My trainer has been working hard to get me to stop hyper flexing my ankles and to rotate my femoral heads more straight instead of, and I quote, “riding like a hussy” (lol) and using the back of my calves. Now, I learned Saddleseat years ago and hyperflexed ankles were (are?) the norm. Anyway, deliberately raising my heels while rotating my leg more straight at the hip is wrecking havoc on my balance even though supposedly this more correct position is supposed to provide better balance? Like I sometimes go toes down or wind up in chair seat or get a little brace-y and all kinds of wrong. It feels like I don’t even know how to ride. FWIW my horse is green so I’ve been practicing on lesson horses who do not have tack fitted specifically to them and I can’t use my saddle, which is fitted specifically to my boy, on random horses. But my last ride on a new-to-me lesson horse was really tough for balancing.
I’m working on upping my strength but does anyone have any advice for retraining yourself? Any “older” riders who have struggled in correcting your position and found themselves flailing around at first?