# How to stop toes Ponting out?



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Usually this is an issue from the hip, not the foot, assuming no physical issues. Stand up in your stirrups, organize your legs with feet forward, not by thinking feet, but hips, open and rotated. then sit down, reach under your thigh from behind, and pull that muscle flat against the saddle. With the top of your leg sitting correctly it will be easier to get your toes pointing forward....don't force anything, that will cause tension, and you don't need that anywhere in your body.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

I agree with Golden Horse. From personal experience, forcing your toes in is worse than them sticking out. Mine are moving in on their own over the years but rather slowly. Maybe it goes faster for younger people.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

For most people, your toes will be pointing out to some degree. (English or western) That’s normal. I find it hard to believe that your toes point out 90 degrees as you say. 

Do you have pictures you can post?

For western, are your stirrups turned? If your stirrups tend to hang straight down (no turn) that may contribute. Keep them twisted in a broom handle when they are on the saddle rack. 

Also make sure you are not forcing your heels down too hard. That will also turn your toes out more.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

My left toe always points out more than my right. True when I'm hiking or standing in the shower, too. I've been told the flat of my inner thigh ought to be against the saddle, but my inner thigh isn't flat. Saddle shape also has an effect on me. My western saddle (compared to my Aussie) has my toes pointing a little more out even if I don't use the stirrups. But my Abetta doesn't seem to have that effect.

Like some others, I've found my toes have slowly come forward over the last 10 years of riding, but I don't think they will EVER be "straight". Getting your thigh firmly against the saddle helps. Still, a relaxed but active leg keeps me in the saddle better than trying to make my toes go straight. Don't compete or show and cannot speak about judging, but I'd rather see someone relaxed and moving in synch with their horse than someone trying to make their body conform to an ideal.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Are you maybe riding with either too long or too short a stirrup leather - both can result in toes sticking out but for slightly different reasons


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## Appaloosa19 (Mar 12, 2018)

I used to have that problem as well when I first started riding, how I fixed the problem was always keeping a constant mind on what direction my toes were. Eventually, it became second nature and I am now able to keep my toes in without thinking about it!  If you keep paying attention to your position and correcting it, eventually you can fix any bad riding habit!  I hope I was of any help!


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

in my experience it is a combo of a tight hip and gripping with the back of the thigh that contributes to toes pointing out.

if your foot is 90 degrees to the side of the horse i would say your issue is more a gripping with the back of the calf more than a hip issue.

do you find your knee comes off the saddle often? if so i would say that is mostly a back of calf gripping problem.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Sometimes this just gets better with more riding. Your strength and flexibility will improve.

Here's a before and after of my own leg from when I had just started riding again after 15 years off! That was rough! (There are issues with it in the "after" picture that have since improved.) These were taken a year and a half apart. And I've been riding for another year and a half since and now use a dressage saddle and a longer stirrup, so a current photo would be quite different yet again.

You can try to think of using the inside of your calf and your inside ankle bones as your "go" buttons when you put your leg on. It will help to start to train your body out of squeezing with the backs of your legs, which is probably a big reason why your toes are sticking out so much.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Here is a great little video explaining what we are describing.


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## Filou (Jan 16, 2014)

Are you pushing into the stirrups with the ball of your foot that's by your big toe?
Try to even out the pressure across the stirrup and put more weight into the outside of the stirrups. This will turn your toe in. 
I'm not saying put all the weight in the stirrups by any means, but evaluate how much of your weight is distributed in the stirrups and how it's distributed across them. Notice how a lot of riders who's toes point out have stirrups that aren't parallel to the ground because the weight isn't even across the stirrup. 
I also agree with the 2 point, ensure the correct part of your things are in contact with the saddle when you sit back down.


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## Spanish Rider (May 1, 2014)

First of all, no worries. Many of us have been through the same thing. It will get better, although, like many things in riding, it will take some time.

I also agree that the problem is multifactorial: "chair seat", hip tension, thigh rolled outwards, pushing down into the heel, and lack of muscle strength. Plus, when you add that to an all-pupose/hunter-jumper saddle that has the billets in a more forward position, the situation is accentuated.

In addition to the mechanical body position correction seen in the video and suggested by GH, I would also suggest stirrupless work. I know, I know, I always gve the same solution for a multitude of positional problems, but it really is essential to include stirrupless work into our daily routine. It helps stretch out those thigh/hamstring muscles and elongates the hip flexors, while strengthening the inner thigh and hip muscles. If your horse is even-tempered, work stirrupless at the walk during warm up. If not, then at the walk during cool down. If you can do some stirrupless posting, even if just at the walk, your leg position and muscle tone will improve immensely.


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