Lower leg swinging in canter (m)

[Nimbus65]

I've done LOADS of work getting my lower leg still in trot and it's really paid off, but I find that I still swing my lower leg alot in canter which is fine if I'm on one of the horses that NEEDS reminding to stay in canter but horrid in general and awful for the more sensitive horses I'm now riding. I was doing loads of canter work on Rocky yesterday (counter canter and flying change . . . boy was I thrilled!) and he's so sensitive that all I need to do to ask for leg yield is brush my outside leg up and back slightly w/out applying it . . . so I know my swinging lower leg was REALLY annoying him.

Any tips/ideas on how to stop this or will it just be a question of doing what I did in trot to correct the problem (practice, practice, practice)???

N

[Waikato Valuta]

I think I posted the exact same question in NR a few years ago. But not I can find it, lol. I think this is a very common problem.

I find that the key is relaxation, streatching down into the heal. Others might be able to give you better advise tho.

[Colorado Sunset]

I had the same problem and have not quite managed to fix it, however these (http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/public/library.html) few articles on Heather Moffett's site have been very useful to understand why the problem occurs and how to solve it.

A quick extract:

'Driving with the seat' is a common instruction when sitting trot is being taught and also in canter. The action of pushing both seatbones forward at the same time, also causes the thighs and knees to drop down together, and the lower legs to slip back. As the seatbones slide forwards, the thighs and knees rise, and the lower legs slip forwards again, hence the lower legs waggle back and forth involuntarily at every stride.

Reading this was a lightbulb moment for me, I now know why I do it, Im just working on absorbing the movement properly which in turn will stop this "waggling" of the lower leg.

Jo