Hip pain when my horse is at walk

[NikKnock]

Hi there. In the last few months I'm experiencing quite bad hip pain when riding. But weirdly only when my horse is at walk...I guess there's a lot of movement through the hip when you sit a horses walk . Admittedly I'm no spring chicken anymore but wondered if anyone else has experienced this, and what if any simple pre-ride exercises I could do to alleviate the pain? Or is it a go to the GP job?

 

[cornbrodolly]

No spring chicken here , either, but hell who wants to stop riding!?
From personal experience , it was because of bone spurs in the hips. Walk was the worst pace for me ,because the hips are forced to open wider. As I can still walk, cycle etc pretty much ok , there is n hip replacement , even medium term. If the pain is to do with your bones rather than muscles , I doubt exercises would help [ none were suggested to me] but seeing a physio or similar might hep [ it kept me going for an extra couple of years]
As you can probably see from my avatar, the solution for me was side saddle , which allows me to ride totally pain free. Best of luck!

 

[sbloom]

In an ideal world it's a "have an all round assessment" job to see what's going on. Our bodies change (women's pelvises especially get wider, and then narrower, as they age) and something has shifted. Is the saddle out of balance? Might be a simple fix. Walk is the most unstable pace for our lower back, even if there isn't the challenge of "sitting" it.

Your horse may be more asymmetrical in the walk, most horses rotate their ribcage one way more than the other and a tiny shift in movement patterns might be really magnified for you in walk.

How old are you? If you're at all peri menopausal then your soft tissue is changing, as well as your pelvis narrowing, and we can get more sensitive.

Horse-saddle-rider is a complex equation so I would chip away at all areas if you can't find someone to look at all three, an off horse rider assessment may be a good place to start, physio helps some people, and that's all a doctor can usually offer in the short term, beyond painkillers. Of course in the long term it may be more serious and need GP referral, orthopaedics etc but my personal approach would be to try to avoid that if at all possible, just like rehabbing a horse's compensations instead of shaving vertebrae or relying on twice yearly hock injections.

I've just started Alexander technique, something like that will almost certainly help, but very little will fix it straight away, unless it's saddle, and then there are limited options to change the fit of a saddle for you.

Sorry for the essay!

 

[Red-1]

I have issues too, and I would advise asking the Dr for a hip X ray. Mine initially said it was arthritis, diagnosed through my age and high riding mileage, but the X ray showed a clear hip. It is now put down to bursitis, which I find weirdly comforting. It flares and recedes but pain killers don't seem to help.

I have tried hot/cold treatment, tablets for excess cortisone, exercises, massage. Nothing is reliably helping, sadly!

 

[NikKnock]

No spring chicken here , either, but hell who wants to stop riding!?
From personal experience , it was because of bone spurs in the hips. Walk was the worst pace for me ,because the hips are forced to open wider. As I can still walk, cycle etc pretty much ok , there is n hip replacement , even medium term. If the pain is to do with your bones rather than muscles , I doubt exercises would help [ none were suggested to me] but seeing a physio or similar might hep [ it kept me going for an extra couple of years]
As you can probably see from my avatar, the solution for me was side saddle , which allows me to ride totally pain free. Best of luck!

Side saddle! Good on yer. Love it. Ill try anything, nothing is going to stop me riding.
Yeah maybe I should get a scan/x-ray. I have a spur on a neck vetebre and the pain is similar . Thanks .

 

[NikKnock]

In an ideal world it's a "have an all round assessment" job to see what's going on. Our bodies change (women's pelvises especially get wider, and then narrower, as they age) and something has shifted. Is the saddle out of balance? Might be a simple fix. Walk is the most unstable pace for our lower back, even if there isn't the challenge of "sitting" it.

Your horse may be more asymmetrical in the walk, most horses rotate their ribcage one way more than the other and a tiny shift in movement patterns might be really magnified for you in walk.

How old are you? If you're at all peri menopausal then your soft tissue is changing, as well as your pelvis narrowing, and we can get more sensitive.

Horse-saddle-rider is a complex equation so I would chip away at all areas if you can't find someone to look at all three, an off horse rider assessment may be a good place to start, physio helps some people, and that's all a doctor can usually offer in the short term, beyond painkillers. Of course in the long term it may be more serious and need GP referral, orthopaedics etc but my personal approach would be to try to avoid that if at all possible, just like rehabbing a horse's compensations instead of shaving vertebrae or relying on twice yearly hock injections.

I've just started Alexander technique, something like that will almost certainly help, but very little will fix it straight away, unless it's saddle, and then there are limited options to change the fit of a saddle for you.

Sorry for the essay!

Thank you so much. There is a rider assessment on a mechanical horse i could book into near me which pin points asymmetry and then does follow up physio and exercises...I will look into that.

 

[NikKnock]

I have issues too, and I would advise asking the Dr for a hip X ray. Mine initially said it was arthritis, diagnosed through my age and high riding mileage, but the X ray showed a clear hip. It is now put down to bursitis, which I find weirdly comforting. It flares and recedes but pain killers don't seem to help.

I have tried hot/cold treatment, tablets for excess cortisone, exercises, massage. Nothing is reliably helping, sadly!

I will go down that route for sure if exercise and physio doesn't work. Thanks so much. Sorry you have to deal with pain.

 

[sbloom]

Thank you so much. There is a rider assessment on a mechanical horse i could book into near me which pin points asymmetry and then does follow up physio and exercises...I will look into that.

Take your saddle with you just in case they know enough to really assess you in it to know if it is still suitable (a rare skill).

 

[Annagain]

A lot of hip pain, particularly with riders is actually nothing to do with the hip per-se but a result of a tight piriformis (a muscle in the bum that controls hip rotation / stability) I'd get a physio to take a good look. I suffer with it every so often, never when I'm riding but almost immediately after I get off. Doing pilates has helped a lot.

 

[sbloom]

So much pain is down to an issue elsewhere, hence a whole body assessment (which isn't generally the way a GP will look at it) is so important. If we stretch the tight, painful area we're not correcting why it's tight, strengthening the other areas that aren't working correctly.

 

[NikKnock]

A lot of hip pain, particularly with riders is actually nothing to do with the hip per-se but a result of a tight piriformis (a muscle in the bum that controls hip rotation / stability) I'd get a physio to take a good look. I suffer with it every so often, never when I'm riding but almost immediately after I get off. Doing pilates has helped a lot.

Thanks

 

[NikKnock]

Take your saddle with you just in case they know enough to really assess you in it to know if it is still suitable (a rare skill).

Ok I will

 

[sbloom]

And I didn't mean that disparagingly, there is limited training available out there so we tend to be in our own silos. The number of debates I've had with physios, one swearing that if you have pubic arch contact you MUST be in anterior tilt....not understanding the effect of the saddle at all and not listening to anything that isn't in a peer reviewed paper.

 

[Exasperated]

Side saddle! Good on yer. Love it. Ill try anything, nothing is going to stop me riding.
Yeah maybe I should get a scan/x-ray. I have a spur on a neck vetebre and the pain is similar . Thanks .

Nothing like a bit on the side!
Might depend what the cause in your case is, and whether you need a left or (rarer) right hooker. I’ve a slightly dished seat Steele, fab, but owing to a subsequent leg break, is now effectively a tad small for comfort. Definitely the right size, but that particular injury necessitates something that is more roomy….try plenty before buying, and enjoy.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I would also get your horse checked out, as well as you.

The only time I've ever had hip and back pain when riding in walk is when the horse has been subtly, not quite right.

 

[Mrs Jingle]

Not wanting to worry any of you youngsters, but hip and groin pain in walk, but improved pain relief on rising trot was my very first sign of needing hip replacements. That was for about 2 years until I eventually went to GP, referred to surgeon and xrays showed both hips completely ground down, the ball shape was quite interesting to see I have to say - looked more like pitted moon craters. The surgeon couldn't believe I was still riding and only complaining of low to medium level pain.

I had both hips replaced within 2 years by then I was 74. They seemed great to start with then all went pear shaped, could barely walk with pain in hip areas, groin, lower back and pelvis. Had physio, injections, mri's, xrays etc. etc. I am now due to see the back surgeon and the anaesthetist any day now with a view to possibly having an operation for 3 displaced discs that are compressing the nerves in my lower back. I think any chances of riding again are gone for me, as other health issues might not now allow for anymore operations.

Point of this post, go and get checked sooner rather than later. The surgeon thinks most of issues I now have, have been caused by leaving hips too long and compensating (badly!) as they deteriorated.

 

[NikKnock]

Not wanting to worry any of you youngsters, but hip and groin pain in walk, but improved pain relief on rising trot was my very first sign of needing hip replacements. That was for about 2 years until I eventually went to GP, referred to surgeon and xrays showed both hips completely ground down, the ball shape was quite interesting to see I have to say - looked more like pitted moon craters. The surgeon couldn't believe I was still riding and only complaining of low to medium level pain.

I had both hips replaced within 2 years by then I was 74. They seemed great to start with then all went pear shaped, could barely walk with pain in hip areas, groin, lower back and pelvis. Had physio, injections, mri's, xrays etc. etc. I am now due to see the back surgeon and the anaesthetist any day now with a view to possibly having an operation for 3 displaced discs that are compressing the nerves in my lower back. I think any chances of riding again are gone for me, as other health issues might not now allow for anymore operations.

Point of this post, go and get checked sooner rather than later. The surgeon thinks most of issues I now have, have been caused by leaving hips too long and compensating (badly!) as they deteriorated.

Thanks. I must get checked out. It really does hurt a lot. Im 63. My mum had hip replacement at 87.

 

[onemoretime]

Hi there. In the last few months I'm experiencing quite bad hip pain when riding. But weirdly only when my horse is at walk...I guess there's a lot of movement through the hip when you sit a horses walk . Admittedly I'm no spring chicken anymore but wondered if anyone else has experienced this, and what if any simple pre-ride exercises I could do to alleviate the pain? Or is it a go to the GP job?

I had pain in my right hip when riding walk. I changed saddlers when saddle check was due and new saddler said flocking was all wrong. She corrected it and guess what no hip pain and had physio to my horse as well who was a bit sore due to saddle.

 

[NikKnock]

I had pain in my right hip when riding walk. I changed saddlers when saddle check was due and new saddler said flocking was all wrong. She corrected it and guess what no hip pain and had physio to my horse as well who was a bit sore due to saddle.

Ok ill look into it thanks

 

[sbloom]

Thanks. I must get checked out. It really does hurt a lot. Im 63. My mum had hip replacement at 87.

Hence asking your age, nothing can be answered without context, definitely a visit to your GP, at least to get it ruled out, hopefully.