Dismount problems w/ ankle stiffness?

[kdow]

I managed to get in some riding time while I was on vacation last week (just trail riding at a walk, but it felt SO GOOD to be riding again) and it went much better than I expected, except for a minor problem - my right ankle seems to be fine when actually riding, but when it comes time to dismount it feels very stiff and sore and I delayed dismounting for a few moments to kind of wiggle it around out of the stirrup before risking landing on it.

I’m just wondering if there’s anything else I can do (better stretches, maybe?) , or if there’s something specific I should look for in stirrups/length of stirrups/stirrup leathers that would help. It felt worryingly like if I’d had to hop off suddenly, my ankle might not have supported my weight well.

(I should add that I was riding in various western saddles, and I’m pretty sure that contributed - some of the fenders were pretty stiff and so maintaining good foot position in the stirrup was tricky and I’m sure that put extra stress on my ankle.)

It was weird that it seemed to be fine while riding, though - maybe I just wasn’t really noticing it because of thinking about other stuff?

[wateryglen]

jmho!

Dismount onto a mounting block, stairs, stump, platform, picnic table or something high. It’s the concussion of landing on your ankle with your weight that can worsen an injured ankle. And if it hurts=it’s injured/sprained or something. I’d try longer stirrups maybe.

[Couture_TB]

I can’t land hard on my one leg because of my ankle and I actually slowly slide down the side of the horse and keep my bad leg up and just land on my good leg and then step down. I tried the dismounting on the blocks but since I don’t have much feeling in my one foot I can’t seem to tell when it is on there all the time! lol

[threedogpack]

[QUOTE=kdow;5049273]
I managed to get in some riding time while I was on vacation last week (just trail riding at a walk, but it felt SO GOOD to be riding again) and it went much better than I expected, except for a minor problem - my right ankle seems to be fine when actually riding, but when it comes time to dismount it feels very stiff and sore and I delayed dismounting for a few moments to kind of wiggle it around out of the stirrup before risking landing on it.

I’m just wondering if there’s anything else I can do (better stretches, maybe?) , or if there’s something specific I should look for in stirrups/length of stirrups/stirrup leathers that would help. It felt worryingly like if I’d had to hop off suddenly, my ankle might not have supported my weight well.

(I should add that I was riding in various western saddles, and I’m pretty sure that contributed - some of the fenders were pretty stiff and so maintaining good foot position in the stirrup was tricky and I’m sure that put extra stress on my ankle.)

It was weird that it seemed to be fine while riding, though - maybe I just wasn’t really noticing it because of thinking about other stuff?[/QUOTE]

I’ve got a permanent metal fixture in one ankle. Sometimes I drop that foot out of the stirrup and do air circles to loosen it up.