Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Swinging legs and stirrups

From: Adrienne

Dear Jessica, I have been riding dressage for about a year now, and I have a problem with my stirrups. I know that they should be long, but sometimes it's hard for me to keep any weight in them, and they start to swing around. What can I do? I can make my legs stay pretty quiet at the posting trot, but when I do sitting trot or canter my legs swing, I think it is because I put some weight on my thighs instead of just in my stirrups. If I put them up a couple of holes they are more comfortable, but then my instructor says I look like a hunter rider with my bent knees. When I ask her how I can keep them long and still have some weight in them, she just says "That's how it has to be if you're going to ride dressage." I feel as if I just can't do it right. Please can you give me some ideas and maybe something that I can say to my instructor? She is a good rider and I think she gets annoyed with me for being so slow to learn, but I really love dressage. Thanks Jessica!

Adrienne

Hi Adrienne! First of all, let's talk about stirrup length. When you take your feet out of the stirrups and just let your legs hang, where do the stirrup treads touch you? If it's just at your ankle bone or JUST underneath it, that's okay. If they touch you below that point, your stirrups are just too long, and there's a big part of what's causing your riding problems.

Second, let's talk about stirrup positioning. Here's another question: when you drop your stirrups, how difficult is it for you to pick them up again? Can you just lift your toes and slip them into the stirrups, or do you have to move your leg forward? This matters! If your feet are swinging forward, there are two probable reasons: either your stirrups are hung too far forward (some saddles are built badly, with the stirrup bars positioned too far forward) OR you may be sitting on your rump instead of on your seatbones. If your stirrups are correctly positioned and at a good length, then it's easy for you to put some weight into them and keep them in place, where they belong, underneath your center of gravity.

Let's assume that your saddle is okay, and that you've put your stirrups back up to a useful length, and that you're sitting on your seatbones. Now you can begin to think about stretching UP with your upper body -- that's from your ribcage up -- and stretching DOWN with the rest of your body, starting with your seat. Your "seat" isn't just your seatbones, it's everything from your lowest ribs down to your heels. Stretching doesn't mean TENSING, it means deliberately relaxing, and allowing your tight, shortened muscles to lengthen.

When you feel your legs lengthening, take your feet out of the stirrups and do little ankle circles. You need relaxed, flexible ankles. When they feel relaxed, pick up your stirrups, adjust them, and then rise up into a two-point position for a moment. While you're there, take a deep breath, exhale slowly through your mouth, and while you're exhaling, let your thighs and knees relax, and let your ankles relax. You'll feel the weight go down into your heels. Now come back to your saddle, keep those knees and ankles relaxed, and you'll be able to feel that your calves are still gently stretched, and that you still have weight in the stirrups.

You CAN'T achieve this effect by trying to shove your heels down -- that makes tense, tight ankles and knees, and pops you up out of your saddle. You also can't achieve it if your stirrups are too long, because you'll have to drop your toes to find the stirrups... and that will make your calf muscles tighten instead of stretch.

Don't worry that you're using your thighs -- for dressage purposes, your "seat" includes your thighs, and you SHOULD use them -- they and your seatbones share your weight. Your legs should be in contact with the horse all the way down; you should be able to feel your saddle and your horse's sides. But your legs need to stay relaxed -- you're not trying to achieve a tense, forceful "gripping" of the saddle, but the kind of "grip" that lets a damp dishtowel cling to the side of a sink. It follows the contours of the sink, and it stays close, but NOT because it's making an effort. ;-)

Why don't you show this answer to your instructor, ask her to help you determine whether your saddle is suitable, and if it is, then ask her to help you with the exercises I've suggested? She needs to know what you are trying to do, and why. And don't worry that she thinks you're too slow -- you've said that she's a good instructor, so it's a good bet that if she IS annoyed, she's annoyed with herself for not being able to help you more. Maybe this will help both of you. I hope so -- let me know. ;-)

Jessica

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