Severe Leg Pain After Short Trail Ride

[King_s_Ransom]

I need some guidance as to where to start on solving this problem. I just returned from a mountain vacation, during which hubby and I took a relatively short 2-hour trail ride through the mountains. Admittedly, I was on a VERY wide-backed horse, uncomfortably so.

After about 90 minutes, though, I started to experience what I would call severe pain in my left leg. I have never had this happen before. The last 30 minutes of the ride were complete misery, and when I went to get off, I needed help because the leg would not hold me to dismount.

I walked it off in about 30 minutes.

Like I said, this has never happened before and I hope it will never happen again. But – ideas for the cause? Poor saddle fit? Was the horse really too wide-backed? Or am I just really that badly out of condition? (I mean, I haven’t been riding for awhile, but I can still pop out the door and run a good 2 miles!)

The trail was pretty steep up-and-down at times. I had a blast, until my leg started hurting. Now I don’t want to go again unless or until I have some idea what happened here.

Thoughts?

[SabalPalm]

I suspect the wide horse with a wide saddle was the cause of your problem. That may have caused a muscle deep in your pelvis to pinch the sciatic nerve against the bone. Been there, done that, and it resulted in constant pain while I was riding and an ankle that would not stay upright in the stirrup. Really made getting on and off the horse a challenge. And this was on a horse I rode regularly in his usual saddle. Unfortunately it picked a 100 mile endurance ride to appear. After that, I couldn’t ride in that saddle for some time but have since been able so who knows!

It may be a one time incident due to the circumstances of the day. If it happens again on one of your horses, you might want to try some stretches that focus on the piriformis muscle and see if that helps.

I didn’t have any problem running either. Our bodies are just weird!

[King_s_Ransom]

Thanks SabalPalm. That does sound like happened. I think I’ll start those piriformis stretches now!

[2enduraceriders]

Unluckily as I got older everything else is really picky. If my stirrups are one notch too high then I have the same problem.

[Cartfall]

Dropping your stirrups might help or ride them really really long.

I have bad arthritis in my left knee (m/c accident years ago) and I normally ride in a dressage saddle. Western stirrup kill me, lock my leg into a position that just kills me.

When I went out west, I rode my stirrip so long that my toes only caught. I really dropped them most of the time unless we were crossing creeks or really climbing. Had no problem.

[goeslikestink]

[QUOTE=Cartfall;5048907]
Dropping your stirrups might help or ride them really really long.

I have bad arthritis in my left knee (m/c accident years ago) and I normally ride in a dressage saddle. Western stirrup kill me, lock my leg into a position that just kills me.

When I went out west, I rode my stirrip so long that my toes only caught. I really dropped them most of the time unless we were crossing creeks or really climbing. Had no problem.[/QUOTE]

if leg pain it could be the other way as well as to short
so look her on how to alter your stirrups correctly as this effects your balance and position and of course the ponys way of going

look at page one

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178116

[Cartfall]

GLS-

all I know that too short was not an option for me. In a western saddle the stirrups are more fixed than an english, dressage or australian saddle. The foot can be torqued into a certain position.

Trail riding in different terrains, saddles and speeds must al come into play when adjusting the length of stirrup. It really is a personal choice.

[gdolapp]

I wouldn’t drop your stirrups I would raise them. If you drop them you
will add more weight to the nerves in the thigh and pelvic area if you
raise them you take the weight away.

My right leg does the same thing but only when I ride the mule that I ride.
Been riding this mule in the owners saddle for over a year last fall
I started completely loosing the use of my right leg. I got really
scared as I had broken my lower back almost three years ago
thought I was having complications from that.

Then I realized that when I ride my own horse in my own saddle I do
not have the problem with my leg. It then dawned on me that when
I ride my horse I ride him with short stirrups and when I ride the mule
I ride her with long stirrups reason for the diffrance is the mule is over
15 hands so having the xtra length to get my foot in stirrup to get on
(I am just over five foot tall) helped. As soon as I shortned the stirrups
on the saddle I ride the mule with my pain went away and hasn’t
happened since.

[PaintedBones]

It more than likey was the saddle and not the horse. Hubby has a wide twist saddle that I can’t even ride in for more than 15 minutes without my hips killing me. If you rode in one, it could have torqued your hips, pinching a nerve as someone else said.

I’ve also been told (and any other western riders, please correct me if I’m wrong) that if you have knee pain, your stirrups are too short…butt pain, you’re stirrups are too long.

Take it for what it’s worth, but it may have just been the saddle. Was this your horse and saddle? I saw you said you were on vacation…didn’t know if you took your own horses or not.

Bones

[King_s_Ransom]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, glad to know I’m not the only one who had this problem!

The horse I was riding was not my horse, not my saddle. Extremely wide-backed horse – and not just by my estimation, but the wrangler sort of apologized when he put me up there saying, “He’s extremely wide-backed.” Also, I really don’t know squat about Western saddles, so I just put the stirrups where he set them.

I am going to guess that the stirrups were too long and the saddle too wide. Next time, I will know a little better!