Practical Horseman

Lower-Leg Position Fixes Needed

1 Overall: My first impression of this rider is that she’s kind of a seat-of-the-pants rider, but she hasn’t gone through the American equitation system.

Her foot is what we call “too far home” in the stirrup: The iron is too close to the heel and not on the ball of her foot. She also doesn’t have any weight in her heels in the air, and she’s spurring the horse in the air, maybe by accident. She’s reaching for her stirrups as well, which is causing her to pinch with her knee and not have contact with her calf. This has caused her lower leg to slide back. I suggest she shorten her stirrups and work in two-point and without stirrups on the flat to strengthen her balance

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Practical Horseman

Practical Horseman1 min read
Collection Requires Positive Tension. When Asking For More Collection Within Each Gait …
I magine a bow and arrow. To the degree that you take back on the arrow against the bow string (because it is attached at both ends of the bow, creating a circuit), the effect on the arrow is to go exponentially more forward toward where it is direct
Practical Horseman1 min read
Compromised Lung Function
There are cases in which your veterinarian can clear the entire bacterial pneumonia and it is resolved, but there is still so much inflammatory debris remaining in the lungs that they are permanently compromised. “There may be a lot of fibrin, protei
Practical Horseman4 min read
The Magic of New Beginnings
I ronically, one of the worst starvation cases Aiken Equine Rescue has taken in arrived I at the organization’s South Carolina farm in November 2020, close to Thanksgiving. The staff and volunteers named him Pilgrim. Pilgrim’s gaunt frame was covered

Related