lop-sided riding

[Guest]

Took DH out with me tonight, he ran, I rode, it's the only way we share my passion. Problem is he said that my position is awful from behind and I lean to the left which is why the saddle slips.

How do I sort it out??

Do I put my right stirrup longer to encourage more weight in my right leg??

HELP, I don't want a sore pony again.

[Mehitabel]

chiropractor, first off. if something is crooked somewhere you can contort all you want with stirrups, but you need to sort it out at the 'root'. i have a hip that is wonky due to an old injury, and every so often i have to have it bashed by a chiro to keep me even. i also collapse it - years of compensating for the injury - so need to work on it with the instructor as well, but all the work inthe world won't help if you are actually crooked.

then once you have established if you're physically ok, you need ot work out where you are wonky. i collapse my hip, so have to think of bringing my left hipbone (at the front of my pelvis) up towards my right shoulder. when i rise to the trot i have to think 'left hip to right shoulder' too. some people collpase at the ribcage, or drop a shoulder, so have to target it there.

[Sparkie]

Were your stirrups level in the first place? If they wern't, that might have been the problem.

To make sure you sit level, the best way is to ride around in walk, and try to feel both your seatbones (weird I know...). Then get someone to watch you ride normally, and tell you when you are unlevel, then see if you can feel that you aren't straight, before correcting yourself. Eventually, you should be able to feel yourself becoming unlevel, and correct it automatically.

As for lengthening your right stirrup, I'm not sure if that would work, as it may encorage you to lean the other way.

And just out of interest, are you left handed?

[phoenix21]

thats really interesting. I lean to the left and my saddle occasionally slips that way. I also suffer from back pain a lot where the pain runs down my right leg, so maybe this is the problem. i usually put the left stirrup up shorter to compensate, however it would be nice not to ride wonky for a change, i just thought it was my poor riding.

[Guest]

No not left handed.

Mmmmm will find a chiro.

THANKS

[eml]

Echo Mehitabel..see a chiro or physio.

If you can then borrow a flair pad you can use it to put you in the correct balance if it is just bad a habit. It is really hard to get straight if for any reason you have ridden crooked for some time. Oh and I big one, check how you sit or stand normally at work etc.. 90% of the people I see with a lopsided position admit they also lean that way during their working day...worst was dentist!

[Imp]

I agree with the above but would add... has your horse/pony put on a lot of weight or lost a spring belly? If so, the saddle could be slipping just because of that. My daughter is doing exactly the same thing and it is only a recent event. Adjusting the stirrups will actually encourage her to ride incorrectly in the long run, we've opted to call the saddler as we use a Wintec 500 saddle ad having looked at Megan's withers it appears she may need a wider gullet for summer riding.

Hope that's a little help; it's so expensive having to call the professionals in to check isn't it, but I know you don't want a sore pony :( nothing makes you feel worse does it?

Good luck!

[NoviceNic]

Do you drop one shoulder down while you are riding. I had to sort out my position as I rode with one shoulder lower than the other. This then gives the impression that you want to pony to walk in on the lower shoulder side. I used to do it in canter. I would srop my inside shoulder. Then I wondered why Captain just circled in smaller and smaller. When I sorted out my shoulder he stopped coming in.

[entreat]

Are you replying too much on your stirrups in your riding?
If you are, the different strengths in your legs could be pushing you to one side. Ie, your right leg is stronger than your left so you are pushed that way.

Chiropracter, Osteopath, and maybe a physiotherapist could help, but if you go to a chiro, please PLEASE make sure they do some massage as a part of the treatment. If there is uneven tension in the muscles that have pulled you out of alignment in the first place, then a re-adjustment will do sweet FA to address the muscular issue & you'll find you'll have to go back to the chiro over and over and over. If you like your chiro & they don't do massage, please see an osteopath or physio or remedial masseus & tell them exactly what your chiro thinks was out of alignment so they can treat the muscles around it. Ok... I think I've been quite restrained about my opinion on Chiros, so I should probably finish there... :)

[Skib]

The original question came from someone very young - so take the good advice of mehitabel and eml and I hope you get it sorted.
However I picked up the post from Phoenix21

I lean to the left and my saddle occasionally slips that way. I also suffer from back pain a lot where the pain runs down my right leg, so maybe this is the problem. i usually put the left stirrup up shorter to compensate, however it would be nice not to ride wonky for a change, i just thought it was my poor riding.

You dont say how old you are. But this is my problem. A problem with one's spine and the nerves coming from your spine may be made worse by therapists - unless you are very lucky in your physio. The damage may not be reversable. Someone said yesterday, they were told by a Bowen therapist that their problem may be skeletal.
Damage and bruising in your spine may make it hard for you to put weight equally on both seat bones (one of them may hurt) and to open both hip joints equally. In your case, you probably avoid putting weight on your right hip, so your weight is to the left, and that is why everything slips off to the left.
One solution is to ride with stirrups of unequal length. If you do that, you shouldnt let it worry you.
But my RI regarded that as a last resort. Lessons on the lunge, including no stirrups and bare back have eventually straightened me enough to ride with equal stirrups, and I find that a useful guide-line.
If you are physically crooked, it is not always helpful to have people look at you. When I go to a new place to ride and they say my stirrups are unequal, I can just tell them I ride equal length. If you ride with one leather longer, that is fine too, so long as you know how to fix things so they are comfortable for you.
I have found riding very good for my back. But you need a teacher who understands the problem and is not blaming you all the time or thinking of it as bad riding. And will help you learn to adjust your body positon to compensate for your painful right side.

The good news is that even with an unequal body, you can learn to sit central on the horse, sit straight on the horse (not diagonally) and sit up straight and be balanced. And horses learn very quickly to ignore the physical imperfection in the person riding them.

[fishiz3434]

I had this same prob , i made a post but cant memba what it was called and one person told me to c a chiropractor and it helped but then i started yoga and that sorted me out, turned out i just had better balance on my right (your left) leg because i have uneven legs (most ppl do) and it's gotten much better now that i've started evening my muccel tone and balance etc