Trouble finding my balance in two-point at the walk, and legs come off horse's sides at the posting trot

[BTRRS19]

These are my main two problems with riding that I can’t seem to fix, no matter how hard I try.

I have been working on increasing my fitness, which has produced better results, but the issues are still there. I would love to ride more than one day per week, but unfortunately cannot for several reasons; I do not own or lease and cannot currently afford to, I live over an hour away from my barn (and live in an area with no other options), and I have a busy work schedule.

I’ve ridden my entire life, but most of that has been trail riding. I had 2.5 years of H/J lessons 12.5-15 years ago, then started back up 3 years ago.

When I warm up for my lesson, I am asked to two-point at the walk. If I gently rest my hands on the horse’s neck, I am fine, but if not, I have a tendency to fall forward or backwards after a couple of seconds, no matter how hard I try to keep my leg underneath me where it is supposed to be. I feel like I catch myself trying to grip at the knee in order to balance.

At the posting trot, my leg comes up off of the horse’s side every time I rise. I can somewhat quiet it once I’m aware of it, but feel as if I’m almost pinching at the knee there, too.

These issues are beyond frustrating!

Has anyone else struggled with these things, and what helped? Thank you!

[PonyPenny]

Adjust your stirrup length if possible. Also if your saddle has a flap that is too far forward for your body conformation, it will effect balance. Could you post a photo or video of yourself in two point?

[Scribbler]

Unfortunately nothing replaces more saddle time. All of these are questions of strength primarily.

I found two point a challenge when I returned to lessons as an adult. I’ve developed much more strength since having my own horse and doing personal fitness stints of trot two point on the trails no hands, go for the burn as they used to say in old school aerobics class: do it until I can’t hold the position any longer. It’s party upper thigh and partly core.

I don’t know what off horse exercise would help. I’ve always been good at squats but that didn’t translate to effortless two point when I returned to riding.

If you can’t get more saddle time at the moment, then work out and also try some exercise ball stuff for balance. And keep your eye out for opportunities to ride more, you might be able to figure out how to do a one week intensive lessons every day in vacation time, or your life will change to allow more horse time.

[Willesdon]

Saddle time really makes a difference. Saddle design and fit makes a difference. Stirrup length makes a difference.
Trainer can make a difference.
Horse can make a difference.
Pilates and yoga and Thai Chi can really make a difference, Pilates being the best for riders.

[AllTheCarrots]

It sounds like you’re relying on your knees to provide stability. But that death grip actually creates a pivot point so that your lower leg is swinging back and your upper body is pitching forward.

Lots of work without stirrups helps me, as it makes me more mindful of how I’m stacking my body to create a more solid foundation.

[chunky_munky]

Get stronger. Core body strength , weight training.

[Renn_aissance]

Think about pressing your achilles tendon to the horse in two-point position and at rising trot. This does a couple of things. First, it rotates your leg out away from your body, turning the toe out slightly and preventing you from gripping with your knee. Second, in order to not fall over it requires you to align your leg underneath your hip in the correct position. Third, it correctly orients your frictional grip in your lower leg.

A lot of times we think about “heels down” and pressing the weight into the heel, which can cause a rigid instead of shock-absorbing ankle. That in itself can take the leg away from the horse’s side and make it more difficult for you to use your body correctly.

Exercises at home: Do pulse squats at home over a medicine ball, holding the ball lightly between your achilles tendons. (The squats strengthen your quads and working up to squat and hold, or pulses, engages the muscles that you will need to hold your two-point position.) Any work you do on your core will be good work as that will help you to open your hip angle independently of your leg to adjust your position. Pilates is excellent if accessible to you in COVID times.

[gertie06]

I agree that there’s no replacement for saddle time, unfortunately.

That said, the saddle matters! Finding balance and riding properly in an ill-fitting saddle is impossible. Are you riding in schooling saddles? It may pay to invest in something that really fits YOU.

[buck22]

While I agree there is no substitution for saddle time, I have found an exercise that helps me.

1. Stand on a stair step facing the stairs, with your legs slightly wider than hip-width, and your heels hanging off the step.

2. Adjust your stance until the edge of the stair is under the ball of your foot exactly where you would have the stirrup bar.

3. Standing erect in that position should be pretty easy, so then try lowering your heels to your normal/comfortable riding angle. If balancing without tipping forward or back is an issue at this point, practice slowing raising and lowering your heels until you’ve mastered the balance.

The lovely stretch in your calves may entice you to hyperflex your heels down, but do so sparingly/incrementally as you’ll feel it the next day.

4. Now, standing erect, simultaneously sink your heels to a normal/comfortable position, while bending your elbows, placing your hands forward, and closing your hip angle so you sink into a pretend 2 point position as if you were astride. Try to hold the pose as long as you can. If you experience balance issues, start again and assume the position very slowly, try to pinpoint at what point you start to loose balance and then refocus on achieving that position, even if its just a few degrees down. Work where you start to feel issues.

5. Throughout the entire process, pay attention to yourself from head to toe. Make sure your brow and mouth are relaxed, not furrowed. Make sure your head and neck are balanced not craned. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and even, your back flat, elbows relaxed, core supportive, your hip and knees feeling like well greased joints, supple and relaxed. Pay attention to how your bones/joints/spine needs to be aligned to be in balance. Examine every muscle from your brow to your toes to identify tension, pay attention to your breathing, breathe from your diaphragm, fill the back of your lungs with air. Find your center of balance and pay attention to how it changes as you sink into position. Feel your core being stable.

Most of all, when you feel wobbly, try to balance yourself by relaxing opposing muscles to regain balance, rather than tightening to fight it.

[173north]

Seconding Pilates, yoga or a combo. There’s no substitute for saddle time but increasing your core, glute, and leg strength is the next best thing. If you can do 20 min a day of a full body, core, or lower body Pilates video you will be thrilled with how your riding improves.

The saddle might also just have the wrong balance point for you. When I got back into riding I suddenly had super basic eq issues that I’d never had trouble with as a teen… when I got my own saddle that fit me, the eq problems disappeared immediately.

[BroncoMo]

@Renn/aissance

Think about pressing your achilles tendon to the horse in two-point position and at rising trot. This does a couple of things. First, it rotates your leg out away from your body, turning the toe out slightly and preventing you from gripping with your knee. Second, in order to not fall over it requires you to align your leg underneath your hip in the correct position. Third, it correctly orients your frictional grip in your lower leg.

A lot of times we think about “heels down” and pressing the weight into the heel, which can cause a rigid instead of shock-absorbing ankle. That in itself can take the leg away from the horse’s side and make it more difficult for you to use your body correctly.

Exercises at home: Do pulse squats at home over a medicine ball, holding the ball lightly between your achilles tendons. (The squats strengthen your quads and working up to squat and hold, or pulses, engages the muscles that you will need to hold your two-point position.) Any work you do on your core will be good work as that will help you to open your hip angle independently of your leg to adjust your position. Pilates is excellent if accessible to you in COVID times.

I agree with this. I was always told to “wrap” my legs around my horse. It never fully clicked until one particularly abrasive instructor (I call her that lovingly, as I appreciated her clear bluntness) told me point blank to lift my knee off the saddle. A touch extreme, yes. But my muscle memory needed to be retrained. I also had an “ah ha” moment with that instructor when I discovered that the secret was contact through the inside of my achilles. That pulled together the idea of being “connected”, stabilized my leg and allowed me to not just jump without pivoting forward at my knee but jump without stirrups. And not just 8 inch cross rails either.

Think of what would happen if you are in the two point and the horse were removed from under you. Would you land on your feet? Or your face? Loosen your knee off the saddle, put your achilles on your horse, and figure out what knee and hip angle you need. What I have found helps in explaining to my fellow ammys, think of it as doing a squat. You have to adjust your angles in order to keep your center gravity over your heels. Which may mean you need to move your hips back some as it sounds like your CG is too far forward. Also maybe shorten your reins to move your hands forward in front of you. Without a picture it’s hard to tell. Many fall forward because their hands are too low and back. Think of your arms as almost a kick stand of sorts. Even though you’re not contacting the neck, they provide a base of support. The shorter the distance from your body your hands are, the less stable and the more you will pivot forward over the top of your hands. Move your hands forward, and you move that “kick stand” forward and that will provide more distance from your body. So the two pillars supporting your upper body (your lower torso and your arms) have a more sturdy base. This isn’t even implying that your hands need to contact the neck. Think of keeping your hands off the neck by pulling your shoulders up. Not necessarily in the sense of pulling your shoulder blades back. But rather extending through your back; not arching down in your lower back, but a bit higher. Think of keeping your hip angle closed, but keeping your upper body back and away. That will help counter the forwardness of being in a two point. You should feel that in your core.

Last time I was horseless, on my last deployment, I worked hard on cardio but also core. Lots of planks, abs, and other core exercises. Google and youtube are wonderful in coming up with in home workouts that will work for you. I too did various squats but did a lot with a small resistance band, and other large resistance band exercises to keep the adductors and abductors strong. When I got home, I rode several horses a day for about two weeks straight. I was sore as all hell, but it only took two weeks to get my riding legs back; whereas the deployment before that, it took about a year to come back. Next time I may sign up for actual pilates or something, which I know many swear by.