When I got back to riding after being diagnosed with MS I found that I never knew where my lower legs were.  I would start of riding with my lower legs in the right place, and sometime during the ride my attention would go elsewhere and my lower legs would start drifting along the horse's sides.  My toes were pointing too far out, I was pivoting on my knees, bringing my lower leg too far back, and when I tried to correct this I would put too much weight on the outside part of my stirrup and my legs would go too far forward.  I was also forgetting to release my leg aids promptly.  My riding teacher Debbie started working on all of these faults, and I figured out some solutions so I could feel my lower legs better.

The first thing I did was to put on my spurs.  I had stopped wearing them since I did not feel that I was good enough as a rider to use them anymore, but with Debbie getting after me I figured she would take off my spurs if I irritated her horse (happened once.)  I started off with spurs because once I had a mare that was a bolter/balker, she did not want to go forward, and when she finally moved she would go as fast as possible.  I had to wear spurs for when she balked (a light touch was enough), but if I did not keep my heels from her sides I would be carted around the field at a full gallop.  I rapidly learned to keep my lower legs stable!  I figured that maybe my body would remember this once I put the spurs back on (it did), and besides just feeling the branches of the spurs around my heels would give me a reference point that I could FEEL.  This helped some.  I started off with Prince of Wales spurs and I rapidly switched to "dummy" spurs since I was riding another horse with a tendency to bolt.  The point was not to have spurs to use on the horse, the point was to have spurs on so I could feel where my heels were.

The second thing I did was to start riding with my feet "home" in the stirrups, so that the tread was under the insteps of my feet instead of across the balls of my feet.  This is how Caprilli, the developer of the Forward Seat had all his riders use the stirrups.  This was more uncomfortable for my feet but it gave me another reference point as to their location.  I rode with my stirrups home for over a year until I had learned to feel where my feet were and how it felt to have my feet under me.  My pictures on my Barnmice page come from this time period, it took a long time for this to work.  Around a year ago my lower legs had improved enough so I went back to riding with the stirrup across the balls of my feet, a much more comfortable way to ride.

Then I got myself a pair of the Stubben single offset Fillis stirrups.  This helped me a lot!  These stirrups ensured that I put the weight to the inside of the stirrup and that my ankles broke properly so my lower legs would rest against the horse's barrel without my heels digging into the horse's sides.  I could also wrap the stirrup leather around the front of my lower leg better.  This is when I started realizing how uncomfortable my feet were in Fillis stirrups, but the added security made up for the pain.  I found out that the Stubben offset stirrups are a bit too offset for my feet, but that really helped me learn to relax my inside ankle muscles so the weight of my feet could sink into the stirrups.  Every time I rode in these stirrups I missed my old Eldonian offset stirrups with the Prussian sides, they were not offset as much and were MUCH more comfortable to ride in, but I lost these stirrups decades ago.  If anyone finds an old pair in your tack room I will buy them from you (the Eldonian single or double offset stainless steel Prussian sided stirrup irons.)  Around a year later I got myself a pair of the Stubben double offset Fillis stirrups and these helped even more because they ensured my heels stayed down.  I just wish the Stubben offset stirrups did not hurt my feet so much!

This took care of feeling my feet.  I found that half-chaps really helped my keep track of where my lower legs were.  Debbie also helped a good bit with this.  She had me do an exercise that moved my knees forward and down into the knee rolls, before that my knees had been further up and back nearer to my stirrup leathers.  I did this exercise (clasping my arms behind my back when in two-point) a good bit until I got the feel of my knees in the right place.  I also rode around a bit in the "vertical far" position, where, keeping my lower legs in the same place, I rose up from my knees until I was standing upright in the stirrups, no bending at the hip or my back, bringing my crotch over the pommel of the saddle.  In this position my head, torso and thighs were in a straight vertical line down to my knees, with my lower leg in the normal position with my heels down.  If my legs went too far back I would fall forward and have to catch myself on the horse's neck, and if my legs went too far forwards I would fall back into the saddle.  This exercise helped both my lower leg position and my balance.  I still do it every once in a while to get my lower legs back where they belong.  Debbie has also worked with my gripping with my upper calves only, this has stopped most of the pivoting on my knees and gives my lower legs a lot more stability.

This all worked quite well until this last winter when the cold I got badly affected my central nervous system.  I had finally found a pair of Prussian sided stirrups (not offset), and I had been riding all summer without any spurs or half-chaps in stirrups that did not hurt my feet and doing rather well with my lower legs, so this deterioration has been discouraging.  I talked with my daughter-in-law who works professionally with neurologically handicapped children, and she suggested that I start wearing knee high support stockings when I ride.  This has worked well, the stockings grip my lower legs tighter than the half-chaps and my legs are more aware of where they are.  Not very comfortable, but the one time I rode without them since I got over my cold my lower legs started wandering around again, going too far back.  So I guess I will be wearing them every time I ride from now on.  I just hope they are not too hot for the summer!

And then, last week, in spite of all these things I've been doing, my feet started going too far forward again.  Debbie told me to move my lower leg back until the inside back of my calves felt Mia's ribs where they swell out behind my legs.  Luckily Mia has well sprung ribs, I don't know if this would work on a slab-sided horse.  When I did this my problems disappeared, my lower legs stopped wandering and I did not de-stabilize my lower leg when giving leg aids.  I felt so much more secure in the saddle.  I think that this is the last piece of the puzzle, now I can FEEL where my feet, heels, lower calf, upper calf and knees are.  IF I keep enough attention to my lower legs, my leg position is now a lot stronger than anytime in my riding life.  Its sort of ironic, I had to get thoroughly handicapped with my MS to finally get learn how to reliably get my lower legs in the right place.

The only way I found to ensure that I release my leg aids is to time my leg aids to the movement of the horse's hind legs.  Since the proper moment for the leg aids is so fleeting I apply my leg aid and immediately release it.  This works most of the time, but when I get distracted my leg often does not release and Debbie yells at me.

I know that all beginning riders have the same problems with their lower legs that I have now.  I hope these suggestions will help someone else gain greater security while riding.  I do not know if all of them will work with other forms of riding since in the Forward Seat I keep a good bit of my weight in my stirrups and I keep my feet underneath me.  Due to my lack of side-to-side balance I HAVE to ride with stirrups, otherwise I start sliding off to the side, and due to my lack of front to back balance I HAVE to keep my heels down in two-point or I start falling forward.  

But I can tell you that now I feel MUCH MORE SECURE in the saddle since I have been working on getting my lower legs right.  And I could not have done it by myself, Debbie's constant corrections have made my progress possible.  

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran