Blogfest #1: Point Your Toes In!
Published by GHC • Jun 15th, 2008 • Category: Blogfest, by Julia, Guest Bloggers, Riding Adviceby Julia, age 14
Every rider has their bad habits. Whether it be the way they position their body, leaning too much to the side, or looking down at the dirt. I have a lot of these little problems, and they seem to pop up and develop unexpectedly. A very common issue among riders is pointing toes out when you ride. That was the first big issue I had when I started riding almost four years ago. As some of you may know, the barn I started to ride at is probably the worst barn in North America. So when the instructors saw I pointed my toes out, they never commented on it, causing me to feel that there was nothing wrong with it.
This is the way the indoor ring was placed: on either side of the riding arena, the walls were horse stalls. The rail of the ring was about 4 feet tall, so the people tacking their horses in the aisle could place their saddles on it. I, being the novice rider with pointed toes, was cantering around the ring on a rather small pony. Someone who boarded their horses their had just placed their polished, new English saddle on the rail. As I passed it, my toe caught onto the stirrup and I pulled the saddle right off the rail and put a huge scratch in what was probably a thousand dollar saddle. The woman glared daggers at me and said some not-so-nice things to her friend. I felt so bad about it, but there was nothing I could do.
It’s safe to say that to this day I ride with my toes pointed dead straight ahead of me, and I haven’t pulled any saddles off the rail since.
A friend of mine now has the same problem, and we were talking about this the other day. She asked me how I fixed the problem and I told her, “I scared myself into keeping my toes as straight as possible.” She gave me an odd look, and I elaborated.
If there is one thing you learn from my little story, let it be that there is a reason why you sit the way you do on a horse. As hard as it may be to trash your annoying riding issues, put an effort into fixing your problem… before your problem fixes you.
I have a habit of pointing my toes out and popping up while cantering. It is so hard to fix! My toes are so hard to keep perfectly straight, and popping up in the saddle isn’t as easy as you think to fix… I’m working on it! When cantering, I guess next time I will lean back more!
I’m really working on that too when I actually get to go riding! Love the story!
i acutally don’t have that problem. my toes atomatically go straight its weird. I have a bad habit of looking down at my horse. loved the story it is awsome!
how do you stop a horse from wanting to go into a very fast canter?
chance rocks: I used to ride a very fast horse who would fly at the canter. it’s best to take a hold on his face, but continue to push him up to the bit so he won’t break.
Let me ask you a question… When you’re walking, anywhere (say through the grocery store or even through your own house), which way do your feet point? This was my problem and I didn’t even realize.
My feet used to point out while I was riding too and it was hard for me to keep them pointing straight. I never connected my own daily habits to my riding style. It actually happened my chance one day while I was at work and I was watching a co-worker walk away and her feet were pointing out like mine did and I thought to myself “boy, doesn’t that look odd and kind of masculine.” So I started to actually think about the way I walked and kept my feet straight which in turn helped me to arch my back like it’s supposed to be and pick up my shoulders. My neck pain went away and my lower back pain when away.
It feels weird at first because the muscles in your legs aren’t used to stretching that way, but after a week or so you don’t even notice and it becomes totally normal. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with riding… I recently got back in the saddle (sadly I had to take a break when I went to college) and was amazed to find that my feet actually point straight and didn’t pop out anymore. But it makes perfect sense, the muscles in my legs have been stretched and conditioned to do this.
I realize as you said, you scared yourself into keeping your toes straight, but it’s hard to concentrate on riding when you’re thinking, “toes straight, toes straight, toes straight.”
Try this, it worked for me and might work for you or someone else… if it doesn’t you’re not out anything.
Wow!
For some reason, it HURTS really bad when I try to point my toes in. Michelle, I have to say I’m going to try your advice. It sounds like my muscles might jsut need time to adjust.