My daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis as a teenager. It wasn’t enough to get her disqualified from the Air Force (although she elected not to enlist). Her shoulders appear to have evened out with a bit of growth but one of her legs is shorter than the other. As a result, when she rides at the canter, her saddle slips to the left.
This has happened consistently with three different horses and four different saddle brands so we reluctantly concluded it was probably her.
She is a very experienced rider that is new to dressage. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this. We have considered hole punching one stirrup leather so pressure is more evenly applied or building up the stirrup pad on the shorter leg.
Ideally, it would be nice if she could ride her horse without stirrups to become less dependent on them (which she was able to do with other horses), but this horse is a bundle of energy and very unpredictable.
One suggestion we are considering is a chiropractor for her or a trainer than specializes in rider biomechanics, such as Holly Mason.
Thanks for your time!
My dad always rode with one stirrup longer than the other.
He’s also had 60+ years of back trouble, but for some reason never thought the 1-2" difference is leg length was responsible for it. Whatever.
[QUOTE=tempi2007;8110352]
My daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis as a teenager. It wasn’t enough to get her disqualified from the Air Force (although she elected not to enlist). Her shoulders appear to have evened out with a bit of growth but one of her legs is shorter than the other. As a result, when she rides at the canter, her saddle slips to the left.
This has happened consistently with three different horses and four different saddle brands so we reluctantly concluded it was probably her.
She is a very experienced rider that is new to dressage. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this. We have considered hole punching one stirrup leather so pressure is more evenly applied or building up the stirrup pad on the shorter leg.
Ideally, it would be nice if she could ride her horse without stirrups to become less dependent on them (which she was able to do with other horses), but this horse is a bundle of energy and very unpredictable.
One suggestion we are considering is a chiropractor for her or a trainer than specializes in rider biomechanics, such as Holly Mason.
Thanks for your time![/QUOTE]
I’ve had this problem with scoliosis. It’s evened out somewhat as I’ve gotten older and continuing my therapy. I suggest a physical therapist to teach your daughter how to build up the right muscle to help stabilize the back. For me it’s actually reversed alot of the damage. I used to ride with uneven stirrups and I would suggest trying that for your daughter until she is strong enough to even them out. I pretty much ride with even stirrups now.
If I get an injury I sometimes have to go back to uneven. But that will help. You can’t try to force it.
So a PT will show her how to stretch her back and how to build it up. Again now I ride pretty evenly and only walk a little bit funny (due to that and other health issues).
Yoga. Daily strengthening and stretching exercises. Really learning and understanding the differences in her body and paying attention to the most minute things - how she sits, how she stands, when she’s weighting one foot more than the other, when she’s lying down how her hip bones line up. Feldenkreis might be really helpful for her.
I’ve had the same problem for many years and I’m usually in pain. I’ve found that really focusing on how my body is aligned at all times, not just when I’m in the saddle, helps me to make adjustments.
I don’t have diagnosed scoliosis, but have always ridden with my right stirrup one hole shorter than the left.
I thought most people do not have the same length legs and you only find out if a medical condition causes doctors to actually measure it (scoliosis, hip replacement ). It’s kind of like feet, most are not the same size.
That’s just what I always thought.
Does she have her shoes altered so that she walks evenly in day to day life?
A former student had uneven length legs by about 1 inch. It did affect her riding, but until she fixed how she walked, we could not resolve her crookedness when riding. (as her body got really good feeling balanced when walking, being crooked felt straight to her). Altering her stirrup lengths helped once she resolved her own straightness (through physio and a shoe insert)
Thank you for all your responses. It has given her a lot to think about. I think we will start with a referral to a physical therapist!
One of our instructors rides two holes shorter on one side. Seems to work well for her.
I would go back to the Dr that was treating her scoliosis and ask if she needs wedges. With my JRA and scoliosis I had two types of leg deformities. One leg was too long and the other was too short. After they corrected the excess length I had to wear a wedge on the bottom of my shoe for a long time until my bone growth caught up and my scoliosis straightened out.
I also know of a couple of adults that have to wear a wedge for the rest of their lives. If she has that much of a difference that it’s affecting her riding, it’s probably affecting her gait and overall balance. She needs support as well as therapy if truly needed.
Has she had her legs measured or just assuming they are different lengths?
I had scoliosis and thought my legs were different lengths. Turns out that legs were the same length but hips were crooked which made the legs look different.
I went to a Feldenkrais practitioner for many years which helped immensely with my riding (she was also a rider), having a “long” leg and not having to mess with the stirrups. I rode with stirrups at the same length and just had to learn to manage my hips/sit bones to keep weight in them evenly.
