Getting lower leg forward

pistolpete

pistolpete

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 July 2009
Messages
5,975
Visit site
To my horror I saw some pics of me in canter recently. Lower leg definitely too far back for safety! Any tips on getting it more forward? Due to ponies gait I tend to go up into forward seat straight away. I find him uncomfy to sit to in canter. Always something new to learn!
 
pistolpete said:
To my horror I saw some pics of me in canter recently. Lower leg definitely too far back for safety! Any tips on getting it more forward? Due to ponies gait I tend to go up into forward seat straight away. I find him uncomfy to sit to in canter. Always something new to learn!
Click to expand...
I think you need to relax more and bring your lower leg down. It sounds like you are gripping with your legs and possibly pitching forward in your seat. You might need to adjust your stirrup leather length too. Put your closed fist into the stirrup bar and pull the stirrup iron down with your other hand so it rests in your arm pit, that's a rough guide to stirrup length.

Can you find someone to help you work on the lunge, without stirrups? That will help to build your core.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20241205_214123_Chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_20241205_214123_Chrome.jpg
    361 KB · Views: 51
Last edited:
I always had the same problem.

I read/watched something recently by Tom Morrison of the Simplistic Mobility Methed about the depth of your hip joint and how that affected your ability to squat (look up 27 squats), and also how the twist in your humerus makes a difference to the angle and set of your feet. This was gold dust to me - I can squat no problem but has to be toes well out. Transfer that to position on a horse and to get my lower leg forward my toes are going to be pointing at right angles to the horse - it’s just how I’m built.

I always used to wonder how some people had an enviable lower leg wrap, now I know.
 
This is from a video but you get the gist. Dont think stirrups are too short? Thoughts appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5304.png
    IMG_5304.png
    131.4 KB · Views: 49
Shorten your stirrups and do some work standing straight up in your stirrups in walk and trot - you could do with getting your heel down as well as bringing the lower leg forward.

There are loads of things you can think about in terms of visualising what you want - trying to show your sole the way you're going, or point your heel forward (not that you should literally achieve either!), bringing your backside back and closing at the hip more - but they can all cause weird compensation / over-correction issues if you try to do them without being able to see it / having an instructor tell you if it looks right!

It's entirely possible you won't get that picture perfect look if your saddle isn't working for you - the stirrup bar too far back, as PaS mentions - but you can definitely improve your security even with an imperfect saddle.
 
JFTDWS said:
Shorten your stirrups and do some work standing straight up in your stirrups in walk and trot - you could do with getting your heel down as well as bringing the lower leg forward.

There are loads of things you can think about in terms of visualising what you want - trying to show your sole the way you're going, or point your heel forward (not that you should literally achieve either!), bringing your backside back and closing at the hip more - but they can all cause weird compensation / over-correction issues if you try to do them without being able to see it / having an instructor tell you if it looks right!

It's entirely possible you won't get that picture perfect look if your saddle isn't working for you - the stirrup bar too far back, as PaS mentions - but you can definitely improve your security even with an imperfect saddle.
Click to expand...
It’s the same old thing. Another thorowgood! I can’t change the saddle as it’s not my horse. Both of my share horses have saddles that don’t fit me!
 
pistolpete said:
It’s the same old thing. Another thorowgood! I can’t change the saddle as it’s not my horse. Both of my share horses have saddles that don’t fit me!
Click to expand...

I have always found Thorowgoods to be the work of the devil - they really don't suit me at all, so I sympathise. But, just because it makes your life harder, doesn't mean you can't work on it and make the best of it.
 
JFTDWS said:
I have always found Thorowgoods to be the work of the devil - they really don't suit me at all, so I sympathise. But, just because it makes your life harder, doesn't mean you can't work on it and make the best of it.
Click to expand...
Exactly! I do have a lovely saddle doing nothing in my shed. Wonder if she’d let me try it on him 🤔
 
Over the years I rode in any number of saddles that didn't suit me at all and when no other option presented itself shortening the stirrups gave me stability and a means of getting out of the saddle's way when it wasn't doing me any favours. At least part of the equation is being able to get your upper body back - if your leg is straight any movement of the torso up out of the saddle is going to send your upper body forward and your leg back, like a pendulum.
 
pistolpete said:
I tend to go up into forward seat straight away. I find him uncomfy to sit to in canter.
Click to expand...
I share a horse with a very bumpy canter.

I too canter in a slightly raised seat but wrapping my legs down her sides to improve my stabiity and to remind her that I am riding her so she need not spook.
However in my early days of sharing her when I rode with an escort she did give me what the RI described as a dressage canter. I asked her to canter from a slow trot. First ask she told me it was out of the question. But when I asked again and said Yes canter we got it.

I havent asked her again as I hack on my own in a very basic manner. But on the canter tracks, I usually ride trot canter transitions, 20 strides of each.
 
You’re gonna hate me but you need to have some lessons without stirrups. Learn to relax your hips and thighs. No gripping. Or if you can get lessons on the lunge with no stirrups that would help.

When you take your stirrups back think about putting the weight into your little toe.

It’s a work in progress. Will take a while but it worked for me. Good luck!
 
I agree with what most people have said it looks like the saddle is pitching you forward. I might be worth working on your core a bit and then you can support your shoulders come back a fraction. I have the opposite problem though my feet shoot out in front defensively and I'm trying to get them back 😅
 
I definitely don’t think the saddle works for me. Problem is I would ideally need to pay a saddle fitter to see if on the off chance one of mine fit him and me. It’s a bit of a risk. I’m not buying another saddle for him although this thourowood he’s in is falling to bits! His owner of course is very comfortable with it.
 
nikkimariet said:
It’s probably the saddle…
Click to expand...
That makes me feel less useless! When I ride in Spain I never have a problem. Leg seems to be in a much better position. I still have a tendency to have my leg too far back but always feel more secure! Weird.
 
Last edited:
pistolpete said:
That makes me feel less useless! When I ride in Spain I never have a problem. Leg seems to be in a much better position. I still have a tendency to have my leg too far back but always feel more secure! Weird.
Click to expand...

I ride a lot of different horses in a lot of different saddles - I’m fit/strong/balanced enough I ‘can’ make it work but wow can I tell when the saddle wants to make me ride in a different way to normal!

I grip a lot in canter, I’ve been doing lots of no stirrup work. The proper bareback ‘saddles’ are amazingly supportive, I’d love one of those!
 
I'd say shorten your stirrups - how original - by at least a couple of holes but rather than pushing off them when you take a forward seat think of coming up from your heel. I'd also suggest think of pushing your bum back a bit rather than standing up in the stirrups, have a look at pictures of riders going xc.
 
pistolpete said:
No think I might fall off!
Click to expand...
Ok, best not try that then! However, if it is the saddle balance making you feel insecure then removing stirrups could make you feel more balanced and more secure. Maybe try it in walk on a quiet lane. I totally understand that I don’t know you or the horse so don’t do it if unsafe. Just thinking aloud.
 
Nari said:
I'd say shorten your stirrups - how original - by at least a couple of holes but rather than pushing off them when you take a forward seat think of coming up from your heel. I'd also suggest think of pushing your bum back a bit rather than standing up in the stirrups, have a look at pictures of riders going xc.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will give that a go. Problem is we’re mostly in walk then have one or two long canters. So need to pop stirrups back down after. I need to be better at doing them one handed going along on a sometimes spooky boy!
 
I have the same tendency. Specially with my right leg. The horse's 'go' button for forward, where a lot of nerves and fascia connect, is actually, really, just behind the girth, its not way back on the flank, so lower leg position is worth working on.

The position and 'wrap' of your leg, comes from upwards, from your hips/pelvis. So do the visual metaphor of the pelvis as a bowl of water that stays level, not tipping front or back.

Find neutral pelvis, via the 'water bowl,' and then, if your horse is quiet at halt, reach down and grab what one local XC Olympian down here in South Australia refers to as her 'poochies', those bags of flesh behind your thigh bone, and literally just pick them up with one hand and pull and rotate them outwards. And then, relax that little space behind your knee, so you should have perfect shoulder/hip/heel/ alignment.

The other way of testing this is to stand up in the stirrups; your lower leg will fall where it should be to balance you, well, I guess, as long as your in a balanced saddle!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top