Lower Leg Instability

[serendi]

What is the most productive way to develop a great lower leg / seat? I am a young adult rerider getting back into eventing after over five years off and I’m getting frustrated with my inability to keep my leg underneath me over fences. I feel like if I spend every stride thinking about my leg, and then it is usually okay, but if I take my attention off of it for one second I am prone to losing my lower leg or getting jumped out of the tack. I don’t tend to jump ahead or anything, my leg just slips in the air. I also have more trouble keeping my leg when I get a shorter than ideal spot. I think I have a pretty independent, soft hand and even when I lose my leg I don’t tend to take it out on the horse’s mouth, and I am good at grabbing mane if necessary. My stirrups are not too long.

I’m riding a horse that is usually honest, especially in stadium, but not a packer - he needs correct aids and lots of leg straightening aids to jump well because he drifts to the outside constantly. It’s really hard for me to multitask during courses and really focus on keeping my weight in my heels, keeping him straight, and where we are going.

I recently had an accident xc when the horse pulled a dirty stop and spin and I came off. I had some minor injuries and had to take a few weeks off. Now I am trying to get my confidence back over fences. My leg issues are discouraging me a lot and making me feel pretty incompetent.

I feel like I am a stronger rider on the flat. I can adequately and with decent intuition ask for and ride most second level movements, and I can sit most trots well.

Just for background’s sake, when I was a junior I owned a very hot, difficult horse who didn’t really like eventing, but we did okay together at novice. I feel like my leg and seat were much better then, although I can’t be sure.

How can I get over this problem?

Is it a matter of jumping a million fences while constantly focusing on my leg until it comes naturally? I really am lacking in confidence to make that happen especially on this horse, who I don’t want to ruin with my mistakes. Do I need a packer?

Should I spend all my rides in a jump saddle in a half seat at the trot and canter? Should I spend a month without stirrups? (I heard that leads to more pinching at the knee?) How long will it take for me to not have to constantly have my leg on my mind? Any other suggestions?

Thank you for reading :o

[phoenixrises]

My recommendation as both a rerider and someone who’s coming off a very very bad fall. It has nothing to do with your leg. . . There’s an issue further up, my guess is upper and lower core. I would start solving that off the horse, with yoga, pilates X training or some such thing and after four weeks I’m betting you’ll see a difference.

Because my confidence was absolutely floored after 3 broken vertebrae, I’ve taken up dressage only for now and have a friend who jumps my mare, who doesn’t get nervous at any of her antics. It’s working for me and there is nothing wrong with taking a step back, though from what I read you don’t seem to be having quite the mental issues. You may find just being physically stronger helps with your confidence.

[jawa]

Be sure the saddle you have fits you and your horse well. The balance of the saddle might not be helping you.

You may need to go a 1/2 to 1 hole shorter with your stirrups to get the right leg length.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

If that bad…likely saddle fit. Or you are pinching with your knee.

But riding more in your jump saddle…and doing more two point work will help too. Also work like double posting (up for two beats, down, up for two beats), switching between posting, two point, sitting with out anything else changing all help.

[Foxglove6]

I am an almost reformed knee pincher whose leg was constantly swinging back over fences. I won’t say that I’ve solved it completely but here are some things I’ve done and it’s much better than it was a year ago.

No Stirrups - do only as much as you are able with your leg in the right spot, if you feel your leg slip, stop and try again tomorrow.

Half seat at the canter - My horse still needs leg at the canter so this was very good for me to practice balance, strong leg, and leg in the correct spot. If your base is behind you, a half seat will pitch you forward really quickly.

No Stirrups - Posting and cantering, transitions, everything.

Toe Turnout - it takes some doing to try and get your foot parallel to the horse, but it really helps

Actually knowing where your leg is in regards to the horse/girth - I recently switched to a leather girth from a fuzzy one and it’s made a lot of impact on feeling where my leg is. It is a Bernie Traurig suggestion from equestriancoach.com.

[Sticky_Situation]

I would suggest three things, which others have touched on.

1. Exercises to strengthen your core. If you’re just getting back into riding after several years off, unless you’re a hardcore athlete otherwise, it’s likely that your core strength isn’t what it was before, and while you can do ok if you have fairly good balance, you will tend to be looser in the tack than someone with a good strong core.

2. Lots of trotting/cantering in your two point position. And I don’t mean just for thirty seconds or once around the arena… That is a fine starting point, but you want to work up to doing it for a few minutes at a time, and doing it while riding out up and down hills. This will strengthen your legs and core and just give you practice in that ‘secure’ two point position. I do this all the time during my conditioning work with my guy.

3. Grid work. The fences can be small if you are more comfortable that way… This allows the grid to do part of the ‘work’ for you of setting the horse up for the next fence, while also allowing you to ride several fences in a row where you can focus on keeping your position correct without having to concentrate so much on “where is my next fence” or “how many strides do I need”.

Have fun, and don’t get discouraged. It won’t happen instantaneously, but with practice it will get better.

[Foxtrot_s]

I don’t know why - even now - but one horse I had my leg stayed in place, the other when seen on video, my leg was swinging backwards in time to the gallop stride. All a bit academic now since I don’t event!

[Sticky_Situation]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8759665]
I don’t know why - even now - but one horse I had my leg stayed in place, the other when seen on video, my leg was swinging backwards in time to the gallop stride. All a bit academic now since I don’t event![/QUOTE]

Some horses are “slab sided” meaning that they don’t have a nice round barrel to hold your leg in place, making it prone to swinging. It could also have to do with how big or bouncy the stride is.

[kcmel]

[QUOTE=Sticky Situation;8759678]
Some horses are “slab sided” meaning that they don’t have a nice round barrel to hold your leg in place, making it prone to swinging. It could also have to do with how big or bouncy the stride is.[/QUOTE]

With my two I found the opposite to be true. I physically couldn’t pinch with my knee on the narrow guy so my leg was more stable on him.

[lidador]

@serendi;8759389

Is it a matter of jumping a million fences while constantly focusing on my leg until it comes naturally?

It might be, yes. If you know you can hold your leg position when you’re thinking about it, then let that be your MO over fences for now.

@serendi;8759389

Should I spend all my rides in a jump saddle in a half seat at the trot and canter?

Maybe not entire rides, but on the days I struggle with balance and leg position, I find it very useful to warm up this way. Also, to not just use half seat, but to try to stay in balance while keeping my horse straight and in front of my leg with my seat at various heights out of the saddle. And to not just trot/canter, but to lengthen and shorten strides within the gaits, go up/down hills, work on circles/spirals, leg yield, etc. Challenge yourself to keep your leg and position stable in all your work.

@serendi;8759389

Any other suggestions?

1. Work on the horse’s straightness issues specifically, deliberately, and thoroughly in your flat work. In the end, keeping him straight, keeping your weight in your heels, and keeping your legs under you should feel more like one coordinated effort than discrete tasks, in both dressage and over fences.

2. Practice over gymnastic lines. Or do any other types of exercises you like that put as much of the work on autopilot as possible. This will give you the freedom to experiment with adjustments your lower leg without worrying about “ruining” the horse.

3. Follow Denny Emerson on facebook! He repeatedly posts about lower leg position. It’s been really helpful to me to have his voice in my head when working on this, among other things.

Disclaimer: I’m no where near an expert on any of this, so others should definitely correct anything I’ve said if it seems off-base. However, I struggle with the same things, and all of the above is based on how I started making inroads myself.

[subk]

First, if your stirrups REALLY are short enough and you are sure of this, then you should consider if your saddle’s balance is correct for you. I have a particularly long leg with a long femur and my abilty to keep my leg under me has been hugely effected by saddle fit. If the balance is wrong for you there is nothing you can do that will effectively overcome that, so make sure you rule that out first.

The single thing I have done in over 40 years of riding that has made the most improvement in my security and lower leg position (other than ride in a custom saddle) is to lift weights. Whole body movements with a barbell lifting heavy. Think squats, dead lifts, presses lifting as much as you can lift in 4-8 reps. The only time in my riding career that I’ve felt as secure as I do when lifting is when I was doing conditioning for ul stuff and spending a bunch of time doing trot sets in two point.

[athohan]

Okay. I have multiple methods:
Workout. Core/leg workouts are the best. For core, you can do planks, “superman” hold, pushups, crunches, and sit ups. For legs, you can run and do squats. This will strengthen your muscles, hopefully making them stay in place. You can and should look up more core/leg workouts.

Workout on the horse. Stay in the two point for a very long time at walk, trot, or canter. Soon, you’ll feel your legs become sore and that’s when you know your muscles are strengthening. You can also ride with no stirrups.

Don’t fold too much. I am a hunter, jumper, and eventing girl, so my rides are different. In hunters, I fold over my horse. In jumpers and eventing, I do a simple two point. I used to have a swingy leg for my hunter folds, but I found that doing a two point or “defensive fold” helps your leg stay in place.

Also, are your stirrups too short? That can cause your leg to swing back.

[Engage]

Thank you for this post - I’m in the same place at the moment! I have a schoolmaster who can and will jump anything, but his stride and conformation tend to encourage a swinging leg over jumps. (Even the extra length of my reins goes bouncing over jumps :lol:). I have been working hard with (almost) all the exercises above; My boy is older, so I warm him up in a 2-point/light seat always w/t/c. We always have grids set-up at the yard. We do at least one hill session a week, up and down. I have taken up running more regularly. I haven’t done as much sitting as I should, just because its very difficult on my boy (I will happily sit on almost all of the other horses I’ve worked with, but this boy…ouch)

All this has made me strong enough to stay with him and even if my leg does swing back, I am centered and steady in the saddle. My balance is good, my weight is still deep, and I have good control of my horse. But when we move to bigger fences, it will become an issue.

My instructor and I are working with a 2 phase approach now. The second phase has been described above, and sounds like you know it as well. Basically putting weight into the heels over a jump. She had me move my lower leg forward as well, so it was hanging on the girth (bad habit of mine to move it too far back) and relax into my heels on the approach, putting a bit of extra weight into my heels as we take-off. It almost feels as if I’m pushing my toes slightly in front of me.

The first phase is in flatwork - to lengthen my stirrups! We went down one hole last lesson and next lesson we’ll go down another. Then I need to concentrate on long, wrapped legs and loose knees. My knees are too tight in flatwork, which makes my angles too rigid in jumping.