Hi! I tried searching the forum but “tendon injury” summons up horse legs. I’m curious if anyone else has experienced pain in the tendon or ligament which runs up the outside of the lower leg, only on one side, while riding with jumping-length stirrups? It has been happening to me for about 6 months (i’ve ridden for about 20 years), and I gave it a month off in December and it came back immediately when I started riding again. If I ride without stirrups its fine, and if I lengthen my stirrups two holes its a little bit of relief, so it has to do in some way with the iron. I tried different placements of my foot in the iron to no avail. In my lesson yesterday I could barely make it around the rail one lap before I had to drop my right stirrup. My left leg is perfectly pain free, that’s what makes this so confusing. I’m planning on consulting a sports therapist, but I thought I would check here first to see if anyone else has experienced this, or how you explain a jumping related riding injury to a physician. Thanks!
It could possibly be your stirrups. A lot of people love the Royal Rider stirrups if they have had an injury, and recommend them if they’ve had a past injury. I have this pair of stirrups, I’ll post a link. They are black, and composite I think. They have a wider footbed thats padded.I replaced my MDC ultimates with these. I bought these since I had an injury with my ankle (broken growth plate and fracture, I’m 15.) and haven’t had a problem! Reasonable price too! You can also try the Jen stirrups, they are soo comfy and well worth the money! Sorry if this didnt help your question!
http://www.doversaddlery.com/composite-reflex-stirrup-irons/p/X1-0742/?ids=f1lbxezvykfmj045qeihg3uw
Thanks for the tip, I haven’t tried any different irons but that could be a part of this. I’ll have to see if anyone I know has some I can try.
They are definitely worth a try, they have helped me so much, are comfy, support me more, and are a great deal. Good luck!
I’ve had the same problem, and it turned out to be tendonitis. I had to take 3 months off, and no and then it occasionally flares up, but I work through it. You first of all want to make sure you’re wearing boots and chaps or tall boots that make it the most comfortable. I had to change from half chaps with elastic in them, to full leather half chaps, which weren’t stretching on my tendon. Before riding, I stretch that leg out for 5 minutes, by putting down my heal on the fence and touching my toes. Also make sure you’re putting your weight in the stirrup in the ball of the foot and actually on the stirrup iron, instead of the heel, which not only makes you unstable, but was the actual cause of my tendon injury (in conjunction with 5 days a week 2 hour ballet and modern classes and 2 days a week lacrosse). Your foot should also always be placed with the stirrup correctly with the outside branch of the stirrup closer to your pinky and the inside closer to the ball of your foot. Lastly, if you have jointed stirrups, I suggest you get rid of them, they actually only worsen a tendon injury because you’re moving it more often. They help with bad knees because it gives you flexibility, but you don’t want your tendon contracting and extending so often. I personally just put these pads on my stirrups: http://www.smartpakequine.com/super-comfort-iron-pads-6038p.aspx?cm_vc=Search and it seemed to help a lot. I feel like a wider foot bed and composite stirrup would help you too, but make sure not to get any kind that bends. I haven’t personally gotten them yet, because I’m waiting for RR to come out with a silver version for the eq. I also ice my leg after particularly hard lessons or rides.
I had this off and on for years. The best relief was to elevate the outside of the stirrup footbed. So the outside is higher than the inside. I used a shim of cardboard and wrapped it with vetwrap. I this the outside was about 1/2 inch and tapered down from there. Turns out the problem was actually in my hip. Bodies are so weird!
I had an issue that sounds similar. It is called Chronic Compartment Syndrome. You should look it up and see if you fit those symptoms.
Similar to this, I was going to suggest to make sure you’re not rolling your ankle out. I use to have a habit of riding on the very outside of my foot and it put a lot of strain on the outside of the ankle. For me, I just really focused on keeping my foot really flat, but the whole “raise the outside” would’ve helped too. I just needed to retrain my foot. Good luck!
[QUOTE=LibertyRun;6909056]
I had this off and on for years. The best relief was to elevate the outside of the stirrup footbed. So the outside is higher than the inside. I used a shim of cardboard and wrapped it with vetwrap. I this the outside was about 1/2 inch and tapered down from there. Turns out the problem was actually in my hip. Bodies are so weird![/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=JBCool;6909243]
Similar to this, I was going to suggest to make sure you’re not rolling your ankle out. I use to have a habit of riding on the very outside of my foot and it put a lot of strain on the outside of the ankle. For me, I just really focused on keeping my foot really flat, but the whole “raise the outside” would’ve helped too. I just needed to retrain my foot. Good luck![/QUOTE]
This sounds like what is probably happening, I’m so relieved! I did a quick google search and found some wedged stirrup pads for 5 bucks, I think i’m going to get them and if they provide some relief I’ll begin re-training how I distribute my weight in the iron. I think those wide iron stirrups are a great idea too. Thanks so much for the help, this forum is such a good resource!
I had soemthing similar, it finally got so bad I went to a podiatrist. Pain was around my outside ankle bone, and shot up the side of my leg. He eventually ordered an MRI after we could not get the swelling down with a combo of aggressive icing and anti-inflammatories. Turns out I had a longitudinal tear of my peroneus brevis, just below/around my ankle bone. Since I had a history of multiple nasty sprains after playing basketball in high school and college, and never really taking care of it (way back when, you just taped it, iced it, and played anyway), it was likely due to these older issues, but the riding seems to have aggravated it. I do tend to ride with my stirrups pretty short.
I am now just over 5 months into rehabbing it. I took a full 3 1/2 months off - almost no walking, riding only without stirrups, wrapping it, icing when needed, and anti-inflammatories. I gave myself my stirrups back only 4 weeks ago (? or maybe 5), and I lengthened them so I was constantly reaching for them. I shortened them one hole last week (what a relief that was!) I continue to wrap and ice regularly. No more meds, been off those for a while now. We’re just starting to jump bigger, because I was protecting it so much I was afraid to put a lot of pressure - the whole sinking into my heels thing didn’t feel great. I continue to cautiously push the envelope, so to speak, but back off whenever it hurts. So i have seen slow and (in hindsight only) very steady progress since the first couple of weeks off. I have started on the elliptical at the gym, but only a little bit a couple of times a week. I feel a little like an out-of-shape slug, but I’m coming back slowly.
I would go to a doctor and get it checked out. It could be any of a number of problems, some of which would require professional attention.
Oh, and the doc wasn’t even sure rest would help it. If it had not, he would have gone in surgically to repair the tendon. I really did not want to deal with surgery, thank goodness it seems to be slowly healing. They expect full healing to take up to a year 
I have this exact issue now. I think its Peroneal Tendonitis of the peroneus brevis and/or peroneus longus. But it could also be a tear in one of the same musclesl. If I ride with really long stirrups, it settles down a bit, but during show jumping shows, when my stirrups are shorter, it REALLY flares up. It feels like my ankle sort of rolls out, so I’m going to try the wedged iron pads and see if that helps. For me, it is also only on one side and exhibits as pain around the outside of the ankle bone, running (burning, searing pain) up the outside of my lower leg. I can barely hold 2-point position for a full arena lap before needing to remove my foot from the stirrup and shake it out. It’s causing all sorts of other issues with my riding including twisting to avoid using that ankle and I don’t put as much weight in that stirrup, so I end up crooked. This forum has inspired me to make an appt to get an MRI of it. If its a tear, I need to treat it differently than tendonitis.
Disclaimer: I’ve never seen a doctor for my pain (big phobia), but I had a very observant trainer who figured out the reason behind it.
When I ride, my ankles essentially make a C shape around the horse’s body, which results in pain in that outside tendon. My trainer and I think it’s a combination of what I was taught by a prior trainer, and having a previous sprain that stretched that tendon out to the point where it’s essentially like a bungee cord too long for the job.
I’ve used basically every stirrup under the sun - you name it, I’ve tried it. I dislike the spring stirrups - too much movement and not enough support. Royal Rider stirrups worked okay, but I’d have flareups if it got really cold out, and if we worked on 2-point at all during my lessons, I’d be out of commission for like a week.
The stirrups that saved my life were these Stubben double offset irons. They’re designed to fix the opposite problem of what I have (they’re meant for people who toe out too much), but I put them on backwards so that the outside branch is shorter than the inside branch. It was WEIRD the first couple of rides, but I had no pain for the first time in four years. Highly, highly recommend for this issue.
https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Stubben_Double_Offset_Fillis_Stirrups_Irons/descpage-SDOFS.html?from=Google&gclid=Cj0KCQjwo7foBRD8ARIsAHTy2wl9lxEZPQaq_tHlz5n-di6xeTWXTUFaWTqMR8cNt83vQyCsOxJDgnEaAmfPEALw_wcB
I had a few bad ankle sprains when I was a child.
When I originally tried double offset stirrups (Eldonian, 1970’s) I gave up on them because they put too much strain on my ankle. As a Forward Seat rider I put them on the saddle like they were originally designed, with the long branch to the inside.
Then I tried the sloped rubber pads, but I had even more problems with them.
Then when my MS got worse I tried the Stubben double offset Fillis irons, too much slope again AND the whole bottom of my foot ended up in agony, and the base of my inside bit toe became extremely painful from the pressure of the thin Filles branch.
I found another pair of the Eldonian double offset Prussian sided stirrups and put a Micklem bit clip (I’ve also used Chifney bit snaps) in the eye of the stirrup on the side of the short branch of the stirrup. Then I also added the Super Comfort stirrup pads.
Note, when you put these stirrups on the saddle to make sure that the outside of your foot is higher, make sure that when the stirrups hang down flat that the short branch is toward the front of the horse. This is how these double offset stirrups were developed to be used, for Forward Seat riders and jumpers.
Now my ankles do not bother me, my feet feel great, and my feet and ankles no longer give me problems when I ride.
A friend of mine just got flex-on stirrups. She said they are a god send for her ankle/knee/back pain.
If this would relieve the tension on that tendon you can buy stirrups with an offset eye and put the shorter branch on the outside. Offset irons are not legal in the EQ ring, FYI.
Ugh I’ve been suffering with this only in my right leg and I ride dressage. Long leg at least, can’t imagine the pain of jumper length stirrups. I never had this problem as a kid, so not sure if it the horse I ride, or something I’ve done as an adult. I just had a month off, one ride back and it hurts again. We were walking 10-15km a day and no problems. I do pronate on that ankle, so maybe the offset would help. How have you all built shims? I have the HS Bow Balance that help my knee, so I hate to give them up…
It could also be the fit and/or cut of your saddle. I was born with a bit of a leg deformity, which is exacerbated by EDS, and overly straight or overly forward flaps cause me immense discomfort. If switching stirrups doesn’t help, I’d borrow a couple of different saddles to try to test out different geometries too.
That sounds like peroneal tendonitis, at minimum, to me.
Get it checked and pt. Don’t let them write it off as ‘just a sprain/strain’, tendonitis swells the tendon so it sits higher in the groove.
My peroneal tendon flexed out from behind the ankle bone last spring on take off to a jump. Landing in my stirrup on the other side tore out the tissue that holds the tendon in. The result is that I have an ankle that’s unstable in any normal stirrup. I’m looking at surgery and 3 months before full weight bearing to fix it.
I personally have gotten shin splints from riding! Only on the outside of one leg…
It wouldn’t hurt to try wearing compression socks to bed and a little ice and advil after you ride. Might even help if you do have tendonitis! A foam roller may really help you as well.
Hope you feel better soon!
