Legs position

[tillyspromise]

Hi all

Here we go...

I had an accident 6 years ago which resulted in a horse standing on my leg. This has resulted in a leg which is sore from calf to hip.

My leg position has gotten awful and is way too far forward! I need exercises or something to do to widen my hips. Whe nI use my hand and lift my leg off the saddle and put it where it should sit, it cramps up and is incredibly sore.

My position however is insecure because of this and really need to get my leg further back. At the start of this year I came off about 7/8 times due to my darling pony finding it funny to see how many different ways she could see mummy land on her big bottom!!

Any ideas at all??

 

[vimto92]

First and foremost, are you sure the saddle isn't putting you into this position? If your stirrup leathers are vertical and you still believe your leg is too far forwards, it will be the stirrup bars on your saddle that are the problem.

I think you would benefit from stirrupless work if possible, it is very good and "lengthening" your leg and you start to worry about their position less. When riding stirrupless, if you are sitting in the center of the saddle properly, your legs won't really be forwards so much unless you tense your muscles and hold them there, so relaxing is key!

 

[rgbilyeu]

i have terribly hips and knees (basically should be EXTREMLEY pidgeon (90 degrees from normal in wards) toed but i have a correction at the knees)

i find if you have access to a gym hip abductions help alot, strengthen the muslces on both the outside and inside of your hips (gym staff would be able to point you in the right direction) helps to control the position on your hips, and generally your lower leg as well (calf raises help the strength in your lower leg you can do these on your stairs, go up on your toes on the bottom step them lower your heels to about 2 inch below the stair then up again 3 sets of 10)

if you can access a gym, get an aerobics ball, lay on your back put your legs in the air and put the ball between them, lower your legs (not touching floor about a fist about the ground) then raise up to middle, at the same time place your arms behind your head straight out and and raise when you bring legs into the middle, swapping ball from legs to hands (without throwing) you will feel this more in your core then anything and will do wonders for abs, but i find that the width of the ball helps to build muslce on the outside of your hips and strengthens your calfs if you point your toes (again 3 sets of 10)

also you can lay on your side arm bent hand under your ear, bend your leg which is directly on the ground to a 90 degree angle, then with your top leg keep your toes pointed and raise (you can progress to adding leg weights you can buy from a sports store for about £10) and again do 3 sets of 10 and make sure you do both legs

another god one for strengthing legs is to get on all foors lift your head up, keep on leg bent, the other leg lift just of the floor and then push out to a straight poisiton behind you (again ca be progress with leg weights and raising the level of your leg passed level with your back)

these exercises were given to me by my physical therapist and i have had great success with them, and i used to ride about 3 horses minimum a day 5-6 days a week, you will hurt for the first week but thats just stretching out your muscles your not used to fully using.