Bloody Duck Feet

ajn1610

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21 March 2008
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Argh, Mum videoed a lesson on Tuesday and I'm disgusted with myself. It would appear my duck feet are back with a vengeance. :( I used to be awful for turning my toes out whilst jumping, in short stirrups it's actually much better these days and only creeps in a bit if I'm riding 'positively' at something spooky, but I've recently gone down a couple of holes for flat work and this horrible habit has reared it's ugly head again.
I don't feel as if I'm reaching for the stirrup or gripping/getting tense, my lower leg isn't swinging. It seems to be worse when I'm coming on with my seat. My instructor hasn't said anything about it so I don't think it can be impeding our progress or effecting the horse much but I HATE how crappy it looks.
Does anyone have any exercise or little mental tricks that would help me to look less like Daffy and more like DuJardin?
I haven't done any work without stirrups for ages (bad me) so will whip that back out but any other tips would be appreciated.
 
could it be that you are gripping with your calves to compensate for the different feeling in the saddle when you ride a couple of holes longer?
 
Possibly, I'm usually fairly body aware and I haven't noticed that to be the case but I'll try to focus on softening my calves and see if that helps.
 
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