Ankle pain when in forward seat

[JGC]

There must be a muscle that goes near/under the knobbly bone on your ankle and mine gets excruciatingly painful in a forward-seat or if I spend too long with shorter stirrups, on a hack, for example. My foot turns in on itself on that side. I have been riding only dressage the last few years and just started jumping again and it seems to be worse than before. It is better if I think about putting the weight on the inside of the ball of my foot and turning my foot out.

Anyone else have this? Would those wedge stirrup treads help? Anyone have any exercises that would help?

Chocolate muffin if you made it to here

 

[PaulC]

Do you have tight hamstrings? mine are dreadful and it can give me terrible lower back and ankle pain. im no expert, but physio put it down to that

 

[TarrSteps]

Are you standing with your weight evenly distributed across the ball of your foot, with the stirrup straight or on a slight angle with the outside branch forward? Are you flexible in your ankle and knee?

The turn out of your toe is dictated by your conformation and flexibility. If you are set on having the toe pointing forward at all costs, even if you are not standing flat on the stirrup with a stable base of support, you will not be secure or comfortable.

 

[flyingfeet]

Best thing I ever found was K'vall stirrups - these give you a totally flat footbed so you gain stability without having to hyper flex your tendons

I've also found weirdly they have dramatically improved my position in normal stirrups too

 

[JGC]

Do you have tight hamstrings? mine are dreadful and it can give me terrible lower back and ankle pain. im no expert, but physio put it down to that

I've never noticed it, Paul, but you could be right. I have had the same problem since a child, so have always ridden long to get round it.

Are you standing with your weight evenly distributed across the ball of your foot, with the stirrup straight or on a slight angle with the outside branch forward? Are you flexible in your ankle and knee?

The turn out of your toe is dictated by your conformation and flexibility. If you are set on having the toe pointing forward at all costs, even if you are not standing flat on the stirrup with a stable base of support, you will not be secure or comfortable.

My foot actually does this (it's only my right foot, btw):

I have a very sticky out left foot, but that one doesn't hurt at least! I think my ankles aren't that supple, but knees are OK. Now I think about it, I have always had a very tight hip on that side.

Best thing I ever found was K'vall stirrups - these give you a totally flat footbed so you gain stability without having to hyper flex your tendons

I've also found weirdly they have dramatically improved my position in normal stirrups too

Hmm, I like the idea but would your feet come out of those easily? I only ever ride in safety stirrups of one design or another.

 

[ElaineLightning]

That happened to me once going XC training at Gleneagles (about 10 years ago) cant remember who the trained was but they said I must have a weak ligament somewhere and its mever been right since, it was so bad for a while I had to wear an ankle support but Im ok now for the most part so not sure if over time I have strengthened it.

 

[wench]

I would suggest going to see a sports massage therapist - they are great. What about a pair of insoles in your shoes to help you feet "sit" correctly in your boots. I know these are mainly for walking/running etc, but possibly worth a shot?

 

[MadJ]

I have this problem due to ankle being broken several times. Doesn't cause me a problem in the dressage saddle but jumping was painful and it turned over in the stirrup a few times.
I now stick a few strips of elastaplast running from under the heel of my foot up to the side of my leg. This stops it turning over with out adding bulk.
ETA. I've also found spinning classes and pilates helpful to stretch out my leg muscles.

 

[JGC]

That happened to me once going XC training at Gleneagles (about 10 years ago) cant remember who the trained was but they said I must have a weak ligament somewhere and its mever been right since, it was so bad for a while I had to wear an ankle support but Im ok now for the most part so not sure if over time I have strengthened it.

Yes, think I was probably born with a shoddy ligament somewhere as I've always suffered unless riding long.

I would suggest going to see a sports massage therapist - they are great. What about a pair of insoles in your shoes to help you feet "sit" correctly in your boots. I know these are mainly for walking/running etc, but possibly worth a shot?

Yes, might be worth a look. Will try to see someone about it, just hoping that it'll hold for my jumping lesson tomorrow

I have this problem due to ankle being broken several times. Doesn't cause me a problem in the dressage saddle but jumping was painful and it turned over in the stirrup a few times.
I now stick a few strips of elastaplast running from under the heel of my foot up to the side of my leg. This stops it turning over with out adding bulk.
ETA. I've also found spinning classes and pilates helpful to stretch out my leg muscles.

Great, was wondering how to strap it for tomorrow. I have just started a new course of Pilates in September, so hopefully will feel the effects soon. Does sound like we have a similar problem.

Thank you everyone!

 

[flyingfeet]

Hmm, I like the idea but would your feet come out of those easily? I only ever ride in safety stirrups of one design or another.

Yep - safer than a normal iron, as you cannot put your foot through as caged and the back pops off really easily on either side

I had one pop off when my horse was doing something akin to levades out hunting, but you still have the toe part so not completely sunk if that happens

 

[Tonks]

Do you think that:

a) you are placing too much weight in the stirrups/foot? You should ride slightly 'foot light' in order to allow the knee to act as a pivot, especially in trot. If there is too much weight there will be undue pressure on the bars of your foot or into your ankle. But I know when cantering/galloping/jumping it's easier said than done.

b) Is there equal weight distributed down both legs into the knees and eventually the stirrup? I am terribly asymmetrical with my right leg being longer than my left. This means that it's always my right leg/foot that ends up balancing my whole body! A morning's hunting is agony!

I would get a Mary Waneless coach to assess your 'biomechanics' on and off the horse - you'd be surprised what's going on with the body that you have no idea about! Worked wonders for me.

 

[JGC]

Yep - safer than a normal iron, as you cannot put your foot through as caged and the back pops off really easily on either side

I had one pop off when my horse was doing something akin to levades out hunting, but you still have the toe part so not completely sunk if that happens

Plus I live in France so would be able to use them in competition - excellent!

Do you think that:

a) you are placing too much weight in the stirrups/foot? You should ride slightly 'foot light' in order to allow the knee to act as a pivot, especially in trot. If there is too much weight there will be undue pressure on the bars of your foot or into your ankle. But I know when cantering/galloping/jumping it's easier said than done.

b) Is there equal weight distributed down both legs into the knees and eventually the stirrup? I am terribly asymmetrical with my right leg being longer than my left. This means that it's always my right leg/foot that ends up balancing my whole body! A morning's hunting is agony!

I would get a Mary Waneless coach to assess your 'biomechanics' on and off the horse - you'd be surprised what's going on with the body that you have no idea about! Worked wonders for me.

As for (a) I will ask my instructor - don't know enough about it to check myself

As for (b), my right leg is also longer and I am super asymmetrical! You've bloomin' well nailed the problem! I am having McTimoney and physio at the moment as I've got much more asymmetrical again this year as I broke my ribs on my left side and damaged my left shoulder. I also have lessons with someone who has trained with Mary Wanless sometimes (would go more but don't have transport).

Can't believe I didn't realise before that was the problem *facepalm*. Although I was convinced it was my ankle as I had this problem years before they realise I had odd legs and scoliosis.

Thank you so much!

 

[flyingfeet]

Plus I live in France so would be able to use them in competition - excellent!!

Ah ha well if you live in France you can get the free trial too - but literally I went from lower back pain from a normal hack to being able to do a 15mile fun ride with absolutely no problems, so they do make a big difference, even if they are ugly!

 

[JGC]

Ah ha well if you live in France you can get the free trial too - but literally I went from lower back pain from a normal hack to being able to do a 15mile fun ride with absolutely no problems, so they do make a big difference, even if they are ugly!

Where can I get them on free trial? I may be being blonde, but can't see that on the website?

 

[Tonks]

As for (b), my right leg is also longer and I am super asymmetrical! You've bloomin' well nailed the problem! I am having McTimoney and physio at the moment as I've got much more asymmetrical again this year as I broke my ribs on my left side and damaged my left shoulder. I also have lessons with someone who has trained with Mary Wanless sometimes (would go more but don't have transport). Can't believe I didn't realise before that was the problem *facepalm*. Although I was convinced it was my ankle as I had this problem years before they realise I had odd legs and scoliosis. Thank you so much!"

That's very nice of you to say so.

I try to incorporate bio-mechanics into my teaching and it's not been unknown for me to even have a look at the riders asymmetry off the the horse.

My right hip is much higher than my left. Also being right handed the co-ordination between my right and left hand is also really odd. If only I could do all my dressage tests on the right rein - I'd be flying!!

Best of luck and I hope it improves.

 

[gunnergundog]

I would start with a podiatrist who does a proper gait analysis; if you are riding weighting the outside of your feet you are probably walking in a similar fashion and you need to cure this before you can expect to ride in a balanced manner....IMO.

I broke both my ankles eventing 15 plus years ago and for years and years I was popping far too many pain killers in order to ride; I spent a fortune on chiropracters sorting my alleged pelvic rotation, masseurs on sorting tight gastronemius etc etc, but until the route cause in the foot was addressed, I wasn't going anywhere.

 

[Custard Cream]

I have exactly the same issue with my right foot too!

 

[JGC]

I would start with a podiatrist who does a proper gait analysis; if you are riding weighting the outside of your feet you are probably walking in a similar fashion and you need to cure this before you can expect to ride in a balanced manner....IMO.

When I can get enough pennies together (being ruined by vet's bill atm ) I will certainly try to find one.

I have exactly the same issue with my right foot too!

Wonkies of the world unite