# My ankles are killing me!



## icreatedseth (Jun 5, 2010)

Hi everyone. I have a bit of an annoying problem, but let me give yall some background before I get into it.

I work at a trail riding facility in Texas, and we get a ton of tourists and kids' birthday parties all the time... part of my job is to go out on the trails with the group as a "wrangler", a sort of hands-on, real-time coach to make sure everyone's doing what they should be doing. (How to cross a creekbed, watch out for that branch, don't let your horse snack, yadda yadda.)

Anyways, this puts me out riding for the majority of the day, and keeping my heels down is becoming super painful on my ankles. At first I thought my joints just weren't used to that kind of flexing, but it's been a few months since I started this job, and by now you'd expect my ankles to be in shape for it.

But they're not. It's mostly a tired, "please let me rest" type of pain, and it goes away within 30 minutes of getting off my horse.

My stirrup length is never a problem, I always adjust and readjust since they switch horses on me constantly. I have a hunch that this is probably a dietary thing, where I'm not eating enough of whatever oil or vitamin or mineral to keep those joints in tip-top shape.

Has this happened to anyone else? Am I doing something unconsciously with my leg that's contributing to the pain? Comments and suggestions would be awesome, please help me!


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

If you are comfortable riding without stirrups, just take your feet out at intermittent times, but make sure to remind everyone else its for experienced riders only


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## Chella (May 23, 2009)

I agree taking your feet out of the stirrups will help. Rotate your ankles clockwise slowly and than counter clockwise slowly. When you put your feet back in your legs will feel longer or like someone has shortened your stirrups. Helps with keeping the heels down.


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## Eolith (Sep 30, 2007)

Taking your feet out of the stirrups and rotating your toes should help, but also keep in mind that you should not consciously be "holding" your heels down. The idea is that the weight of your leg resting in the stirrup and along the horse's side results in your heel sinking deep. This is most effective when your legs and your seat are relaxed. Your muscles should have nothing (or very very little) to do with maintaining the proper position.


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

Eolith said:


> Taking your feet out of the stirrups and rotating your toes should help, but also keep in mind that you should not consciously be "holding" your heels down. The idea is that the weight of your leg resting in the stirrup and along the horse's side results in your heel sinking deep. This is most effective when your legs and your seat are relaxed. Your muscles should have nothing (or very very little) to do with maintaining the proper position.


Also agreed. Unless you're a new rider and you still have to concentrate on creating a muscle memory, you really don't have to force your ankles down at all.


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Try lengthening your stirrups. I had my stirrups up just one hole higher for a while (it helps me feel secure on a new horse) and was experiencing some serious cramping in my ankles. When i lowered them, everything went back to normal. In shorter stirrups, your kinda forced to keep that heel down...when they are a tad longer you use them as they are to be used...light pressure and a slight slope. Also, what kind of boots do you ride in? I have weak ankles and have to ride in lace ups for the support. Regular pull on boots(ie cowboy boots) just dont offer much support. If none of these help, look into stirrup swivels for your saddle. It offers a bit of range of motion and can help with joint pain. A girlfriend swears by them for her knees. Good luck!


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

You may need more vitamin D or calcium, if you are looking for something vitamin wise that you may be lacking...a lack in either can cause joint troubles, and weakness. 

Otherwise, I would try some of the suggestions the other posters put. I know for myself, I will take my feet out of the stirrups to rest my knees, especially. That little bit of a break can make a huge difference.


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## Chella (May 23, 2009)

Eolith said:


> The idea is that the weight of your leg resting in the stirrup and along the horse's side results in your heel sinking deep. This is most effective when your legs and your seat are relaxed. Your muscles should have nothing (or very very little) to do with maintaining the proper position.


This is so true. My ankles were killing me and my instructor watched me post and there was to much space between my knees and the horse. She had me do a bunch of stretching from the back down through the hips and toes and it really helped.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

I remember clearly when I started riding 4 - 6 hours at a stretch how much my ankles hurt. For me the solution was good boots and light taping with ace bandages. At the time I was wearing cheap paddock boots; better options are Ariat boots (the lateral support is a huge help), Red Wing boots or an exercise rider's galloping boot (available at a racing speciality store.)

Agree with the other posters about stretching, not forcing the heel down, etc. Also make sure that you don't cock your foot or ankle to the outside - this is something I sometimes see in riders, and it can be extremely wearing when you're riding long distances. 

Finally, consider getting yourself a set of distance or endurance riding stirrups that have some flex and give, or the English version, the Sprenger type jointed stirrup. Sounds like you change horses and perhaps tack through the day, but having the more forgiving stirrup on a couple of the horses you ride might make a difference.


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

I worked the same job you do - I worked there for 5 years, guiding trails all day long every day, and giving lessons in my little time to spare. It doesn't matter how much you've been riding, going out over and over and over again on those trails, not to mention the amount of up and down off your horse, your ankles would always hurt after a bit. Like others suggested, I would spend a good amount of the ride letting my feet dangle out of the stirrups, making sure the riders didn't follow suit. Another thing that helps is, often, you don't realize it but when you are in a hurry, you dismount hard on that leg, flying off the horse to go help the customers dismount, and that takes it toll as well. Practice dismounting quickly but still coming down easy on your joints, not throwing yourself off the horse. As Maura mentioned, good quality, ankle supporting boots are very important - these days I don't ride in anything but ariats.


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## icreatedseth (Jun 5, 2010)

*Thank you, thank you*

Thank you all SO much for your advice -- I wasn't expecting so many replies so soon!

I will have to print this page and keep all your tips with me so I can try them out and not have to worry about "did I forget one..?"

So here's my feedback...

Some of my fellow Wranglers will take their feet out and rotate their ankles on the trail, too, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable doing that myself. We have horse-eating deer and killer ducks on our trails, and you never know when something will jump out and scare the crap out of your horse.. Lol. I like to have my feet in all the time, just in case.

I think if I were to lengthen my stirrups even one notch, trotting might become scary. There are only a couple horses who I can sit their trots the entire time, and the nature of the business is that I rarely get my pick of who to ride. Customers first, then the Wranglers take the leftovers because we're (supposedly) more experienced and (should be) able to ride any horse. A lot of the time customers get put on my favorite horse, since he's so easy. 

As far as getting my own tack goes, I would LOVE TO, but I can't until I have my own horse that no one else rides. We tack up at about 8 in the morning and each horse has his own particular saddle that he wears throughout the day -- no switching around, unless we have similar-sized horses that can trade. Nobody has special stirrups, unfortunately, and they're all different.

Talking about proper posture and leg position, my lesson instructor never mentioned anything except "from the knee down, no part of your leg touches the horse. See?" He was a pretty bad teacher, and got impatient a lot of the time so I just stopped seeing him after I'd learned a basic seat and how to keep my horse between me and the ground. The rest of my riding skills (intermediate, admittedly...) have come from working on the ranch and watching my coworkers. I never actually had the one-on-one "lesson" environment for the very fine details... I wish I did.

My boots are the basic-model Justin ropers... which I'm kind of upset about. My dad bought our lessons (we took them together) and when our instructor told us about boots, he was like "Ok we'll just get the minimum for now to save money." which was fine at the time, but when we got to the store, I was a good little girl and got my bottom-of-the-line, stay-on-your-horse type of boot. Something like 110 dollars. (We agreed to NOT spend more than $100 each.) He took his dang sweet time and looked at the entire store, and ended up paying about 150 for Ariats that were marked down from 200. The thing that bugs me is that he NEVER rides and his boots are twice as good as mine. (Okay done whining.) New boots are high on my list of "stuff to replace" once I've saved up.

And Chella, what stretches did your teacher have you do? I've noticed my legs are way more tense than they ought to be, so that could very well be contributing.


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## anrz (Dec 21, 2008)

You've gotten a lot of feedback, but l just wanted to add in that for a while my ankles were killing me when l rode... l literally could not ride for over ten minutes with my heels down with my ankles starting to die on my lol. l asked my instructor if it was something that l was doing wrong, and she said that my ankles were too tight. l relaxed them and now l can ride pain free . lt's 10x more enjoyable LOL. lt was just a matter of relaxation. You might want to make sure that your ankles are relaxed.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Given your description of your situation, I think stretching exercises are your best bet.

Classic rider's stretch: Find a step; put just the balls of your feet on the step and let your heel and instep hang off the step. Allow your weight to sink down into your heels and hold for 10 - 15 seconds and release. Then stand up on your tiptoes, hold for 10 - 15 seconds, release, and stretch back down into your heels. 

The idea is to stretch the muscles of your calf and ankle so they will allow more depth in your heel without pushing or forcing the heel down. You can do a similiar exercise mounted - stand in your stirrups and stretch down until you feel a pull at the back of your calf, but don't push or force. Release the stretch, then do the reverse stretch, up on your tiptoe, then stretch down again. 

Also consider a loose Ace wrap around your ankle. I do mean loose - by the end of the day, when your ankles are swollen, you don't want them to be too tight.


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## icreatedseth (Jun 5, 2010)

maura said:


> Given your description of your situation, I think stretching exercises are your best bet.
> 
> Classic rider's stretch: Find a step; put just the balls of your feet on the step and let your heel and instep hang off the step. Allow your weight to sink down into your heels and hold for 10 - 15 seconds and release. Then stand up on your tiptoes, hold for 10 - 15 seconds, release, and stretch back down into your heels.
> 
> ...


I think I'll give this one a try first, since it won't cost me any money. I'm sure my legs have a long way to go, but hopefully every little bit will help.

Thanks!


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