Hunched, shorter leg (?!) and other zillion problems. Pics too.

[ina.click]

1. hunch
I am asking my RI to take photos of me to see better what i have to improve, well, from these pictures I look like the hunched lady of notre dame! I cant keep my back straight, gah :mad: Looking over these photos , seems like I've been shot and i am dragging to my refuge with last moments of breath.
http://i31.tinypic.com/oji0q0.jpg


2. Breathing
I loose my breath and i end up looking like a fish out of the tank. Seriously, we were not cantering or anything Fatima was just slowly trotting and LOOK at my mouth :eek:
http://i26.tinypic.com/2iuxpjd.jpg
http://i25.tinypic.com/55iats.jpg


3. Shorter leg?!
I swear I felt I need a stirrup shortened with 1 hole. Ri insisted that stirrups are equal, we counted the holes, she was right, then what the heck, I have a shorter leg? If so, should this be noticeable in walking etc. She says my legs + stirrups are just fine, but i am leaning on one side hence the sensation. Sigh

4. Pains in all sorts of places
My legs hurt, my hips hurt and ermm..some other stuff :o hurt more than all. Not going very much into details, but a certain zone of mine became ...gah i can't type this!
Let's just say every piece of my lingerie feels like barbed wire and i spent the afternoon with some baby wet wipes as my closest friends. I got some serious issues :S And not very sure how to make them....erhmm...go away! retreat! by tomorrow morning if possible too.

Sigh this is embarrassing. And hurts like hell. Ok, rant over.I'll walk my accolade figure away now.


Edit: Could it be because i booked 2 hours today - greedy skinny me - and by the end of first hour I was already falling apart in pieces.
I don't get it really, i am so tired and Fatima is so fresh that it seems i am carrying her in my back for 2 hours

[Rowerss]

Okaii, my dad brought one of these today from Staples, its a computer chair that makes you sit straight so you can get used to it out of the saddle.
If you look up posture stool/chait or kneel chair you may be able to find them They are also on the staples website in furniture > seating i believe.
They are really comfy and even seem slightly like riding ie. straight back, hips - shoulder - heel line type thing depending on the chairs height.

Shorter leg, maybe you are just leaning in which case practise balancing and sitting straight and central. Could the actual stirrup leathers even, could one have been stretched maybe because of leaning.

Edit.
The out of breathness could be having 2 hours especially if you are used to half an hour or a full hour, so could all the aches! Maybe you should build up the length slowly towards 2 hours xD

Hope this helps.

[Wally]

You are not just hunched you look like every sinew is tense! :) No wonder you lose your breath, I'm surprised you can breathe at all being that tense.

Don't worry, it's all curable,

can you get hold of a copy of Heather Moffett's book, "Enlightened Equitation"? If you can read that it will bring an awful lot to your attention you can work on.

Sadly you are at risk of a back injury riding with your back like that, as you cannot absorb any of the horse's movement and cushion yourself, The small of your back, your hips, knees and ankles need to all act together in absorbing the movement, sadly you have got such tension down the whole of your back and legs I bet you are getting one bouncy ride?

You need to find your seatbones, you can do this on a kitched chair with a hard seat, then you can feel how you can rock your seat onto the front and back edges of your seatbones, let the horse rock you as you walk and you should feel your back flexing and straighening. At the same time as the horse tepd forward with a back foot your hip on the same side will drop, let the horse swing you side to sde and back and forth. The same happens in trot but much faster.

Now, imagine a fine cord attached to the top button on your shirt, and you are being drawn up and forward by that cord......your ribs are getting a bit farther apart with each step, but breathe in to stretch them, and each time you breathe out, let them fall, but not so far each time, ....it's just a feeling,


Don't force your heel down, you stop the springs in your legs, your foot needs to be paralled with the floor, or your heel just a tiny bit lower.

[Wally]

BTW, relying on leathers being on the same hole is no guarantee they are level, the saddle might be twisted or the leathers stretched.

[Kittycat]

Talking, singing or reciting silly rhymes whilst riding can all help with the relaxation, the sillier the better (laughing helps relax you). Concentrate on breathing in slowly and deeply, and breathing out even slower. Shrug your shoulders a few times to help loosen them (it may be an idea to take a break periodically to do a bit of 'loosening up') and circle your wrists and ankles.

Your *ahem* 'delicate' issue may be because your pelvis is tilted forward and you are sitting on your 'front' rather than sitting back. (Wally's seatbone bit will help with that). As your seat improves, this goes away, but I know how painful it is! Padded cycling shorts can help in the short term (it's such a sexy look!)

Ditto the others re the stirrups, one is often slightly stretched because of mounting on one side.

Good luck!:)

[ina.click]

Thank you for the advice!

I'll search the online book I have seen it mentioned many times in here so it must be a very nice resource.
Another possible cause of the breathing thing has revealed today: what seemed to be just an annoying weakness mood is today a strong cold. My fault, outside are 38 degrees celsius and I was taking cold showers, eh.

[LindaAd]

You are not just hunched you look like every sinew is tense! :) No wonder you lose your breath, I'm surprised you can breathe at all being that tense.



BTW, relying on leathers being on the same hole is no guarantee they are level, the saddle might be twisted or the leathers stretched.


I think Wally's right about the breathing - I was complaining about being unfit and not getting any fitter because I get so out of breath, and my RI said it's because I get tense and forget to breathe ... I find it helps to count things - the horse's strides, mainly, or to say canter, canter, canter or trot trot, trot trot, trot: it helps keep the rhythm and you can't do it without breathing.

But you look well balanced in the saddle, and you have a nice light contact; it's not all bad.

As for stirrup leathers, they might be twisted or stretched, or, if you RS is anything like mine, they mightn't even be a pair. You need to rely on someone on the ground to tell you if they're equal.

[Heucherella]

http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135509

Try this old thread for help!

[Chukka]

Invest in a nice pair of suede seated jodphurs they are really nice and some chaps to give you some comfort from the stirrup leathers and see that a difference they make.

[BlackBess]

I can't add anything to the excellent advice already given but I've seen your pics and was just wondering - are you gripping with your knees? Only reason I ask is that in your second pic, it looks like your heel is coming up, which is exactly what I used to do (probably still do). If you're gripping with your knees, it will tip you forward which makes it very uncomfortable (re: lingerie when riding - big pants, look awful but so comfy). If you feel that one stirrup is shorter than the other, it might be that your weight is on one hip more than the other.

A great way to improve your position (in addition to the other advice) is to have lunge lessons. Your RI has full control of the horse and you can just focus on your balance and position and it does work wonders.

[ina.click]

are you gripping with your knees?

lingerie when riding - big pants, look awful but so comfy).

A great way to improve your position (in addition to the other advice) is to have lunge lessons. Your RI has full control of the horse and you can just focus on your balance and position and it does work wonders.

1. Gripping with my knees - I'm afraid so :s I'll work on that
2. Lingerie: After the last lesson I'll go buy myself the hugest pair of grandma-style lingerie I find.
3. Chaps - That is something I intend to buy as well, those leather stirrups kinda hurt :S
4. Lounge lessons: Now I know you have heard this before, but I get dizzy and I loose much more balance in lounge lessons! :o I mean it was worse in lounge. The horse is kept in a very tight circle and I simply get dizzy from all the spinning. Plus, due to the fact that she sees the RI's whip she gets nervous and jumpy :( At least when off lounge, she is very lazy, but calm.

Overall thank you very very much for all the help :) You are a wonderful bunch :) My best wishes to everyone.

Edit: And yes, exactly as someone suggested, I am sitting on ..on the wrong bones. Gah. You know what the even more ebarrasing problem is, I might have problems sitting on the right bones too. When I was a kid I slipped and fell on my bum from the beggining of a stair to the end of it. By the end of that stair, I had broken my ... tail reminiscence? the last vertebrae. The little one. Well, mine is broken. Probably it has healed since 13 years ago, but I'll try the correct position next lesson. Hopefully not sensitive anymore.

[Vicki&Milo]

I would invest in some long riding boots (if you can get them there, rubber ones can be very cheap), or chaps at the very least. They give you support through your ankle so your legs are less liklely to wobble, even with longer stirrups and you can concentrate on other areas. You will wobble about in lunge lessons, the horse works 'bouncier' but you should be able to start off holding onto the saddle/neck strap as you don't have to steer etc.

If you can it might be worth seeing a physio re. your cocyx (tail bone) they should eba ble to assess your posture standing and sitting and help to make it more 'normal', its quite usual for people to protect old injury sites so they won't think you're wierd.

Not nagging, but if I was you, I'd also invest in a hat, to save anymore nasty injuries, but thats your choice ;) :) Good luck :D

[Grinyer224]

mix us 2 - my stirrups are 2 short and i lean 2 far back

[blueroan12:2]

Are you wearing flat shoes? Looks like your foot has slipped thought the stirrup iron a tiny bit, maybe get some riding boots with good heel and tread if you haven't already. Also do you stand up when you rise the hunched look might be becuase you are getting ready to go high and forward out of the saddle in your rising trot which can happen if you stand when you rise. I think your horse looks gorgeous and you are very brave riding without a hat! Why does your RI have a whip? I think i'd sit hunched if i was on a forward horse that didn't like an ri's whip but maybe i've got that wrong. Are your stirrups too long? Which one is longer they can always stretch more on one side normally the side you get on from, also if your girth is done up tighter on 1 side than other saddle can sit wonky or your horse may be more one sided which means one stirrup feels longer.

[ina.click]

Okies, answers:

1. Why does my RI have a whip - I have no idea, they're always carrying around one. Truth is she gave me one as well and although I never hit the horse, I suddenly did not need to nudge her and so on to start her in trot. However, when in lounge Fatima gets a bit spooky (I guess she makes the difference between me carrying a whip and RI carrying one ) and bounces me in a faster trot than I can keep up with. Plus, the lounge is being held too short in my opinion, hence very fast circles and the horse leaning a lot on the inner side.

2. About the hat - I am not brave for riding without a hat, I actually need one badly but I cannot find one on my size around my city. I found small children;s hats at a store, and bicycle hats. I will get a hat as soon as I find one my size

3. Yes I do rise - stand up - in rising trot, and actually quite a lot, stretching my legs almost completely, However I still need to work on my position as I keep hunching even when I am not on a horse

4. Long riding boots - I would really skip that :s it's been 33 Celsius degrees here and it's almost unbearable. My shoes actually have a heel which seems to be the only thing preventing my foot not to slip completely.

Chaps and a hat are on my shopping list, now if only I could find some at an acceptable price :)Thank you all very much for the advice!

[Sherveen]

Hi there,
dont know if this will help, but it looks as if your legs are being pushed back behind your 'seat'. this would be because the upper half of your posture is more forward than usual. Have you tried pushing your shoulders back and chest out as this helps straighten my back, and doing a few streches before the lessons works like a bomb!!! Doing small circles on the lunge is not only uncomfortable for the rider, but harmfull to the horse too. The reason for this is that the horse has to not only try and balance himself, but has to do this with a rider in his back which applies a lot of pressure in certain parts of the horses body. This could be the cause for the horses inner shoulder 'falling in' and as a result the horse goes faster and faster and the rider gets 'left behind'. When performing rising trot, try and slow your rising as this encourages the horse to slow down their pace a bit. Hope this helps, :)

[chickyd444]

i ride in granny pants, i wont ride without them !- super comfy ;)

sounds like you need to try and sit more on your seat bones , which are the boney hard bits in your bum ;)

posture wise, you just need to practise sitting up straight, and you will find this easier if you are sitting more on your seat bones :)

i have one leg fractionally longer than the other, and stirrup leathers all stretch making it difficult to get comfortable, in the end i bought a pair of -'non- stretch' leathers they have really helped me to get comfy and correct my position :)

keep us updated

[Imzadi83]

*hugs* You sound like me!

1. Yeah I'm l like that too generally. Try to remember during the day to keep standing stright and keep your shoulders back. Keep your car seat up straight too, that will keep you straight while driving and help your back get used to sitting that way.

2. I'm always like that and I'm five lessons in. I'm not a fit person to being with by anymeans and this far more physically stressfully then I thought. Try to excercise besides riding, espically some cardio will help.

3. Hmmm could be. Could also be the saddle too is leaning on one side, or even the horse could have legs shorter on one side.

4. The first time I rose to trot my tail bone hurt for three days. I bought a Seatbone Saver and have not had any problems since. My legs still hurt but that's because this is far more excercise then I'm used to. Some zinc oxide might help soothe your skin "down there"

I think you did over do it this time. But you'll get better, just don't push yourself too hard. And please wear a helmet next time!

[Frances]

Ditto everyone else plus

Two hours for a lesson is way too long unless you are superfit and ride every day. You are actually a dead weight on the pony after 20 minutes.

I would have short lessons little and often if you really want to get into this sport.

Relax, chill and just sit on the pony. Are there any full length mirrors in the school? Probably not. Get someone with a camera to keep taking photos, though I would stress that if you photographed Ellen Whittaker you would get some with her mouth open, bent double and her legs in different directions!!

Good luck.

Fx