Swinging legs- how to stop??!!

[canna]

Any advice please?!!

I had my usual private lesson yesterday, but with a different instructor (mine is on hols). Great lesson, she paid a lot of attention to my position. But the one thing that I just could not get right was my legs! I seem to have a really bad habit of swinging them (front to back) whilst in rising trot.! Sitting trot, I keep them in good position, able to squeeze the horse lightly and gain the desired effect. My instructor kept asking me to keep my feet still, and slightly back, and open my thighs, weight down into heels etc. I foung it really hard, and had a very sore left anke (which kept giving out) after the lesson. Also got a very sore shin muscle on same leg.
P.S. the horse I rode, is not the most forward going at first!!
What can I do - it's making me feel quite frustrated!!:(

[rache]

i have had and sometimes :confused: it is down to balance and not using your lower leg correctly, you should rap your lower leg around the horse and use the inner calf to squeeze the horse on, keeping toes in, you will find it hard to do so.

Maybe do some more work with out stirrups when ever necessary. Do you have a leaning forward postition or are you pretty straight or too far back, you will find it hard to put your leg further back when you lean forwards due to lack of balance. You should not be able to see your toes at all when you look down!

I hope this is correct, it is what my instructor has been telling me.

[galadriel]

A lot of times confusion about just what you're supposed to be doing with your legs can make it hard to use them properly. I've got a page on that:
http://trainersnotes.lorienstable.com/toes/

It may be a bit helpful :)

[Gem]

Grip in to the saddle with your knees.

[Bridget]

DON'T grip with your knees...

[Zingy]

You might well find its as a result of how the saddle is designed, and therefore difficult (impossible?) for you to correct. If the stirrup bar is too far forward you will be drawing your lower leg back from it when sitting, to put your leg in the correct position. This is fine, but when you rise more weight is put onto your stirrups which then move towards the vertical, ie move forwards. Hence your legs swing. Check the saddle you were riding in. If you sit with no stirrups with your leg in the correct position and the stirrups are in front of you, that won't be helping you at all.

[Harry Hobbes]

weight down into heels etc. I foung it really hard, and had a very sore left anke (which kept giving out) after the lesson. Also got a very sore shin muscle on same leg.
Canna,
The best thing you can do for yourself is to build your lower leg flexion and strength by means of exercises on the ground.

One method of doing this is to step up on the first step of a stair case with the balls of your feet only, and then do several repetitions of shallow squats, while maintaining proper riding posture; say five of six inches up and down. Don't overdo it.

Do 20-30 repetitions per day (not all at once) for a couple of weeks, and I'm sure that your legs will no longer give you trouble while riding.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

no stirrups will help to strenghten your legs, and probably help a lot!

some of the problem may be that you are gripping with your knees. if you are then your lower leg will flop around.

[rache]

i did no stirrup work this after noon and i have not done that in around 5 years GOD it hurts, totally different muscles you are using with no stirrups but i have decided i have to alot more with out stirrups!!!

[canna]

Thanks for all the advice. I will check the saddle and my leg position, as he's a horse that haven't ridden for a long time, and my usual instructor hasn't picked up on my legs being a problem before - and she doesn't miss a trick!
She's also keen on work without strirrups, so we'll have to just do a bit more I guess!! (many hours of aching muscles to come!!:D )
Galadriel: very useful notes - thanks!:)

[Jodie & Ru]

Hi there,

You can actually buy a a device which i think hooks the stirupps to the girth in some way or another and keeps your feet in the correct poistioning. I've seen them advertised in quite a few different places, i'll see if i can find where. They're not visable, but probably quite useful i thought if you're scooling on your own, just so as you can get used to the feeling of where your feet/legs should be!

[Monty]

Canna- Not being personal or anything, but just wondered have you got a 'normal' back and hip joints?? Zingy will know why I'm asking.Can you open up at the hips properly?If there's a problem with that......you efforts to keep your legs still may be wasted. PM me if you prefer, and I'll tell you why I'm asking. No reason to panic!!!!!:D

[epcd3000]

I know EXACTLY how you feel! My mum took a video clip of me in posting trot, and I'd use my legs as momentum to raise myself out of the saddle. What I was doing was using my knees to lift myself up, which is why recently I've been having sore joints. What you should try to do is to grip the saddle and rise with your inner thigh muscles. This stiffens your lower leg muscles since you don't have to swing yourself up with your knee joints.
I tried this on Saturday, and what a major improvement for myself!! I can tell that this bad habit has been continuing for awhile now, because my inner thigh muscles hurt!!

[entreat]

Oh No!! My legs swing like wild things!!! I just reviewed a video taken on Sunday - and clearly I am posting with my knees! My feet are sticking out forward, and my toes stick out like bat wings! And my legs swing independantly...

oooh, it's terrible!

[canna]

Glad I'm not the only one with this problem!!:)
jcowden, I've seen those devices you mentioned advertised, and mentioned them to another instuctor, but they queried their safety??!:( Did you manage to find out any more about them?

[entreat]

I'm sure they couldn't be too unsafe for schooling - but I only trail ride, and I can only imagine the disasters that could occur if something went wrong... But in an arena wouldn't be too bad - it's a confined area, and its flat.

[Jodie & Ru]

Hi ya, I had a lookin Robinsons but couldn't finid them I'm sure it was advertisement in a magazine to be honest. I'll have another look tonight!

[Kezzabelle]

You could also try suede half chaps which which help "stick" your legs to your horses sides- but dont grip with your knees!!

Good Luck :D

[Tootsie4U]

Good article Galadriel. Did you draw those pictures yourself ;)

One other thing that may be the culprit:

Are you trying to PUSH yourself out of the saddle in order to achieve the posting/rising trot? If you are relying on your legs to hoist you up, you could be forcing your legs to bop around.

You should not be lifting yourself out of the saddle. Do you think this could be part of the problem?

[canna]

Had my lesson today with my usual instructor (now back from hols), and rode my fav cobby type 'tinker' horse - who is a lot more forward going than last weeks! Grrrrreat improvement!!:D We did plenty of work without stirrups and some general position stuff. It does seem that I was pushing down in my stirrups in order to rise, and not opening from the hip. Therefore, my lower legs were free to go back and forth. My feet would constantly slip through the stirrup irons too.
By the end of todays lesson, I had my heels well down, thighs opened away from the saddle, found my seat bones, legs that kept still in the correct position (most of the time!), and a horse that responded when I asked him to. It was great to feel that I was rising from the knees, with a gentle swing of the pelvis, and not standing in my stirrups. okay, I've still got a long way to go, but at least we feel we've identified the problem, and started to improve upon it!!:D
On a sad note though, the first horse that I learned to ride at the school (and she'll always be a favourate) was put to sleep today. She was getting on in years and in a lot of pain due to her athritis (I think). Guess I've got her to thank for getting the 'horsey bug!':) May she rest in peace.