Needing Tips/Advice for keeping a quiet lower leg in posting trot

[Graymaresrule]

[QUOTE=Smthn_Like_Olivia;8604587]
Hello All,
I’m an adult just getting back into riding after about 25 years. I started learning dressage last May and am obsessed! I purchased my first horse, a safe and sane 18 yr old mare, last December, but we are both, however, green to dressage. She is very forgiving and learns quickly, but I have a lot of fixing to do with myself in order to keep her progressing. We typically ride 5 days a week and lesson once a week with a trainer. We have a schooling show coming up on April 30th and a lot to work on from now until then.

I video every ride to take note of my errors but despite my best efforts, I cannot seem to maintain a good leg position in posting trot. I feel like I am posting too much off my stirrups and in an effort to keep my heels down, when I post, my toes are pointed completely outwards. It looks awful and my legs look like flapping wings. Because of this, I also struggle to maintain a balance and rhythm in my horse and keep her straight or going in the direction we need to go. At walk or even canter, I do not have this problem because my legs are virtually still.

This forum is filled with so many knowledgeable riders that I’m hoping someone can help me tackle this and develop a better seat in a posting trot. How do I post without using my legs so much??[/QUOTE]

Forget about keeping your heels down. It’s not nearly the thing it is in hunter jumper land.

The bit about your toes pointing out is IMHO the key. When you point your toes out your whole leg rotates out from the hip. Where do your knees point? Your toes will point in the same direction that your knees and the front of your thighs point and you can’t point them forward unless your whole leg is facing forward. Ask me how many years it took me to figure that one out!

Also, check the length of your stirrups. Many people think dressage=long stirrup leathers but you need to have a bend in the knee. If your stirrups are to low you will end up sitting on your crotch and stiffening your lower leg.

While I did not appreciate the clinics I took with Mary Wanless her books are generally good. Try Ride with Your Mind Essentials.

[prestigeperformance1]

Cool trick I learned

Hi there! Im a FEI trainer and competitor and even we still have trouble with this! I developed sciatica pretty severely in my right leg and have a difficult time keeping it quiet. There are a few things you can do to improve this. A different saddle can help this. I had many different reputable saddles on my horse and all of which were great, but I didn’t realize that they didn’t fit my body until I rode in a Schleese Wave. I now ride in a Schleese Infinity. So one tip would be to try some other saddles to see if they fit your body better. A really cool tip I do is only if I’m on a quiet horse. Tie a piece of baling twine from the first billet on the saddle to your stirrup. This will help stabilize your lower leg and force you to sit down more in the saddle. Make sure you’re sitting correctly with your shoulders right on top of your hips and your hands forward in front of the saddle. This trick prevents you from getting your lower leg too far back and your shoulders too far forward. Hope this helps!

[stryder]

I suggest shortening your stirrups a couple holes until you become more flexible in your hips.

And rather than “heels down”, bend your knee and raise your toe. Raising your toe expands your calf muscles, which brings more of your lower leg in contact with the horse’s barrel. Improves stability.

[FatDinah]

Prestigeperformance, can you give more details on twine? I am not comprehending that. But sure sounds intriguing.

OP, as much as possible, ride out of the ring/arena on natural ground (hills, dips, inclines, etc) with your feet out of the stirrups. It will do wonders to strengthen your core and deepen your seat and improve yr balance.

[foxhunter419]

Some thoughts. I find that if my horse is not hot off my leg, I have a harder time because I stiffen up in an effort to keep him moving. (Leg, leg, leg, grip, grip grip, cling, cling cling, and so on.) So, when I am warming up, I make sure that when I add a lil leg, I feel a definite forward, first time, every time. Someone mentioned Mary Wanless and I also like her analogy of acting as if my lower leg was missing from the knee. Another point to remember about your rise…the length of your femur bone plays a role in the height of your rise. You are essentially pivoting around your knee and the radius is your thigh bone. And you can’t make your thigh bone any smaller. Many try to that by flexing the ankle joint to absorb the rise. Saddle fit is big too, it can help or hinder your cause here. If you can sit one beat and post two beats with the trot, (so, down, up, up, down, up, up, down) you are finding your point of balance over your stir ups. If you fall back on the second “up”, your center of gravity is behind your stirups. This really helped me. Good luck!

[dog_amp_horsemom]

I struggle with this also. I feel like my lower leg is perfect and then - I see a video and can’t believe it is moving so much. My problem is the ankle - they rotate. I do stand in the stirrups to warm up. I post without stirrups. I did ankle exercises. Its not an easy fix! I will try some of the ideas that others have posted here.

[foxhunter419]

[QUOTE=mtngirl;8606636]
This will sound weird, but it helped me a lot.

Do this on a lunge line first! While at a halt, let your legs hang straight down…then put your HEEL on the front of the stirrup. (Be careful not to wedge your heel too tight, and DO NOT do this with spurs). I started with one leg at a time, at a walk. For me, if I bared down too hard, or pointed my toes, I’d lose the stirrup…I had to keep my leg quiet in order to keep my heel on the edge of the stirrup. I’d practice this at a walk, then posting trot. It was VERY hard for me to do in posting trot!

BUT, for me it worked. After practicing that for a few minutes on the lunge, first with one leg, then the other, then both legs, my legs got quieter.

Be forewarned that this can make you quite sore at first and it takes practice. If your legs swing, especially out in front if you, you will not be able to keep your heel on the stirrup.[/QUOTE]

mtngirl, I am totally trying this tomorrow! Sounds intriguing!

[riopony]

I love this thread so far! Thanks for asking the question OP! I have been feeling like my lower leg, especially one of them, seemed to have a mind of its own lately. I played around with some of these suggestions last night, well, the ones I remembered by the time I got to the barn!

I remembered this quote:

[QUOTE=right horse at the right time;8605950]

I had to think of posting from the front of my thighs, and I had to imagine a bar through one knee, thriugh the horse, and out the other side. Knees are anchored but not at all squeezing.[/QUOTE]

And tried, not gripping with my knees because we don’t want to create new problems, but I would say, having a more solid contact with them, and leg stopped wandering and horse stopped speeding around the ring at the trot! I am hoping I am not going to create more problems and am struggling with this because I have always been told, soft drapey towel leg. Horse is green and I am in a jump saddle with longish stirrups so that may be the difference between this one and my old guy with the dressage saddle.

Also, I rode without stirrups for a few and had to use about the same amount of knee contact to post without them.

Good luck OP! Thanks everyone for all the good ideas!

[triple]

Lots of good advice already - didn’t have time to read it all but to throw in my two cents:

Take a deep breath and think of pulling your belly-button up to your chin - you’ll engage your core muscles this way which helps you balance in the saddle.

Relax your hips/pelvis and let them swing loosely when you post/rise. Think about moving your belly-button to your hands; if you tense up through your pelvis, this becomes difficult to do and will alert you to the tension.

Finally after doing the above, scoot your bum in underneath yourself so that you are on your seatbones; if you keep your core engaged and your pelvis loose while rising, this will stop you for tilting back (as can happen when people try to sit more on their seatbones!)

I find I can ride defensively and end up tipping forward, so my leg slides back and bobbles about and becomes less effective - when I feel that happening, I suck up through my belly button, sit on to my bum, and try to loosen my posting by moving my belly button to my hands. Those three things when they form a habit are really helpful for improving your seat/legs/overall posture on the flat - easy to remember and implement by yourself too if you are working without an instructor.

[Velvet]

@carolprudm;8606734

Forget about keeping your heels down. It’s not nearly the thing it is in hunter jumper land.

Totally bad advice. No one talked about forcing the heel down. And you DO need to keep it down vs up. It should never be above a parallel line with your stirrup.

[Graymaresrule]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8608705]
Totally bad advice. No one talked about forcing the heel down. And you DO need to keep it down vs up. It should never be above a parallel line with your stirrup.[/QUOTE]
Sorry I wasn’t more clear. I didn’t stay her heels shouldn’t be down and they certainly shouldn’t be up but she shouldn’t worry about them. I suspect her issues are closer to her hips and if that is fixed her heels could be as well. They are a symptom of a different problem not the actual problem. Fussing about them could well be counterproductive.

[prestigeperformance1]

[QUOTE=FatDinah;8607876]
Prestigeperformance, can you give more details on twine? I am not comprehending that. But sure sounds intriguing.

OP, as much as possible, ride out of the ring/arena on natural ground (hills, dips, inclines, etc) with your feet out of the stirrups. It will do wonders to strengthen your core and deepen your seat and improve yr balance.[/QUOTE]

Sure! So take a piece of twine about a foot long. Saddle your horse up and tighten the girth to where you would get on. Put the twine around the first billet and also around the stirrup and knot. This make it so that you’re unable to pull the stirrup around with your lower leg therefore, keeping it quieter on the horse. If you do this for a month you’re muscle memory will start to kick in. Usually a frantic lower leg is from the rider trying to push a horse forward but the horse is still behind the leg. The leg will sit quieter when the horse is truly in front of your leg. You’ll be able to feel how much work your leg is trying to do when your horse isn’t in front of you. Let me know if you have any more questions!

[Velvet]

[QUOTE=carolprudm;8609894]
Sorry I wasn’t more clear. I didn’t stay her heels shouldn’t be down and they certainly shouldn’t be up but she shouldn’t worry about them. I suspect her issues are closer to her hips and if that is fixed her heels could be as well. They are a symptom of a different problem not the actual problem. Fussing about them could well be counterproductive.[/QUOTE]

I can agree with that!

[pryme_thyme]

Think George Morris… ie no stirrup work. Worked wonders for me.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

Wow! I had no idea there were so many additional replies to this thread! Is there anyway to get notifications on threads in this forum?? Really some great tips posted and I have since learn just how incorrectly I was posting. I was using my stirrups and heels to push myself out of the saddle. So much so that after a lot of posting, my legs would be on fire! Once I figured it out and started posting from my seat, it was my core and abs that were feeling it!

My right knee still has to tendency to turn outwards, but I am more conscious of it now. I also believe its because I somehow twisted my knee once as a teen and its never been fully correct again.

Anyhow, I recently shared a short video of my ride in another group for a separate issue I was having and someone commented that my lower legs were TOO STILL?? What the heck?? Sometimes I feel like I can’t win! Lol.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

P.S. I found the thread subscription!

[Velvet]

The ankles still need to be flexible. If your leg looks frozen and not at all flexible, that would be considered too still. It would mean you’re holding your leg in place, rather than using your leg in a soft and relaxed manner.

[mvp]

IMO, a swinging lower leg at the post comes from a stiff knee. And a stiff knee comes from someone using their hip (a bit stiff) and leg to do the work of balancing (front and back) that the core should be doing.

Try posting as if only your thigh is glued onto the horse.
You can have a feel of the ball of your foot in the stirrup, and your ankle can be relaxed so that your foot feels a little springy in your stirrup. In this position, your heel will do the right thing on its own. But the trick is that you don’t get to push against your stirrup when you rise in the post.

Rather, that comes from thigh and core. Start with a small trot. It takes some core strength to ride without balancing in your stirrups.