# Weak/Rolling Ankles as an English Rider



## Zeke

Actually...as I sit in my desk chair and try to do a seated calf raise my weaker ankle is having a hard time  no pain, just rolls outwards instead of lifting straight up.


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## Saddlebag

The best person to talk to is a ballet teacher. She/he may be able to help you with exercises.


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## Zeke

I don't exactly have access to a ballet teacher, as good of an idea as that is. 

After some searching online I found a couple of exercises that I am starting to implement into my day, I'll put the link below. One nice thing is a few can be done at my desk at work which is nice. Always looking for ways to keep moving, even just a little bit, without my co-workers thinking I'm crazy. 

Strengthen Your Ankles - wikiHow
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## BlueSpark

I have weak ankles, and multiple severe injuries to each hasn't helped. Doing a lot of standing in the stirrups would kill me. I think you need to get into it a little more slowly.


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## Zeke

I'm thinking all the standing in the tack is the cause too. Luckily my trainer seemed ok with me working on sitting trot without stirrups as a break for my ankles. The trainer and I are very new to each other but I'll be sure to try talking about maybe not standing *too* much at my next lesson. Just hope this doesn't mean jumping isn't for me, that would be a bummer, trying not to jump to that conclusion though.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Amba1027

I can give you a list of exercises when I get home, if you'd like. I have really bad ankles as well, and had to go through a lot of pt last summer for a bad sprain. I learned a lot of great exercises.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zeke

I'll take any help I can Amba thanks. I've never actually sprained my ankle *knock on wood* and they rarely hurt, so maybe I'm over reacting. But carefully strengthening might help me anyways.


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## livelovelaughride

How exactly are you using your feet, while you are standing in the tack? My trainer has me using the ball of the foot (60%) with the rest of the weight distributed on the supporting toes (40%) give or take. I recall me using the wrong part of my foot (the outside) to support my weight - and that became a bad habit I had to break.

It sounds as if you may have strained some of the supporting ligaments or tendons. Calf raising exercise won't be of much help - I would suggest standing on a wobble board to focus strengthening and proprioception to the ankle stabilizers.
Wobble boards can be made of wood, similiar to a tilt board, or a round air filled cushion or disc (SitFit) that you can place one or both feet on. If you have really bad ankles, try standing on a sofa cushion or pillow. All you really need to use is a soft, unstable surface. Do it in front of a mirror so you can see your posture. Stand up, don't look down, and feel your ankles quiver slightly as they try and maintain their position. You may feel tired quickly, that's ok. Repeat several times; you can do that 2 or 3 times a day. This will also affect the stabilizers higher up (which is a good thing) at the sides of the hip.

Another good one for ankles: with your shoe on, put your toe in a loop of rubber tubing that is anchored at ground level. Lift your toes: up, left, and right, for 10-15 repetitions. Sit in a chair, and work only from the level of your ankle, no need to lift with your knee or thigh. Hope this helps!


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## Zeke

My trainer has me standing up at the beginning of the ride to ultimately stretch out my heel and to work on building my balance up. Last lesson I spent roughly 10 mins up in a half seat after a lap standing straight up in the tack. Coming from Western it's been years since I've had to hold myself up this way, so I'm afraid I'm more terrible at it then I'd like to admit. I did notice that my weight was rolling to the outside edge of my foot, causing my lower leg to bow almost. However by the time I came to this realization I was already feeling strain in the muscle that runs up the outside of my leg, trying to put more weight towards the inside of my foot hurt and wasn't going so hot. It's definitely something I'll watch out for going forward. 

I have never heard to carry all my weight on the front half of my foot as you describe, always that my weight should be rooted into my heels. It's been years since I've had problems keeping my heels down, so I'm thinking this is a go to warm-up for the trainer that I will have to discuss with her. If it causes me problems I'm hoping we'll agree on another way to warm up and build my balance back up. 

Thank you for the tips on balancing on a squishy surface, I can give that a try!


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## Amba1027

Livelovelaughride beat me to most of them lol. I will disagree and bout the calf raises though. That was one of my PT exercises for my ankle. I did them 3 different ways. Toes pointed out, toes pointed in, and toes pointing forward. Another one (that I hated) is you stand on a step, put one foot out in front of you and then bend the knee of the foot that's on the step until the heel of the other foot touches the ground. So it's almost as if you are going to step down but you just touch your heel to the floor and then come back up. When you do this one you want to make sure to keep your hips level. The last one is you stand on one foot (as if you were going to be hopping) and rotate back and forth. You want the twisting motion to be coming from your ankle. You may want to use a table or chair back to balance while doing this one. Good luck!


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## DuckDodgers

As a free gift for purchasing a thinline saddle pad, I also got a pair of thinline "stirrup wraps" than have wedges. You put the wedge-shaped piece of plastic above the rubber pads where your feet go, wrap the thinline material around them, and lace it up on the bottom. I have yet to use them and the wedge is only about 1/4" thick I would guess, but I wonder if something like that would help or be more of a crutch...


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## Zeke

DuckDodgers said:


> As a free gift for purchasing a thinline saddle pad, I also got a pair of thinline "stirrup wraps" than have wedges. You put the wedge-shaped piece of plastic above the rubber pads where your feet go, wrap the thinline material around them, and lace it up on the bottom. I have yet to use them and the wedge is only about 1/4" thick I would guess, but I wonder if something like that would help or be more of a crutch...



Hmm....I don't know enough about them to call it a crutch, and I'm sure someone with real skeletal issues may benefit from them? I'm intrigued now and may just have to go do some research! Anyone else seen/worked with these?

Don't think I would opt to use them as I would like to work through this issue first if possible. Little frustrated with myself because it's not like I'm new to riding, I've been in this sport 16 years, and while it's been maybe four years since I did serious work in an English saddle I didn't expect this.


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## livelovelaughride

Hi Zeke, I should have clarified my words a little. I was taught not to jam the heels down, but let my weight sink naturally in the heel. As for the majority of the ball of the foot - the weight should be mostly balanced, with a little more on the ball or "evenly" across the foot. You describe what I was doing some time ago--placing your weight on the outside of the foot. 

The stabilizers of the ankle are small intrinsic muscles of the foot. The calf muscles are larger and aren't involved in such small adjustments. The calf (gastrocnemius) is responsible for pushing off on the foot as in rising up on your toes when your knee is straight. The gastroc attaches to the heel bone through the achilles tendon, and with your heels down, this muscle is being elongated as we ride, not contracted. The soleus muscle run alongside the gastroc and because it inserts below the knee joint, is probably more in use as we ride because our knees are bent --it would be in a static or isometric contraction.

I am just saying that using the bigger lower leg muscles may add to your overall lower leg gross strength, but for stability purposes, it is a re-learning your foot muscles need to do with the proprioceptors, in order for your ankle joint to become more stable. 

Even towell crunches would be useful....place a towell on the floor in front of you, and sitting on a chair, pull and bunch the towell towards you until the towell is all under your feet. You'll be surprised how tiring this can be. Be well.


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## Zeke

Thank you for the clarification and words of advice livelovelaughride, I truly appreciate them! 

I don't jam my heels down and completely understand what you mean about calf raises helping the large muscles but not defining the smaller ones for balance. That makes sense too. I must've tired these smaller muscles in my efforts to balance in the stirrups, something I'll definitely watch out for in the future!


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## Zeke

Just an update in case anyone was wondering or can use this info in the future! 

It's been a couple weeks and I haven't experienced as much pain as I was in during the lesson before I made this post. I have started routinely balancing on one leg while drawing the alphabet with the other foot and well as some calf raises. I also added walks on the beach barefoot to my fitness routine, talk about working out your lower legs. I walk on the hard pack as to not over stress my feet too much. Have to say I've been happy whether these changes to my day to day have helped. 

Today I also decided to ride during my jump lesson in a pair of western boots that I've always loved riding in. I wore my half chaps on top to avoid problems with the saddles flaps and felt great! This means I will soon be on the hunt for a roomier, softer paddock boot to replace what I used in the other lessons I've taken recently.


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## sparkoflife

I have weak ankles too and I get ankle pain so I take my feet out of the stirrups if it starts to hurt. But if the pain it going from the side of your foot, up your ankle, and possibly into your leg, its this long tendon that stretches there that you arent used to working. I had the same problem when my trainer had me do the same thing youre doing and I asked her about it and she said its pretty common. Just take a little break if you need to but after a few rides, one it gets strengthened, the pain should go away. That's what happened with me anyways.


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## Zeke

Thanks Sparkoflife. I did some exercises to strengthen that muscle and definitely took breaks to roll my ankles during my lesson. I figured out that on top of an out of shape lower leg, since I took a couple years off doing any riding that required half seat/jump position, that my stiff and tight old paddock boots were partially to blame. When I switched to a roomier boot I was able to change my lower leg position into a more correct spot that didn't strain my muslces.


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## Bagheera

They have stirrups now that help with shock absorption and that can flex slightly to take away joint stress. I use them to help with the arthritis in my knees and they have made a difference. I'm not sure if they'd help in your case, but they might be worth a try.


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## Saddlebag

Here's an easy one to do while watching tv. Get a piece of 2 x 6 or 2x8 a couple of feet long. Put on your riding boots and place the ball of your feet on the board and let the heels rest on the floor. I'll bet your bum is sticking out as you try to balance like this. Now comes the fun part, straighten your legs and pull your hips forward until you can stand nice and tall. You may need a wall to help you balance. Once upright you will feel the pull all the way up the back of your legs. If you can't straighten up do it in a rocking motion to stretch the muscles until you can but hold for only a few seconds. The goal is to be able to stand there as long as you wish. You will always feel the stretch but it won't be painful. When you can do this well, try it when mounted. This will test your balance. If your bum is tucked forward and back is straight you can do this even as the horse walks. Unless you fall off from laughing.


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## SueC

Zeke said:


> Has anyone else suffered from an ankle that hurts along the outside, think right above that circle bone projection on the outside of your foot, and makes putting weight on the outside edge of your foot seem impossible? I suffered through the workout as much as I could and when I got off had slight trouble walking. If I didn't concentrate on keeping my weight to the inside as I took a step my ankle would practically collapse and roll to the outside. I'm sure I could conjure up a diagram if need be, sorry lol!


A similar thing (but without subsequent ankle rolling) happens to me when I spend an extended time riding in short stirrups, posting or sitting. The outside of the ankle starts to hurt and dismounting produces a short interval of sharp pain. I have very strong ankles from extended walking and mountain climbing, and they are very resistant to rolling, so maybe that's why I don't roll, but there is the urge to take weight off the outside of the foot until the pain stops. I wonder if in part it's a muscle cramp (in the muscles of the foot) / blood circulation thing, because it resolves quickly with gentle movement.

Because this is unpleasant, I don't usually ride with short stirrups. Long gives a deeper seat anyway, and I don't bother shortening up for trails. Another idea: If you find your ankles getting even slightly uncomfortable, drop them out of the stirrups and make circles with your feet; this helps nip it in the bud. On long trails rides, this is one of many good reasons to periodically get off when your horse is walking, and walk with it. Improved circulation for you, and for your horse's back; both of you will be much refreshed after a 2-5 minute break like this, and ride more comfortably. My gelding likes to play games when we do this - like having me pick up a stick that he can take off me and walk around with in his mouth!


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## SueC

livelovelaughride said:


> As for the majority of the ball of the foot - the weight should be mostly balanced, with a little more on the ball or "evenly" across the foot. You describe what I was doing some time ago--placing your weight on the outside of the foot.


Great post by LLLR! One other thing some people may find useful to get more even weight distribution across the ball of the foot, rather than favouring the outside, is to ride in offset stirrup irons. These are designed for close-contact riding, and elevate the outside of your foot relative to the inside, so that your leg physically hugs closer to the horse. The elevation of the outside of the foot actually (for me anyway) means the inside of the ball of the foot naturally gets more contact with the stirrup. This also makes you less likely to lose stirrups.

Take care not to mount offsets with the slope facing the wrong way - the *outside* of the foot is supposed to be elevated by them!


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## DancingArabian

I would actually look at other things too.

Look at the shoes/boots you're wearing. Could they be pressing on your ankles on the bone causing the problem? Do you have another set of boots you could wear for a ride to test?

The ballet suggestion was a great one. Releves are your friend.

These exercises are shown in their advanced form, so I wouldn't go as high or arch your foot as much (you can seriously hurt your foot overdoing it), but here's the basic idea: dance.net - 3 exercises to strengthen arches, ankles and feet...ANIMATED! (2211620) - Read article: Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, Tap, Irish, Disco, Twirling, Cheer: Photos, Chat, Games, Jobs, Events!


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## Corazon Lock

This may be a long shot, but do you have everyday foot problems, like a flat foot or your ankles falling to the inside when you walk? Take your thumb and push it as far back to your wrist as you can get it to go. If your close to your wrist, it means you have a flexible wrist, which in turn means you have flexible ankles, which would cause the weakness. Proper inserts will help this problem, and I would think would help strengthen the right parts of your ankle. Just make sure the inserts are nice and hard, not soft, when you buy them.

Best thing would be to visit a podiatrist. I learned a lot.


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## Zeke

Thanks for all the new replies guys! Hope they can help others. 

I discovered that the pain was pretty much eliminated when I switched boots. When I experienced the pain I was wearing an old stiff pair of paddock boots that I bought on consignment. They pushed against my ankle bone on the outside of my foot causing me to not be able to keep the width of the ball of my foot in the stirrup. Switching to my trusty Tony Lama Ropers fixed all issues with weight distribution in my foot because they didn't cause me pain! 

I love longer stirrups, and have been riding primarily western for the last couple of years so long stirrups and these western boots were fine. Since I'm trying to get back into jumping, too much length in the stirrup isn't something I want to have to jump to first. 

So glad this ended up being a boot issue and not actually a skeletal/muscular thing entirely. I've been doing some of the suggestions here as well just for future precaution.


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## SueC

DA guessed correctly! Wow, just your boots made that much difference! Glad you're sorted!


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