Knee brace for riding

[AllAboutTheBay]

I ruptured my PCL when I fell off my horse at the end of May. It’s an isolated, complete tear, so I am trying to avoid surgery and just trying to strengthen my leg through PT and bracing.
Currently I am not riding and working on strengthening my leg. When I do get back in the saddle, I was planning on wearing a brace to help support and stablize my leg and prevent any hyperflexion.
I need an softshell, hinged brace and my ortho suggested the “ossur rebound non-rom, hinged knee brace”
I was just looking for other cothers experiences with using a knee brace while riding and any issues they have with leg contact, fitting a boot around a knee brace, etc. Also any suggestions for braces that you have used and work well.

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[Scribbler]

I’ve only used the neoprene and velcro drug store knee braces for transient pain in my weaker knee. I was able to put it on with the bulkier part of the fasteners facing outward, and wear it under breeches. And I could get my half chaps over it. It didn’t interfere with anything.

As far as evaluating braces I’d look at what the inner surface is like. My guess is that normal design puts fasteners and the like on the inside where they would be less visible under trousers but riders want any bulk on the outside. I do believe I ended up wearing my neoprene brace wrong way around for this reason. But it was a low stakes knee situation and a flexible brace.

A hard shell brace might impact your knee connection. But perhaps you could modify your riding activities so you don’t over use your knees. No posting without stirrups!

As far as riding after injury, in the past decade I’ve had 4 injuries of increasing severity that have kept me off horses. A sprained thumb, a tiny fracture in one arm, a visible fracture in the other arm, and a broken foot. First and last caused by horses. In each case I held off riding until I was totally cleared by doctors, and I don’t regret that. I did keep working with the broken arms, and especially the last, wasn’t a great idea.

[AllAboutTheBay]

Thanks for the info! I’m definitely waiting until I get cleared before I start riding my again. I have my trainer riding him once a week and I’m working on lunging and desensitizing exercises on the ground in the time being. I had tried riding him about a week after I was injured (before knowing the extent of my injury) and I only lasted about 10 minutes before it was too painful to ride.
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[Jarpur]

I got one of these, after seeing a horsewoman friend wearing one:

https://profchoice.com/i-7261682-professionals-choice-miracle-knee-support.html

I wear it over my clothes (jeans, breeches); personally, I’m almost always riding at home in paddock boots and half chaps. It does add some bulk, which results in less feel, but it helped when I needed it, and I still pull it out once in a while.

Professional’s Choice had booths at the World Cup in Las Vegas. While attending the WC, I bought a new knee brace - just because I’d worn the other for years and years - and exchanged it for my original brace, which I happened to be wearing because it made a difference on how my knee felt after sitting for hours during the competition. A friend accompanying asked if she could have my old one, and then immediately put it on, lol. So these last a very long time, IME.