Most Common Riding Leg Position Mistakes (and how to fix it)
It can be argued that an independent seat starts with the lower leg. The lower leg is the building block of the whole english riding position and is often referred to as the “anchor” of the riding position.
Ideal leg position:
In any discipline, across the board from western to english riding; the riders head, shoulders, hip, and heel should be in a straight line with each other. The riders ankle should be slightly flexed with the heel lower than the toes.
The following are some of the most common riding position mistakes. These mistakes undermine the harmony you can achieve with your horse. For the most part, these following mistakes all begin with an error at the building block: the lower leg.
Error: Toes down!
This is an error where the riders let their toes sink and point at the ground.
Toes down
As soon as the heel starts to sink below the toes, the lower leg starts to disengage and the whole riding position begins to crumble.
When toes sink, usually the first thing that will happen is that a rider will grip at the reins for balance, essentially bracing against the horse's mouth for support.
Horses won’t usually tolerate having undue pulling on their mouth and a rider with their toes down won’t easily find harmony with their horse.
Another result of the toes dropping below the level of the heel is that the rider may inadvertently grip the horse with their heels, causing the horse to go much faster than intended. When toes drop down and the heels come up and dig into the horses sides.
Self Evaluation -Signs that you’re not riding with your heels down:
Losing your stirrups often.
Wobbly in the saddle; you may find yourself tipping forward easily when the horse slows down
How to fix:
Shorten your stirrups a hole or more to be sure that you are not reaching for your stirrups. Stirrups that are too long are often a cause of the toes dropping.
Exercise: Standing in your stirrups, known to hunt seat riders as 2-point or jumping position.
Start in the walk in the 2-point position and concentrate on letting all the weight move into your heels. Depending on your level of riding you can also ride in the trot or canter in this position. Build up to a few minutes in the trot to build strength.
If you're a dressage rider and not familiar with the jumping position; you are basically going to rise up out of your seat so that you are standing in the stirrups...balance there and let the weight drop into your heels.
Error: Incorrect foot placement. Too much foot inside your stirrup.
Too much foot inside the stirrup:
The rider pictured here appears to be skilled and probably lost the correct placement of his stirrup coming off of a difficult element on course, and a skilled rider will correct the stirrup placement within a couple strides.
However, some riders will ride casually with too much foot in their stirrup as a habitual position error.
The biggest reason that this riding mistake is a problem, is because it can be dangerous. Your foot has more chance to slip through the stirrup iron if you fell off the horse and this can result in being dragged behind the horse.
Correct stirrup position in every riding discipline is on the ball of the foot.
As far as your riding position, it can set up your whole lower leg for the incorrect position. It can encourage you to sit in a chair sit position on the horse. It does not encourage the heel down lower than the toe position.
Test: signs that your stirrups in the wrong position
You can feel the stirrup through your boot. You can tell if it is on the ball of your foot. Often it is accompanied by these issues:
Losing stirrups
Bouncing. The foot placement in the stirrup is a basic basic building block. Generally, if the foot placement is wrong, the rider probably has other issues happening with their riding position. If the lower leg is not acting as a steady anchor, bouncing will manifest in your riding.
The fix: practice dropping and picking up your stirrups.
If this is a challenge start by attempting it from a halted position rather than attempting while in motion. Do not cheat by reaching down with your hands to put the stirrup back on your foot. Learn to fish around with your feet until you can scoop them back on. This is a necessary skill of being a rider. If you can master this, it will be a breeze to adjust the position of your stirrup on your foot while you are in motion.
The Error: chair seat
“The chair seat” is an error that makes the rider look like they are sitting in a chair instead of on a horse.
What is the rider doing to create this type of riding position? The main characteristics are:
Sticking the legs too far forward.
Pushing your butt too far back, toward the back (cantle) of your saddle.
This position sometimes manifests as a result of over achieving in trying to push your heels down. This can be a common error with short stirrup riders who push their whole lower leg forward in trying hard to push the heel down. Carrying tension through the legs can be another cause, tense riders may push into their stirrups in a way that pushes them toward the back of their saddle.
Right behind the withers is the strongest part of the horses back. The horse's back is weaker the further back you go. Sitting on your horse like you are seated in a chair can result in back-soreness for the horse.
When the rider's lower legs go into a position that is too far forward, the rider will fall backward into the saddle fairly easily. The posting trot will not be as graceful as it should be and the horse will have to endure undo pounding on his back. Often in this position mistake, the lower leg will also be pushed away from the horse's sides resulting in a lack of connection.
Test: how do you know if your legs are too far forward
If you can’t immediately and easily stand up it means that your legs are in the wrong position.
Exercises to fix it:
As you’re halted on your horse, 1. rise up and stand in your stirrups, 2. Connect your crotch to the pommel (front of saddle) and from there slowly rock down into a seated position. This should tuck you right into the correct position.
Each time you post, concentrate on landing toward the front of the saddle as you come to the “down” part of the posting trot.
The Error: Gripping with the knees
Gripping knees. This is an error where a rider is pinching with their knees and losing contact with their lower leg against the horse's sides.
Here’s an example of a very nice rider with just a little too much daylight between the lower leg and the horse’s sides. The lower leg and the horses sides should ideally have a light contact. This is often a result of gripping with the knee.
Losing contact with the horses sides can also result from pushing the heel down so far that you lose connection with your horse.
The inside of the knee should be just lightly touching the saddle. If you were to test with your hand, you should be able to slide your hand in between your saddle and your knee.
You want the weight to travel all the way down your legs and into your feet. If you're gripping with your knees, the energy stops at your knee.
This riding position mistake will cause you to lose contact with your horse's sides. There will be some daylight between your lower leg and your horse's sides. It will cause the lower leg to be unstable, swing back and forth and bang your horse's sides.
If your lower leg is not lightly connected to your horse at all times, any leg command will feel abrupt to the horse, possibly surprising to the horse. For more harmony between horse and rider, there should be a light contact at all times between the lower leg and the horse's sides. There shouldn’t be any daylight between the horse's sides and your lower leg.
The correct connection
This is an example of the correct connection between the riders leg and the horses sides. The rider has a good seat and leg position. The lower leg is closed and connected lightly to the horse.
Test: how do you know if you are gripping with the knees
Your horse tends to get fast.
If your lower legs are disengaged from the horse's sides, the lower leg will swing and urge the horse to get faster. Is this a recurring problem for you?
The way to fix it.
Relax in the knee area, concentrate not to death grip with your knee against the saddle. Let your legs bend back a bit and rest on your horses' sides. Let your horse get used to the connection and use your reins to correct them and slow them if they are not used to it initially.
The Error: Pitching forward and lower leg too far back.
This is the only leg position problem listed that is a result of what the rider is doing with their upper body.
Tense riders will often pitch forward in a false sense of security to lean on their hands, with hands on the horses neck. It is kind of like a fetal position. The result is pinching with the knees and the lower leg sliding backward.
Learning to become a good rider involves learning to override that strong basic instinct to curl into fetal position.
Riders also end up in this position mistake by riding with their reins too short. The upper body tips forward and the lower leg slides back. The ankle may be flexed correctly but with the lower leg so far back out of position the toes are ultimately pointing at the ground.
Although this photo is a galloping position, it’s an example of how the lower leg can slide back and toes drop down when the upper body tilts forward.
When the lower leg slides back, the leg can get into what I call the speed zone. It slips into a more sensitive area of the horse's sides and ends up creating speed. Speed may be what the rider was fearing to begin with ...and the cycle continues.
How do you know if you are riding with lower leg too far back
Are you leaning on the horse's neck for security? Or touching your horse's neck at all with your hands? -Chances are that you are tipping forward, which almost always makes the lower leg slide back.
How to fix:
Push those feet forward! You have to do the opposite of what the chair seat rider is supposed to do.
You need to push your feet forward to get them underneath you. Lengthen your reins a bit, raise your hands -and don’t touch your horses neck!
