Help! Can't keep lower legs still!

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littlemiss1

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As the title really.

I'm really struggling to keep my lower leg still in both trot and canter on one of my horses. He is really big moving like he's on springs so sitting trot or trot work without stirrups is impossible.

My legs swing forwards and back which also makes my feet fall too far into the stirrup iron. This is the only horse i struggle to keep my feet in the correct position and my legs swing. He also "boings" me out the saddle with my rising trot. All my others i can keep the same still leg position and a nice low rise and quiet seat. But with this one i find myself rising too high and my legs swinging like a pendulum!! :rolleyes:

Any tips or ideas greatly appreciated
 
if you can ride well on other horses, my first thought is, is your saddle putting you out of balance on this horse? Do you have more than one saddle for him and if so does it happen in all of them? if you only have one, have you ever tried another on him to see if you still have this problem?

the wrong saddle for the rider can cause as many problems as the wrong one for the horse ;)
 
Thanks for the reply. I have used his saddle on my other horses and not had a problem and i have tried him in other saddles too but the same thing happens. He's very wide in the chest, big shoulders and flat backed so its hard to find something that didn't roll around on him like crazy.
 
Have you tried putting your stirrups up a hole or two just for riding this horse? I know I have to ride with slightly shorter stirrups when I occasionally ride my daughter's bigger moving horse.
 
Two options. Work on standing - really standing not in two point - in your stirrups. When you can stand - without balancing on the horse's mouth!! - at canter your lower leg will be still. And as you work to that take the saddle away completely. Work bareback. Or at least without stirrups. You cannot be stable in your seat without a secure lower leg. Take away the arm chair (which is really what you are doing in either exercisee) you have to learn to balance yourself.
 
Bareback does work well. I used to ride a horse with a very bouncy trot that I found difficult to sit to. Then I rode him bareback and found that it was actually easier because if I had let my legs flap about I would have come off, so I had to up my game.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. I tried standing in the stirrups and my legs were perfectly still and kept pressure on the balls of my feet and heels down, but still maintained a lovely pace in trot. So after breaking my trot work down, the problem seems to come from when im sitting for the trot not rising. When i sit (i managed to get nearly a lap in sitting trot :oops:) my lower legs rise upwards and push forwards towards his shoulder like a western rider :p the knee and thigh is fixed and my seat is pushing down. The lower leg is loose and the stirrup is loose on my foot bouncing around.

after this i went back to rising trot normally and really could feel for every sit of the trot my legs were doing exactly what was happening in the sitting trot. Any further suggestions? I will try shortening the stirrups next.
 
I think from what you've described he sounds like quite a wide horse.
Is it possible that you're not quite supple enough in your hips to accommodate this if so?
Tight hips on a wide horse would tend to make you ping out of the saddle a bit rather than be able to keep your whole leg wrapped around & down.
 
Thanks for the reply! Yes he's very very wide 16.2 maxi cob with a barrel for a tummy and the shoulders of a rugby player and I'm 5ft 2
 
I think you are trying resist the movement of a big moving horse. Why are you trying to rise low? I bought a big moving WB. When I think I'm wriggling so try to resist the movement apparently I make it worse. When I allow myself to go with flow apparently I'm still. It feels like a lot of movement but there is a lot of movement . I'm 5'2, horse is 16hh and not wide - I avoided a wide horse as it does make life more difficult as you get older...so the dimensions are very different to you
 
littlemiss1 said:
Thanks for the reply. I have used his saddle on my other horses and not had a problem and i have tried him in other saddles too but the same thing happens. He's very wide in the chest, big shoulders and flat backed so its hard to find something that didn't roll around on him like crazy.
Click to expand...

Eek, the saddle must fit the horse, they're seldom interchangeable across horses. I suspect it's too high in front and putting you into a chair seat as a minimum. Critical that it's in balance and in the right place on the horse, people don't realise how much effect this has. Please refer back to your saddle fitter.
 
My horse is very big and pretty wide and I'm 5"2. When I've ridden smaller, narrower horses I've noticed how much easier it is to stay with them. They have a smaller stride and they don't have the same power when they move.

I find it easier if I shorten my stirrups with my horse. Another thing is to engage your core (if you clear your throat, you'll get the feel for it). Also make sure that your thighs are always in contact with the saddle when you're sitting, rather than coming on and off. Keep a lot of your weight on your thighs rather than on your bum.
Also make sure when you rise that you aren't rising up but just moving your hips forward and move your hips back when you sit.
 
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