Improving lower leg without lessons

[giggles mum]

I noticed today that my lower leg is RUBBISH. Moves all over the place, isn't back underneath my hip, and my feet move too far through the stirrups. I don't often have lessons, so what exercises can I do while hacking/schooling to improve it? Do jumping position and standing straight up in the stirrups achieve the same thing or is one better than the other? I'm guessing it's more beneficial to do this with shorter stirrups as it'uch more painful that way!!

anything else to recommend?
Thanks.

 

[Bossanova]

Yep, standing up in your stirrups and practising jump position without the leg moving are fab for strengthening the leg.
Just stick to walk whilst you pefect it. If you can look at yourself in a mirror it really helps too

 

[TarrSteps]

Doing exercises off the horse can help, too, especially to strengthen your thighs and core. General fitness can help one's riding a great deal. (Not implying you aren't fit, just that a general comment.)

Are you sitting correctly? Even if you're disinclined to want instruction there are lots of books on the subject. Good riding isn't "natural", at least not for us mere mortals and takes time and effort to learn.

Riding in a standing position and in a jumping position, alternating between the two, is very helpful. I'm not a huge fan of riding without stirrups without supervision as it's VERY easy to get into bad habits but if you're careful it's a great exercise. Another great exercise is to rise to the trot but stay up for two beats and sit for one. Try to keep your rhythm, grabbing a piece of mane to stay stable at first. This sounds A LOT easier than it is. Another thing to do is trotting with very short stirrups - okay for a few minutes, torture shortly after! When I evented I used to try to do at least some of my trot work this way. I can't believe I made myself.

This is nothing at all to do with the OP and I don't mean to derail the thread but I have to ask, why do so many people seem adverse to lessons? This SEEMS to be more prevelant in the UK (internet evidence and some discussions with local horse people) and I'm really curious as to why. I'm not saying everyone takes lessons in N. America but it certainly does seem more prevelant. Am I wrong in thinking this? No need for anyone to answer me here but if anyone would like to set me straight I'd appreciate a PM.

 

[giggles mum]

Thanks for that

errrm...we don't even have mirrors in the school, let alone out hacking!

 

[teapot]

hack out in jump length stirrups & a slightly forward light seat and NO rising trot, lots of absorbing the movement instead

it works wonders honestly

 

[giggles mum]

Thanks - tonnes of ideas there

I'm not adverse to instruction in any way - completely the opposite actually, I'm desperate for it - it just isn't happening at the mo because of time/money constraints and because on the evenings I can go to my riding school they don't have decent instructors working late enough.

I actually am having some lessons through school during my games lessons...but they seem to be much more about aids and the horse's way of going than your position - today I was aware that my lower leg was useless but it wasn't mentioned...was a good lesson in other ways but not useful in that department.

And incidentally (this is meant in the least stalker-ish way possible

) you live very near me.

 

[Fattie_Hattie]

I had the same problem. I shortened my stirrups and always thought about the position of my leg. I would get someone to put it in the right place then i would hold it. You just have to concentrate REALLLLLY hard and think about it all the time whilst riding. Your muscles will soon adapt.

 

[PaintboxEDT]

does the cake mean its your birthday ?
if so happy birthday x

 

[giggles mum]

Thankyou

 

[Fahrenheit]

I was watching a friend of mine having a lesson years ago and the instructor got so fed up of telling them about their lower legs she tied the stirrup to the girth with baling twine

 

[MotherOfChickens]

good hacking exercise- trot for 7 strides in two point, rise for 7 strides, sit for 7 strides then repeat.(use a neckstrap and practice your two point in halt and walk first so you dont bump back down in the saddle or are tempted to use reins for balance). The aim is to do it so that you dont affect the horses way of going/rythm at all.good exercise for lower leg, balance and seat

 

[Partoow]

Your lower leg position being still relies on the fact that you need to be more stable in your core, the middle of your body behind your belly button and in the muscles of your pelvis.
there is a great book by the Kennilworth press called Yoga for riders and works on exercises that help develope this on and off the horse.
If its any help then i work on this daily.
I concentate on imagining the hips open and the thigh bones push down at the knees. You MUST sit on the three points of your seat with the pelvis upright. [You can test this by, on the ground, if you lay a schooling whip on your lower back from the small of your back down the line of the spine. When you're standing 'normally' you will find this points at a 45 degree angle now curl your seat bones under you so the whip points verticaly down to the floor and this is how you get the feeling of getting your pelvis in the correct position.] So now you have a good base it is from here that you build your stable seat and then your stable leg. This enables the lower leg to be used to support the horse under and around the rib cage, not to hold you on!! This is why you lose your stirrups up your foot as you are holding on with your knees and pulling up with the leg. The feet need to hang out of the hip joints down in to the stirrups. The minute you grip then you loose this 'weight' in your legs and the support in your feet.
Above your pelvis your upper body need to grow up through the spine keeping the shoulders wide like the hips.
So there you go a couple of tipe on stability it start with the pelvis base on which you contact with the horse in your seat.

 

[giggles mum]

wow thankyou for that, it was very detailed!

 

[kerilli]

the most important things are that your seat/hips are at the right angle, as partoow says, and that you aren't gripping with your knees at all. try keeping them completely away from the saddle, pointing outwards, for a few weeks' worth of riding (yes, really) until gripping is no longer a habit. then bring them gently back to pointing forward again. this will allow your weight to drop naturally into your heels, and stay there.
to see what i mean, sit on the horse, grip with your knees, and bring your heels up. feel where your weight is. then, still concentrating on where your weight is (where you feel heaviest), open your knees away from the saddle and let your legs go floppy. you should feel a huge difference. where your weight is now, after doing that, is what keeps you on when things go a bit wrong!
don't think of pushing your heels down, which makes your leg hard and tight, think of pulling your toes UP, so that your calf muscles become lightly taut, "like the bow of a violin" as my trainer says. this also enables you to give a precise aid, not just a dull thud or upward poke with the heel against the horse.
and think of your whole legs as being like long pieces of cooked spaghetti, stuck gently and softly to the horse. that's the feeling you want.
then try things like rising and sitting for different numbers of beats, work in short stirrups, etc - all great exercises, as long as you've got the basics sorted first!
hope that helps a bit.