Struggling with lower leg

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bethan1

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When I ride my lower leg always seems to tense up and creep back and in canter it swings. Anyone have the same problem or a way to remedy it? (I spent the last 2 years riding a crazy fast horse I barely used leg with although I probably should have lol, so this may be the reason? ) thanks!
 
Lots of sitting trot without irons and then circuits of rising trot (from the lower leg, not the knee) also without irons, hard work but it does the job
 
If your leg is swinging back and tense then it's pretty likely that your whole body is tense. Start from the top and work downwards to pin point where the problem is.

Are you trying to grip with your legs to compensate for a lack of balance?

Make sure that your stirrups are the correct length and not too long, do loads of no stirrup work and half-seat work like DF said.

Try some breathing exercises too or listening to music as you ride - it'll help you to relax.
 
It sounds like you may be gripping with your upper leg so the bottom leg swings, you need to open your pelvis more so it releases the upper leg, concentrate on really making your legs longer when you ride heels down and sit on your seat it will help keep your lower leg more stable, no stirrups will really help once you feel a bit more balanced.
 
Yep, it's the old working without stirrups thing I'm afraid. Light seat, and stranding up will also help.
 
I had a very similar problem and did a lot of no stirrup work - especially in trot and canter. I practically did all my schooling for a few months with no stirrups bar warming up and 5 minutes at the end to perfect anything which wasnt as neat because of my lack of stirrups.

I also had a few lessons on a mechanical horse which helped a lot. The instructor explained things in a very helpful way and as the horse isnt real you can focus on your position and the problems. In my case a lot of it was just being generally tense because I felt insecure and became a cycle - tense so didnt relax so was more unbalanced so tensed.
Personally just relaxing and strengthening my legs from the non-stirrup work/talking to a PT at my gym for some exercises sorted my lower leg position out.
 
saddleoversofa said:
I had a very similar problem and did a lot of no stirrup work - especially in trot and canter. I practically did all my schooling for a few months with no stirrups bar warming up and 5 minutes at the end to perfect anything which wasnt as neat because of my lack of stirrups.

I also had a few lessons on a mechanical horse which helped a lot. The instructor explained things in a very helpful way and as the horse isnt real you can focus on your position and the problems. In my case a lot of it was just being generally tense because I felt insecure and became a cycle - tense so didnt relax so was more unbalanced so tensed.
Personally just relaxing and strengthening my legs from the non-stirrup work/talking to a PT at my gym for some exercises sorted my lower leg position out.
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Did all of the no stirrup work help? How long did it take you? Please would you be able to recommend some exercises? Thank you!
 
I had this problem for a while, my instructor had a remedy which was light canter I know standing up while cantering can seem strange, but it worked for me.
 
bethan1 said:
Did all of the no stirrup work help? How long did it take you? Please would you be able to recommend some exercises? Thank you!
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Yes it helped tremendously and improved my overall position a lot, including when jumping. It took several months but I was only riding 3 times a week so used those sessions with no stirrups to just try and relax and deepen my seat. I found it useful to leave my leg loose, as if I tried to hold it still my whole position would go downhill. So I just focused on it being relaxed whilst not letting it flap everywhere.

In the gym I didn't doing anything elaborate, just your various types of squats, lunges, donkey kicks, the one where you cock your leg etc. I actually joined a core workout class (not quite as sophisticated as it sounds - it was called bums and tums for mums :p ) which my PT assured me was still useful despite me being significantly younger than most of the people in the class and not a mother. They varied the severity of the exercises and there were some that were so hard on the easy level that I was in awe of how others did them. Obviously most of these can be done alone at home but I find I try harder and commit more when I go to a class.

We also used the gym machines such as the leg curl, leg press, the ever so flattering adduction lever machine and using the weighted cables for resistance. One thing I would say about the machines is it is very easy to do more harm than good so I only ever used them when the PT, or my previous partner who was experienced with the equipment, were around as to me it wasnt worth the risk that by myself I could be doing it incorrectly.
 
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saddleoversofa said:
Yes it helped tremendously and improved my overall position a lot, including when jumping. It took several months but I was only riding 3 times a week so used those sessions with no stirrups to just try and relax and deepen my seat. I found it useful to leave my leg loose, as if I tried to hold it still my whole position would go downhill. So I just focused on it being relaxed whilst not letting it flap everywhere.

In the gym I didn't doing anything elaborate, just your various types of squats, lunges, donkey kicks, the one where you cock your leg etc. I actually joined a core workout class (not quite as sophisticated as it sounds - it was called bums and tums for mums :p ) which my PT assured me was still useful despite me being significantly younger than most of the people in the class and not a mother. They varied the severity of the exercises and there were some that were so hard on the easy level that I was in awe of how others did them. Obviously most of these can be done alone at home but I find I try harder and commit more when I go to a class.

We also used the gym machines such as the leg curl, leg press, the ever so flattering adduction lever machine and using the weighted cables for resistance. One thing I would say about the machines is it is very easy to do more harm than good so I only ever used them when the PT, or my previous partner who was experienced with the equipment, were around as to me it wasnt worth the risk that by myself I could be doing it incorrectly.
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OK I will try all of this! Thank you so much!
 
All the exercises above but don't ignore your hip flexors. As a rider these get really tight so you lose flexibility and the ability to drop the leg down so that it "drapes" over the horse. There are a number of exercises you can do to stretch ad release through your hips and you may find this makes a big difference.
 
If it is a tension issue, I always imagine my muscles turning to jelly and just letting my weight go gently down the backs of my legs. It does help soften you a bit and go with the movement as opposied to fighting it.

If your lower leg is creeping up, then I suspect you are probably "cruching" i.e leaning forward so you really need to think about having wide relaxed shoulders, keeping your bum in the saddle (not polishing the saddle with your bum!) with soft hips moving with the motion of the horse and nice long relaxed legs.

Non stirrups does help, but my confidence was never good enough for that, I always found the above helped me.
 
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