Hip problem again

Cortrasna

Cortrasna

Grumpy old nag
Aug 5, 2009
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Ireland
I had forgotten on my enforced 4 month rest just how much riding now hurts my hips - well not so much riding more the getting on and most of all ...Dear God! getting off is agony and today I barely managed it the hip pain was so intense.

I did post on here a couple of years back about my problem arthritic hips - and had some good advice but I think I am now at the stage where they are so bad I perhaps need to go back to the gp and at least sound a bit more willing to have replacements :( Strangely I dont have too much pain walking - unless the ground is uneven and once in the saddle the pain is bearable but getting off is just crippling me, I am guessing the break from riding isnt helping.

Question is do you who use treeless saddles think they might help with the pain of dismounting in particular. If so any recommendations for a VERY cheap one to test the theory - I really cant spend a lot of money on a saddle I might only use a couple of times if it doesnt help?
 
I don't personally think a treeless would help. They tend to feel quite wide to me.

What is it about the dismounting movement that hurts? Which part of it?
 
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It is actually getting my leg up high enough to clear the cantle and get over and down - the pain in my hip as I try to lift my leg that far up and over and off is excruciating now. and both hips are the same so even trying to dismount the opposite side isn't working. I just wondered would the actual ride in a treeless put less pressure on my hips so when I have to get off they haven't locked up quite so rigidly? I very nearly couldnt get off at all when I got back today - pathetic old baggage :(
 
Treeless saddles will make you sit with your hips open far wider than a tree'd saddle. They do take some getting used to. Might a taller mounting block help? Then you don't have to lift your leg as high.
 
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They menfolk here built me a higher one Domane and it actually made it all a bit more traumatic so I have gone back to the just below hip level again, which was fine but even that doesnt help now - I am thinking from comments here and elsewhere treeless isnt the answer then? :(
 
@Cortrasna if you can arrange a courier to collect my sensation treeless saddle (I have zip idea who and how to use courier wise) you are more than welcome to use it for a while and see how you get on with it. I'm in no rush for it as just using my bareback pad on Rhan x
 
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Also depending on Dolly how is she with letting you get off leg over the front?if she is happy enough see if it makes a difference and then train to mount that way to,it can be done but you need a horse that will stand stock still till your sorted.
 
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I would try adjusting the mounting block height. Im not very flexible and struggle to even mount from the ground and I only have 14'3 horse. I had a mounting block at the yard and it was okay for mounting. It wasn't low or anything but I used to have put my foot in the stirrup to have to swing the other leg over.
Now I have the boys home, I had to have someone make me a mounting block as I had nothing. So someone has cut me two big tree rounds for a mounting block. The one round has a cut out as well so makes the steps. The other round is the top step and is high enough that I can stand on the tree round and literally swing my leg over without having to put my feet in the stirrups at all. So no pressure on my body hauling myself over. When I come back I literally take my feet out the stirrups and rest my one foot on the block to dismount and slide over the saddle.
Even the girls who ride my other horse say it's a great height and when you come back from a long hack it's very relaxing just to slip off onto the block.
 
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@chunky monkey - yes tried that height but I think the actual surface area of my mounting block wasn't large enough to confidently
just step over and on to.....but the height really isn;t so much of an issue - it is getting that damned old leg over the cantle and ready to land. :(

@mystiquemalaika - yes she is good enough to stand while I do the leg over the front effort - but the trying to swing my leg around to the front is just as hideously painful as swinging it back and over the conventional way. - Jaysus I am such a whinging old biddy lol! perhaps I should just give in gracefully and go and knit some socks! :D I would be SO happy to try your treeless for a few weeks and that is a very generous offer...and would be more than happy to pay courier over to me and back to you when I have seen if it helps? I shall pm you now :) <3
 
The front swing doesn't always help so fully understand if it doesn't :)

I've eplied to your pm. One thing I will add is mine is the sensation English trail if you want to have a nosey at reviews, write ups, photos etc. There are plenty thing out there on FB and Google about them to familiarise yourself till it gets there :D x
 
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Treeless def strained my hips, it took a while for me to be comfortable in it and after riding in it. Just a thought, have you tried getting off the other side? perhaps it might help if your right hip is worse than your left :) or teach dolly to let you slide off her bum like we all did as kids :p
 
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The easiest way I have found to get off without straining my hips is if Ziggy has his head down (as if to graze) and I swing my leg over the lowered neck.

I have a command which means "OK to graze now" and he never needs a second invitation! Could you teach Dolly this? It means effectively you don't need to lift your leg at all. It's quite cool too!
 
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Yes i can tell her to drop her head to graze and she will - just not sure if even that would let 'unlock' my hip and enable me to swing it over her lowered neck - but might well be worth a try. I will think of you Jane and bless you as I slither to the ground in a graceful heap lol! It is a problem of what the actual ride does to my hips I am guessing - I can swing the legs up and over to get on from the mounting block - but by the time I have sat in the saddle for over half an hour they just cease up. Off to the docs next week to see what can be done, if anything. :)
 
Everyone here and on the yards I ride at knows I use the cavalry dismount - standing in the left stirrup.
If that still doesnt allow your leg to clear the cantle, you can shorten the left stirrup a hole or two.
You can find the threads. I was taught it at my second riding lesson after a 90 year old man fell on the cobbles when dismounting.
A treeless saddle is more likely to slip so I wouldnt like to use one.
 
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Oddly Skib , today I did actively spend the last half kilometre standing upright in the stirrups most of the time - took a little concentrating on my balance but managed it and the dismount was marginally easier. We used to be told similar but it was to get our weight off the horses back to give them a break.....not too sure it is in the manual of how to help an old lady with dodgy hips but I will try it again tomorrow ;)
 
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