Riders Lower Leg: Advice Please!

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Whoopit

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I am going to get an instructor out but in the meantime has anyone got advice for my lower legs? They just have a mind of their own, particularly in the school!

My toes stick out like wing mirrors and my lower leg never feels particularly secure. I only noticed in the schoold the other day (not had an arena for 12mths) but don't feel as though have leg insecurity when hacking out.

My horse rushes and motorbikes his corners and sometimes i feel as though i'm just "perched" on him. I ride mid-length stirrups (I have rheumatism in my knees and find this the comfiest but have also struggling a little lately from a twisted knee injury I just can't shake off) but can ride long but then i feel as though my legs are even worse in rising trot!!

Any advice (if you were ignoring my dodgy knee problems)? :)
 
Back when I worked at a riding school we got a free ride/hack for working at the weekends and I had this similar problem on only one of the horses.

I always used to think I rode long, however with this particular horse I found I had to ride even longer.

What I did was took my feet out of the stirrups, stretched my leg by bringing my heel up to the back of my thigh. Then let it drop.
Where my foot landed naturally, was where my stirrups would do, the exact same length I ride bare back and stirrup-less.

I know ride like this all the time, hardly any bend in my knee these days.

Tabula Rasa x
 
Keep your toes behind your knee, don't push your heels down (foot flat or heel only slightly down) lower your little toe to stop stop your feet poking out.
 
I have this problem too and really wish I knew how to do something about it :( If I try and force my toes in it really hurts and feel like my whole leg is being twisted or it feels like I have to grip with my knees (they go sort of inwards/are in the way) to keep my toes in. I also use the back of my calf/ankle rather than the inside, such a mess.
 
I had a lesson on a mechanical horse and managed to address this problem to a certain extent. First of all think of your leg as being dead. That is totally loose and floppy and totally relaxed. Then wiggle your ankles. This will help put your leg where it should be. Next think about your foot in the stirrup. I tend to have too much weight to the inside of my foot so making my knee come in and my toes go out. I had to think about putting more weight to the outside if my foot. In trot I then had to first think of my ankles and let them be a spring. Don't force your heels down. Next was thinking spring with the knees with each rise. Wiggle your ankles if they are locking up. Finally think of your hips. They should flick to the front if the saddle as you rise. So with knees and hips think spring flick, spring flick as you rise. All of a sudden the weight in your feet feels really light and your bum just kisses the saddle as you sit. It's difficult to explain so I hope that made some sense but if you can bring all that into play your lower leg will naturally wrap around the horse and your leg will be stiller and your toes will point forwards. I hope that helps some. It does take practice though.
 
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