"Bad" leg position in Fhoenix GP - and horse hopping in trot - is there a link?

[rachelkelley]

Hello

Probably not the clearest subject line, but it's been a long day  :

I've been riding in my Fhoenix GP since January, and now that Smurf is back in work after his accident, am having a bit of trouble getting used to it again. I'm having same problems as when I first started in it - finding rising trot feels strange with set back stirrup bars and overall I feel quite unstable. Not "about to fall off" unstable, but I feel really behind the movement. Most likely due to my riding muscles having slackened after 2 months off!

However... Smurf has started doing something he has only done once before and I wonder if it's to do with my lower leg position. We started trot work last week, and on the 3rd session he kept doing a funny hop which sometimes led into a canter. I kept bringing him back to walk and trying trot again, but in a half-hour session he must have hopped a dozen times? Not sure if he was anticipating canter or just excited - he must be sooo bored after a month of just walking - but I remembered a lesson I had back in April when he did it repeatedly. My RI suggested my lower leg might be too far back and that he was reacting to a forward aid...that is the only other time he has done it. He was fighting fit back then (and I was stronger  :) so I don't think it is fitness-related.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Having spent years in riding school saddles I finally thought I had cracked the head-hip-heel alignment thing :'(

Don't have many pics of me riding - here is one shot I found.

I could have been giving a leg aid - haven't quite mastered Heather's inwards/forwards squeeze of the calves yet
Do admire his muddy mane and giraffe neck - we were by the mare's field and he can't help but have a gander at the girlies... I have some video of a lesson that I will try and upload to give a better impression...

[TashaKat]

Can't see the piccie so just going on the text.

Even before I came to your RI's comments I was thinking that you were probably overcompensating by pulling your legs too far back.

I did it (and felt unstable at trot) when I first got my SBS, still do it now (well, not now but when I was able to ride) when I'm concentrating or haven't been riding regularly.

I think that when you've worked to achieve the 'correct' position in a regular GP saddle then you will instinctively try and pull your stirrups back because that's what you've trained your muscles to do.  It must be much easier if you've never worked on that 'ear/hip/heel' line!

[Heather]

Hi Rachel,

You are much less likely to be behind the movement in a saddle with bars further back, than in one with them too far to the front- the latter is the prime cause of it! Your leg position doesnt look too bad at all! You may be holding the leg a little too far back, as often happens, when people first ride in the Fhoenix or other saddles with the bars further back, and we have to remind riders not to do this in the booklet that goes out with the saddle. You are also turning your toes out by the look of it, which will make you less stable, and want to 'grip up'.

Any chance you could post some video? This would be a huge help in order to best help you!

Heather

[whisper's mum]

I don't think you look bad at all...certainly not as bad as I look on the slide show of the conference of the home page  Have you got your knee rolls high enough? I only ask because mine were too low and were actually stopping me from putting my leg in the correct place so Jill moved them up.

Also, I think you need to think about sinking your weight down through the back of the leg, not by forcing the heel down but by relaxing the hip and knee. This is another of my faults and causes me to perch a bit and I think you're doing the same, the tightness in my legs also causes my toes to turn out.

Have you tried riding without stirrups and pointing your toes to the ground? Heather got me doing that and it really helped.

Smurf looks lovely and I'm sure you'll crack it, you're doing ok already 

[Casey76]

Eeek ma horsie!

Sorry Rachel, nothing useful to add, except I think Pinto and Smurf are twins separated at birth!

[Deb G]

I used to do that too....then I found that I was sitting more on my fork than my seat bones.  Having ridden in 'normal' saddles I was very conscious about holding myself into the correct alignment rather than developing that awful chair seat.  When I got the Fhoenix, I was STILL trying to hold myself into the correct alignment - but it took me ages to work out that I didn't need to.

Now I sit back on my seatbones.  I FEEL like I am in a chair position, but when I look in the mirror or on photos, I am actually in the correct position.  It took a while to get used to, and sometimes I still feel like my bum is a foot away from my heels - but in fact its not.  My riding has improved 100% as a result.

Deb x

[Monica]

Hi Rachel,

I have found out that my key to a balanced rising trot is where I put my toe!
The point of balance is crucial - it might be just a mm needed to alter the way of going.
It also helps me a lot to have solid shoes with soles that don't "curl" around the stirrup.

By the look of it, I would try to put the stirrups a bit further towards the tip of the toe.

Another thing I also make sure of is to regularly shake the pad (I have a suberpanel) so that the granules are generously packed at the front of the pad - this lifts the saddle in front and makes it feel a bit more "uphill" on my low withered tabletopped (for OlavS: and intelligent  ) fjords.

Monica

[rachelkelley]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. Am trying to get a video clip uploaded but my PC is playing up...

I think you're right about the toe position - I do have a tendency to have the ball of my foot on the stirrup tread which is probably too far forward. My lower leg never feels particularly stable (doesn't help that Smurf is very bouncy in trot) so my foot can/does move around a bit (esp. if I grip with my knees, which I sometimes am guilty of  ) The boots I'm wearing in the photo aren't riding boots  but they have a good stable sole and generally my foot is stiller. I've stopped wearing my "proper" jodhpur boots because they had no grip (even with rubber treads) and it was like ice skating!

I love watching Tim Stockdale ride as he just has his toes on the stirrup, and you can see his ankles pivoting to absorb the movement... if he can manage to keep his feet still over those hoooge jumps I should be able to manage it in flatwork!

I also need to work on my "desk slump", as this doesn't help my position. Right, that's it - the gym ball is coming out this weekend!

[em-merrie]

Heather said this at the conference and it really does work and that is to have your little toe lower that your other toes, so more weight in that toe which helps to drape your legs round the horse easier.

[rachelkelley]

I do "penguin" while riding, em-merrie , so will try that!

Right, here it is.. the dreaded video. I hadn't watched this until earlier this week and it was recorded in May! Things I have spotted already (apart from wobbly lower leg) :'(:

• I keep giving the right rein away - I think this is due to my dodgy ring finger which Smurf "helped" to break just after I got him  as I have trouble holding onto the rein
• I keep looking down!
• I'm collapsing to the left
• Too much movement around my middle - esp. in walk at end
• Rising too high?

All comments welcome! He didn't hop in this lesson but I don't think I ride that differently each time I get on...

[Taliessin]

I don't feel qualified to comment, but I just loved the birdsong background to your clip!

[paulam]

Lovely pony  Like my toby.