From: Rebecca
Dear Jessica,
Finally I get a chance to ask you this question! My computer has been defunct for three days and I have been dying to ask you about my wing feet problem. I have been riding seriously for about 2 years now. Recently I have found a very wonderful BHS certified trainer and she has been working once a week with me on my seat. I also have been half-leasing a Thoroughbred/Trakehner mare and able to ride 3 days a week. Well, recently my folks came to visit me and took pictures of me riding without stirrups. I was horrified to see that I still have this drastic wingfoot tendency when riding without stirrups! I try to keep the flat of my thigh against the saddle but I guess not hard enough. Will riding without stirrups, and posting without stirrups help? Is there an exercise you know that I can use to stop this heel jabbing habit? Glad I wasn't wearing spurs!
Sincerely, adult frustrated at rate of development
Instead of doing a lot of work without stirrups, I suggest that you put the stirrups back on the saddle for now and work WITH them. Work without stirrups is beneficial ONLY if the rider can maintain the same position and the same contact without stirrups as with them -- if working without stirrups causes you to ride with the back of your calf against the horse, then all you are doing is creating and reinforcing a bad habit. Work with stirrups -- I'll suggest some exercises for you -- and then go back to occasional, brief work without stirrups when your leg position is more secure and will stay unchanged when you remove the stirrups.
The best single exercise to help you develop a secure, correct leg is work in two-point (that's "half-seat" for the dressage riders on the list).
Start by checking that your stirrups are at the correct length. Let your legs hang comfortably, with your feet OUT of the stirrups. You may need someone on the ground to help you make the adjustments. The ground person can bounce the stirrup tread lightly against your leg, and determine where it reaches. If your stirrup length is correct (for dressage/flatwork and very low jumps), the tread should be hitting your ankle bone. If you are jumping higher jumps, you may take the stirrups up so that the tread would hit your leg just above the ankle bone; if you are doing flatwork only, and feel that you need a slightly longer stirrup, let the tread hit you just below the ankle bone, but no lower. Too-long stirrups will weaken your legs and seat instead of strengthening them, and will put you into all manner of incorrect, ubalanced postures.
Once you've found the correct stirrup length, begin incorporating a lot of work in two-point (half-seat) into your regular riding. If you'll do most of your warmup and warmdown in a half-seat, your legs will become much more stable, and your horse will be grateful.
Leg stability and position comes from BALANCE, not from GRIP. Trying to hold on to the saddle by force with any part of your leg will damage your position. Your legs must be able to sink softly around your horse's barrel, with the stirrups supporting the ball of your foot so that your weight can drop, unimpeded, through your thigh, knee, and calf, into your heel. You may need to review your position every few minutes as you ride, just to remind yourself NOT to grip! Don't worry, though. After even a few weeks of constant reminders, you'll be on your way to building a good habit. ;-)
Rider toes are not always going to face forward; rider feet are not always going to be perfectly parallel to the horse's sides. It's nice when this position is easy, but if it is NOT, don't try to force it. Each rider's conformation is a little different, and one rider's toes may point straight ahead whilst an equally proficient rider's toes may point away from the horse at a 10-degree angle. The toe position only matters insofar as it's a reflection of the total leg position. The question is not "Are my toes pointed straight forward?", but "Do I have contact with the saddle and horse throughout my leg?" In other words, ask yourself this: "Is my inner thigh resting against the saddle? Is my inner knee resting against the saddle? Is my inner calf resting against the horse?" If the answer in each case is "Yes", then your position is right FOR YOU, even if your feet are not perfectly parallel to the horse's sides.
If the only problem you notice involves your FEET, you're likely to try to correct it by twisting your feet inward. Don't do this! You'll creates strain that will feel uncomfortable to your ankles and knees in the short term, and that will damage them in the long term. Instead, look at your entire leg and see whether or not you are in contact with your saddle and horse.
If you look down and see that your toes are turned out AND your knee is far from the saddle AND the fronts of your thighs are turned out, away from the saddle, then you do have a leg position problem, but it's not originating with the feet, and you shouldn't try to solve it by "fixing" your feet. If your entire leg is opening away from the horse, you need to fix the problem where it begins: in the hips. Riding well means rotating the hips so that the leg can hang easily and adhere softly to the horse's side. Work on rotating your legs from the hips, and you'll find that your legs fall into position easily, with your knees pointing forward and your toes aligned more or less below your knees.
If you've ever taken ballet lessons, you already know how to rotate your hips in one direction -- now you'll need to learn to rotate them the other way. Riding position requires a rotation that's the precise OPPOSITE of ballet turnout. ;-)
The key to all of this is to maintain a soft, supple leg that is able to bend easily at all joints: hips, knees, and ankles. If you remove your stirrups and try to hold your horse by gripping with the thighs, you effectively immobilize your hips -- try it! This isn't good for your riding. If you try to "correct" a turned-out foot by forcing the foot inward, you effectively immobilize your ankles AND your knees. Try it! In fact, try ALL the positions, but keep bringing yourself back to the one in which your legs are relaxed and correctly aligned, and in which all the joints can flex easily.
After a month or two of regular, conscious position-adjustment and lot of work in two-point, remove your stirrups and try again. I think you'll find that it's much easier than before, and that your feet won't be as likely to stick out at right angles. ;-)
Jessica
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