Bruises on my knees

[Lunabear1988]

Hi there! I’m actually a Dressage rider but am dabbling in some h/j lessons because I think being well rounded and cross training is great for the rider and horse.

I just started and the saddle I’m riding in is an older, very flat, hard type. No knee roll really.

While the instructor said my basic position and leg was overall pretty good, she made a few tweaks. We want my heel a bit deeper and my chest more open. She said she doesn’t want my leg turned out much. Which as a Dressage rider I was happy to hear because I don’t want any extreme angle to turning my toes and ankle.

But I noticed I had some bruising on my inner knees! Now I have a connective tissue disorder so I do just naturally bruise extremely easy. But I think it’s obviously some pinching of my knees is happening. I’m not surprised because I felt like I had a really hard time getting my lower leg on the horse.

This was mostly on the flat we did hop over some teeny teeny cross rails. I’m thinking that I do need to turn my toe out just a tiny bit to help open my knee?

My leg, while muscle memory helps to put it where it should be, is weak. So lots of two point is the plan. I’d love any other tips!

Thank you!

[Willesdon]

Different saddle? A shorter stirrup can make you pinch up with the knee, especially if you are thinking about dropping your heel down far beyond normal.

[sheltona01]

People tend to pinch with their knees if the twist of the saddle is too narrow for them. It might be why you are bruising them. It also could be that you are using your knee to absorb the shock of jumping and not letting your hips and ankles to absorb the shock.

[Scribbler]

Well, it’s true that really good pro riders seem to be able to ride just fine in saddles that are too big, too small, the wrong configuration. For the rest of us, the saddle matters.

Yes, there might be position issues here. But between what you say about bruising easily and riding in a hard flat old saddle, I would honestly suggest trying a saddle that is softer through the panels and knee rolls.

It isn’t normal to bruise on the inside of your knees, though I must admit pinching with knees has never been my particular weakness, so perhaps it happens more than I know.

[OnDeck]

Is there NO knee roll? The flap is just one piece of leather? I’ve definitely bruised with these types. I’m skinny and my knees are bony

[Gardenhorse]

It might not be the knee roll. In my previous jumping saddle, I would sometimes get bruises on the inside of my knee from my stirrup leathers. Something about the way they hung and the angle of my leg in the saddle just caused them to rub/pinch my leg in a weird way.

ETA: But I do the opposite of pinching with my knee, I tend to turn my toe out too much when jumping.

[Lunabear1988]

Thanks guys! Saddle definitely has no knee rolls. I will to get video of me in it. It definitely felt difficult to get my leg on, so maybe a different saddle or changing the length of my stirrups will help.

[RedHorses]

I rode a 25 mile long distance ride in September in small mountains/big hills. My left knee got a little tender from the longer time with unusual gripping as we went up and down. My right knee had a neoprene brace which protected it. The stirrup leather bump was the cause.

I got a pair of stability leathers (it’s 2" wide at the buckle then tapers to 1" to go through the iron) which smoothed out the bump under my knees. I haven’t done another 25 mile ride with them, but I can feel the difference. I bought a second pair for my other horse’s saddle.

If you discover the stirrup leathers are the culprit stability leathers might be worth a try.

[Lunabear1988]

Update! So I talked to the instructor about my bruising. She thinks it’s partly the saddle (no padding in flap) but unfortunately there isn’t any option to use a different saddle on this horse. But we worked on thinking about opening me knee and it took about one lesson but things felt a lot better! My leg feels much more stable as I’m using my calf more and less of my knee/thigh.

[Lunabear1988]

I still think trying different stirrup leathers would be interesting…

I forgot one part. We also played with stirrup length. While she ideally wanted my stirrups a bit shorter, it was really unpleasant on my ankles. So we lengthened a hole and she actually thought I could use my leg a lot better. So we will wait to shorten them (if ever.)

[IPEsq]

So, your toes should be out a little bit, and your knee needs to be open a little bit. But you don’t rotate the leg out from the hip so much. The toe is a little bit out because the ankle is flexed to where more weight is under the base of the big toe so the inside (not as much back) of the lower calf is on the horse. The pinkie toe is against the outer branch of the stirrup iron so that you can be supported in this ankle /foot position. Heels should be down but not forced/locked. Otherwise, you pinch with the knee to avoid swinging the lower leg.

I don’t ride in my dressage tack with a thigh that is rotated inward like some people advocate. While I might get a little toe out when I go to put my leg on because of how I’m used to reaching the horse with my heel/inner ankle such that my dressage coach tells me to point my toes more forward, she doesn’t want me to grip with my knees either. Because a lot of horses don’t like that. So, if you think about the fact that when seated you still want a pretty neutral pelvis in both sets of tack and how your leg hangs off of that from the hips, as far as the knee goes, all you are really doing is just creating a sharper angle behind the knee. Where the foot/heel changes in the jump tack is needed for stability with a shorter stirrup so you can get into 2-point and be very secure, this action happens from below the knee. This is why soft boots are needed :).

You do need a stirrup length that allows you to wrap around the horse some.

[Lunabear1988]

@IPEsq yep that we’ve been playing with it. I think the biggest thing is sometimes we have to work with our own conformation/saddle issues/horse shape and things can’t always be textbook or look the same as someone else. I absolutely cannot get too deep in the heel/flex my ankle. That’s a physical thing and my instructor is understanding that there is a few physical limitations that we have to be mindful of. I do think that I need a longer stirrup than i tend to think. I’m a short person, but I think my femur is actually a bit long for my proportions.

In Dressage tack I am really good about having my toes pointed forward. I’ve never had anyone want to change much there. I do tend to ride best without stirrups though! Lol

[Lunabear1988]

Watching videos, it was clear I was trying to keep more of a Dressage type leg at first. Toes forward, completely and too short of a stirrup. And that’s just pretty ineffective for me, especially in certain saddles. Some aren’t that bad at all. Some put me in such a chair seat!