure the opinions of an instructor on your position is extremely valuable, if they dont feel right, chances are they arent!