Can i ask a question

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vanessadud

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I'm doing some refresher riding lessons (havent had a horse for about 3 years so thought it best lol) but she keeps saying i hold my knee to far forward so makes me sit with my legs open lol which im finding rather uncofy but my point is looking at a few pics of you girls on here you all sit like i do so i cant see where im going wrong and she kept saying throughout the whole class so im dreading tomorrow lol can anyone shead some light for me please xxx
 
Anyone??
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Tell the instructor that you don't really understand what she's asking you to do. If she explains differently, great, you'll get somewhere. If she just keeps repeating herself and you're still not sure where she's coming from, change instructors.
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I know things have changed in recent years or at least that is what I kept getting told by one of our visiting instrutors that comes to our yard. She keeps saying they do not teach heels down and all that stuff anymore ??
I am more of a recreational rider and have always just done my own thing and what feels comfortable.
 
if she's a good instructor, she should be able to re-phrase what she means so that you "get it". Sometimes you just need to have something put in a different way, and then you get that "lightbulb moment" where you suddenly realise what the instructor has been trying to get you to to do all this time.

If you are consistently riding with your knees too far forward ( the old style hunting or chair seat) maybe doing some work without stirrups would help you to stretch your leg down and bring it further under you.

In Mary Wanless' book, she says that the best position is one where, if the horse magically disappeared from under you, you would land on your feet and not your bum. When you first start to get your legs into that position, you really feel the stretch in the front of your thighs and down the insides.
 
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I'm doing some refresher riding lessons (havent had a horse for about 3 years so thought it best lol) but she keeps saying i hold my knee to far forward so makes me sit with my legs open lol which im finding rather uncofy but my point is looking at a few pics of you girls on here you all sit like i do so i cant see where im going wrong and she kept saying throughout the whole class so im dreading tomorrow lol can anyone shead some light for me please xxx

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Well, I'm not privy to your instructor's private thoughts about your position, but I'll have a bash.
It sounds as though you are sitting in a 'chair seat' - so on the back of your bum, perhaps collapsing a little through your lower back (as I do when I'm slouching in a chair).
This will have the effect of driving your knee forward, and making you 'grip' a little with the inside of your knee, your lower thigh, and your upper calf.
If you grip the horse there, it can often have the effect of making the horse stop, as you are restricting all the muscles over the rib cage, and round the barrel.
The best way to cure this habit is to ride without stirrups, letting your leg hang down (and re-aquainting yourself with your seat bones - you should feel four bony 'points' on your ass - the front two near your privates being closer together than the back two near your bum.
Another way of thinking about it is to make your legs form a 'tunnel' through which the horse will flow - by relaxing your knee away from the saddle, and channeling your leg weight down the outside of your leg, into your pinky toe.
Sometimes, though, the saddle will force your leg forward - if the stirrup bars are too far forward, then you'll spend your lesson trying to swing your leg back and underneath you, only to have them ping forward again at the first sign of relaxation....not good.
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Another good exercise, incidentally, is to practice standing in the 'rise' phase of rising trot - without using your reins, the mane, or leaning on the neck...this will help you with balance.
There, hope that helps - oh, and ask your instructor for an explanation - she'd rather you did that, than her think you are ignoring her.
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Thanks to the last 2 posters think you hit the nail on the head she called me a classic hacker lol and did say she would take my stirrups away lol so i kind of she whats shes saying a little more now by i will add i've been riding since i was knee high so this is gonna be hard to break ooh and the only reason she kept having to say is cos i'd slip back into my comfy postion lol

Thanks to all who posted xxxx
 
She just hasnt said it in a very understandable way. Think more of bringing the lower leg back underneath you so that you can step onto the ball of your foot. It's physically impossible to move your knee into the proper place without shifting your lower leg first
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Tell the instructor that you don't really understand what she's asking you to do. If she explains differently, great, you'll get somewhere. If she just keeps repeating herself and you're still not sure where she's coming from, change instructors.
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i second that... if you dont understand keep asking and if they cant deliver the answer change instructors... i alllllwaaaays ensure that the kids i teach understand what i have said by getting them to explain what they think i mean and that way i will know whether i need to word it differently etc etc
 
I find it helpful to imagine what would happen if your horse was suddenly magicked away from underneath you. You should land squarely on the ground. If you have an armchair seat, you'd fall over backwards. If you are perched on your fork (like I do!) you'd fall over forwards. Is there a mirror in your riding school? That's really good for assessing yourself. If not, could a friend come and take some pix of your position as you have your lesson? You could spend a happy evening with a large voddie discussing the pix, then post them on the forum for us to all have a go!
 
Well im hoping tonight goes a litle better thanks everyone if i strugle tonight im gonna ask her to show me i think i kinda see what she means now thou ? we do have mirrors but to me i look fine lol

Cheers everyone
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