Feet astray and the flapping right leg!

[ANN G]

Hello,
Has anyone out there got advice on the problems I highlighted in the subject title?
It was particularly bad today in my lesson:o In canter I felt my right leg was flapping about despite me muttering to myself 'relax and heels down!' :mad: Then when I attempted a small course of jumps(3) my feet especially my right one kept slipping forward in the stirrups!
Help!
Ann

[galadriel]

Trying *not* to do something is very difficult. Instead, you can focus on what you need to DO. This should help you get past the flapping leg.

This may be useful:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/riding/300-toes/

Squeezing with the knees, especially with the legs determinedly off the horse, is often the cause of lower legs slipping forward.

However, the fact that it's just one leg does suggest that you may be one-sided. You might be sitting more heavily to one side, or one of your shoulders may be slumping, or you might be stronger on one side, or you might be more flexible on one side. There are several ways you can deal with this; all of them should add to your general comfort as well as help you be more stable while riding.

1) Think about your posture occasionally through the day. In your case, you will probably want to focus on your shoulders and seatbones (I usually need to focus on not slouching). Try to make sure that your shoulders are level, and you are putting equal amounts of pressure on each seatbone.

It helps to have a trigger that reminds you to think about it. The more often you correct yourself, the more you will even out the musculature on your torso. If you can get sitting straight to be second nature, then it will also be second nature when on the horse.

I am constantly fidgeting, and I've managed to associate fidgeting with checking my posture (amusing). Other decent triggers could be a colored sticky note somewhere prominent; for example on the upper corner of your monitor if you spend a lot of time at the computer. Or you could paint one fingernail blue ;) Or there are lots of others you can use; just find something that will remind you to check yourself throughout the day.

2) Stretch. If you are tighter or stronger on one side of your body, then stretching will help you even out. Stretching will loosen the tight muscles, and tone the looser muscles.

I have back issues (the reason why I'm constantly fidgeting--it hurts to sit still) and have a number of stretches given by the physiotherapist, which are quite helpful. I usually stretch my calves, my thighs, and across my hips (several ways). If you can find any muscles that are tighter on one side than the other, those may be the ones you need to focus on.

In general, better posture and more even musculate will increase your overall comfort--but they'll also do wonders for your riding.

[virtuallyhorses]

My personal experience with flapping legs is that it is a sign that you (I :) ) aren't balanced over the top of your legs. Instead you are probably pushing them forward - either because you are trying to push your heels down too much or just because your ear-hip-heel alignment is out (prob a bit of both) .

Additionally you may find that your stirrups are a little long, shorten them by one hole while you try to correct the problem. When you get it right, then you can put your stirrups down again but trying to lengthen stirrups too early is often a cause of problems. You're better to get the whole stability thing going first and then when your legs and torso are stronger and your sense of 'right feel' is developed you will be able to lengthen stirrups without worry :)