# Riding with a bad knee



## Skyseternalangel

Spurs or whip, my friend. 

I have bad knees too, though I've never seen a doctor about them (family doesn't believe in that sort of thing) and they flare up from time to time. 

Use only the pressure necessary to ask. If the horse is ignoring you, then it gets corrected.
You can't physically support the horse with your legs, the horse has to do it themselves.


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## flytobecat

I tore my MCL not the meniscus, so I not really sure if we have similar problems or not. Use a crop or spur to enhance your cue on your weak side,use a step to get up, and wear a brace. If you are like me, your balance will be off, and so take it easy.


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## ShirtHotTeez

Golden Horse said:


> Older rider here, had both knees operated on in the last 8 years, torn meniscus in each, plus debridement of all the gunk in the joint. Knee #1 was 8 years ago, and is mainly fine, #2 was 3 years ago and was great for a while, although the surgeon did warn it was a mess and would probably last 5 years before needing replacing..
> 
> Around this time last year #2, the right one, started locking up painfully at night, intermittent, seemingly no correlation to exercise. It has gradually got worse on the night time thing, and now is swollen and painful most of the time. Haven't got around to seeing the doc,but will be going this week.
> 
> I explained it all to the Physiotherapist who rides at out barn, and in her unprofessional tack room consultation opinion, I've probably torn the meniscus again, and she advised not using it much until it is seen, just doing my range of motion exercises, rather than riding the stationary bike or walking. We very carefully avoided the subject of the advisability of riding :wink:
> 
> My problem? Well even if this is a another arthroscopic quick fix, here in Canada I'm not expecting it to happen until this time next year, so I need to get from here to there. My biggest issue, apart from living with the thing, is how to be an affective rider with one knee giving issues. Yesterday we were riding on a right circle, trying to get her to actually bend right, I was really really struggling to be using that inside(right) leg with enough strength to keep her out. I really don't want to miss the next show season, for many reasons you never know when it will be the last one, so need to find a way to work with what I have, even if that means using a whip, or spurs to support that right leg.
> 
> Any ideas, what can I do to make the best of this?


Use a dressage stick or dressage whip (longer than a standard whip) and learn to use it effectively.

Good luck with getting your knee fixed


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## carshon

I have had 4 surgeries on my left knee. At 18 I "blew" out my knee - tearing the MCL, ACL all cartilage ligaments and tendons. After 6 months in a cast and wheel chair I was up and riding again. I am 45 now and had my last surgery 4 years ago. Too young and too broke for a knee replacement. One thing that I noticed when my knee started catching was soreness in my hips as well. The catching is usually another torn ligament - you can live with this. Catching could also be scar and arthritis tissue build up. They can scrape this off but it will come back. What works best for me is a knee brace to help support my knee - your knee is weak and your body is compensating in other areas. Sure you can keep having surguries but I can tell you they keep taking stuff out and the pain just gets worse! My last surgery they scraped nodules off of my knee joint and all of the arthritis that had built up. My knee is much weaker than it ever was. I ride less with my legs and more with my seat when I can. One thing to note is that I ride western so may not use my legs as much as an english rider.


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## stevenson

start doing extra muscle strengthening exercise on that leg, do both legs, if you do ten reps on the good leg do 15 on the bad leg. As you age, bad knees only get stiffer . 
there are shots now that can help . I don't have the $$ , but will be trying to save up . 
Some shots are around $ 400 and can go up over $5000.00 (stemcell) and one they take the plasma from your blood, and inject it into the messed up tendons/ligaments PRP I just heard about this, and then they inject cortisone or hylauric acid (spelling) type . Besides just your leg, you will be affecting your hips and low back .


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