Legs, legs, legs
Leg position is one of the absolute foundations to good riding but is so often either ignored or misinterpreted. It really becomes one of those “do as I say, not as I do” for a lot of coaching, when it should be the other way around!
Think of two sports that may seem similar but are polar opposites – snow skiing and water skiing.
When people are snow skiing, they have to remain balanced, mid ribs above mid thighs. Half of the skier’s body weight is heading forwards, towards where they are going, and half of their weight is behind them, stopping them from toppling over. Their knees are bent, but as their head is forward, their hips are back to counterbalance themselves.
Water skiers are in a very different place. They are head furthest back. Their feet are furthest forwards. Their body is the back portion of the letter V. And they can only stay upright if they have something to pull against. In their situation, they pull back on the ski rope.
As we stand, we have to keep our vertical balance, there is just no other way to remain upright.
A while ago, I was teaching a lady for the first time. She walked her great big horse into the arena, saying, this was her first ride in her new saddle – very exciting, but slightly daunting. I asked her, why had she bought a new saddle – was there an issue with the old one, or was it simply a new discipline / upgrade etc. She replied – well…. She wants to event, but she just couldn’t do 2-point position. Impossible to remain up, light off the horse’s back in canter. If she didn’t hold onto the mane, she just fell backwards. She had called in a saddle fitter and had been sold this shiny new saddle for the price of national debt of a small country, because it was the only one that would help her to do light seat and fitted her horse. Awesome, I replied – go on then, show me your light seat…
She got herself organized – lifted up into light seat, and…. Fell back down. No way she could hold herself up. Oh… Damn… The saddle didn’t work. All that money…
“Tell me about your lower leg position?” I asked…
“Well,” she replied… And proceeded to tell me the often-heard set answer… You have to wedge your heel down, get a really good solid connection with the stirrup and push your foot forwards to give you safety. If you don’t really get your weight into your lower leg and push into the stirrup, clearly, you’ll just fall off….
Hmmm…
How strongly can I disagree with this statement?
The position she put herself in was classic water skier. If her foot was that far in front of her hip, there was no way that she could remain upright (unless she pulled backwards on her horse’s mane), without rewriting gravity. It’s just not possible. I took a hold of her lower leg, bent her knee and put her into a downhill snow skier position – and look at that magic, she could remain upright. No tricks, no gym workout to increase her core strength. No vast sums of gold handed over for another new saddle. Just following the laws of gravity…
Another fairly recent clinic – a group of young riders who I have taught on and off for a few years – and taught their coach, so the biomechanics has filtered through. These young riders all event and had good, solid leg positions. This trip – none of them could maintain light seat… Huh? What happened? A fancy British event rider had just come through, run some clinics and adamantly told everyone that the only way they could be safe was to ride cross country with their lower leg braced forwards against the stirrup… And had then disregarded the fact that they all lost the ability to stay in light seat. And for me, the most frustrating thing of all, I looked up this rider and all her photos show that this bracing isn’t what she does – she rides in a good way, with her knee bent and her lower leg under her. No sign of doing anything that she insists on teaching… She is saying what she thinks she is doing, and not what she does, which is incredibly damaging for the pupils.
Watch the elite riders – the really, really good guys doing a top-level competition. Their lower leg will move depending on what they are doing – sometimes, yes, it’ll go forward, if they are having to take action dropping off a bank or if they lose their balance and have to play catch up. But the leg is not fixed, and the majority of the time, the leg is UNDER themselves, very rarely in front of them.
This rider has braced his foot forward against the stirrup - and can you see how that is making him pull backward on the rein?
Play with your balance on your horse this week – go from sitting trot, rising trot, rise for 2 beats and sit for 1, light seat… Where is your leg when you are feeling most balanced? If you can support your own body weight, without pulling the reins, the horse’s mouth or flopping back down onto the saddle, you’re right. Notice, when you are there… Where is your lower leg?
Next week, we’ll continue thinking about legs! Happy Riding!