softening knees and ankles in canter

[coverblown]

.. is what my RI (the head girl) is saying that I really must do. Otherwise I will continue to bounce and hurt my back (long story) even more.

I didn't ask her how to do this, of course I should have...

But any tips out there, on how to soften knees and ankles particularly while cantering, would be really really welcome.

Many thanks

A. x

[cvb]

hmmm

well. if you lock your joints, they can't move hence the reason you tend to bounce as you can no longer absorb the movement.

So one of the ways to create the softness is by moving them. It doesn't have to be a big movement.

Ideally you would learn to soften without the movement, but you need the feel first so lets start with...

Now I find that if someone tells me I need to soften me knee is it often because I have braced it forward. You may not be the same - but get someone to watch and tell you. So for me, I can work towards softness by bending me knee very slightly more than it already is. This both brings my lower leg back under me and softens it. As you do this, exhale. Sounds weird, but try it.

What happens is that each time you do this adjustment, you start to "connect" the softening with the exhale ... so you can see where I am going. At some stage you will find you can soften by breathing out... ;)

Ankles are a bit harder as you have less options to move them. Check you don;t have your toes clenched, and check what is happening when you lock them - if you are forcing the heel down, you will need to think about lightening it. If instead you push the toe down, you'll probably need to think about deepening the heel ?

While you are at it, check you have not locked your lower back and hips - it is possible that the stiffness in knee and ankle is your instinctual reaction to try and stay on because you are bouncing because lower back and hips are locked ? There are some exercises to work on that - but your instructor should know ?

[Blair Witch]

This is a very common problem. If your comfortable enough, the best thing to do is canter without stirrups. But, if your not at that point yet, there are some other things you can do. When you canter, lean back a bit and keep your weight evenly distributed over both seatbones. Take all the weight off your stirrups and focus on keeping your weight in the seat of the saddle. You can also lenghen your stirrups to see if that makes a difference. Don't grab the horse with your legs, just let everything go. I tell my students to act like a ragdoll. lol

[eml]

At the moment I suspect you bounce because your back muscles are protecting your newly mended spine. I have had all the 'relax xyz' advice but the reality is that your subconcious tells your long back musckes to support your weak spine in the canter motion. It probably won't help in a school situation but I only cantered in light seat (forward/jumping position) for several years probably loosening my ankle and knee joints at the same time.

I hate to tell you but even 30 years after my back problem instructors / examiners still highlighted my stiff lower back in canter. Doesn't affect the horse as I compensate in other ways but still does not look great.

[coverblown]

Hi there, cvb, the movement advice is great, I will ensure I do that, but eml, I do suspect you are more than 90% correct (how dare I assume I ever had perfect posture on a horse???) - because I can feel the compensation going on...

She is a good RI and will probably be able to allow me to ride in light seat position in canter for the time being, whilst still instructing the others in the class. (We are only three in total...)

In my Friday private lessons I will try to canter while sitting properly (these are less long lessons, only half an hour - less experienced RI , but more likely to listen to what I want!!!) and I might even get the chance to do some (quiet whisper) canter without stirrups (even quieter whisper) I have done it many times, but not on the speedy little one, only on bad B. ......