How do I keep my toes from pointing out?

Question

I was whatching a video of me that my friend took. Everything looks decent, just needs a little polishing before shows start up again. The only MAJOR thing that bothered me (I am VERY OCD about my riding form lol) is that my toes point out o.O Like my heels are down, but from certain angles they looks FLAT because my toe is out. I would hate for a judge to see that, and be like "her heels should be down more" lol when in reality they ARE I just can't help my toes being pointed out xD

Is there any specific reason i do this, any way to help fix it?

Oh, and by the way I ride Hunter/Jumper if you are wondering.Mainly 2'6 some 2'3 classes...if that was even needed :)

Thanks...

Answer 1

yeah, when u post, push down on your heels, it took me 7 yers to get my heels down without thinking

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 2

haha i used to be OCD on my riding form too and i have figured out thts its because so many people are visual and judge how good u r on ur equitation and not how good you can get a horse to be doing their job correctly but since u ride hunter...just so u kno its judged soley on the horse and NOT the rider so dont be too worried on wat they think of U just worry about communicating effectlivly with ur horse but ur toe being out means ur leg is incorrectly placed...get ur trainer to help u on getting the right leg placement and then ur heel will follow...lol! =]]

Answer 3

hi i ride too and i have a horse and a way that u can fix that is evrey time u post or evrey stride in a canter push ur heels DOWN evrey stride or post...beleive me it helps... write me back on here :)

Answer 4

Your toes turn out because you are tight in your inner thighs and hips.

Next time you ride, right when you get into the saddle, take a few relaxed breaths before you do anything else. As you exhale, picture that you are exhaling tension from your hips and thighs, and let those areas of your body just go loose. Notice how your hips feel before you do this, and then after, just to note the difference.

Then, as you walk off, just let your horse walk, and you keep breathing. Stand in the saddle with your knees bent a bit and relaxed. Imagine that your hip joints can actually gently move further apart. Feel your hips relax and spread out as you sit slowly down into the saddle with a slightly wider seat than before. Keep breathing.

Walk for 10-15 steps with this new seat and feel the difference. Just feel it. Get to know it. Relax into it. Notice how your legs hang with this adjustment.

When you are good and relaxed, prepare yourself to stand again, gently. As you stand, begin pushing up from your heels, use your calves as you hold your weight on the balls of your feet, and pay attention to using your quadriceps (on the back of your thighs), and your gluts (yer butt!). Keep your hips loose and spread out as you stand, and notice that when you focus this way, you're not using your inner thighs like normal. As you stand, breathe and relax your hips, knees, ankles and toes. Breathe some more and take a look down at your toes...where are they pointing?

You can assist yourself by keeping your head up, your belly button pulled in against your spine, and your shoulder blades relaxed - you know, it's all that easy ( ha ha ha!)...but seriously...

As you move into more of a walk, up into the trot, canter, etc., keep breathing and remain aware of your relaxed hips. Doing these exercises will mean that you'll be using your body differently, and it will feel weird for a bit. But you will also be developing much more body awareness, which will improve your riding in many aspects.

To help you relax your hips, also relax your neck and jaw. It'll all help.

This type of a change in your riding will take some practice, more to practice the awareness than the physical part of it. It's easy to adjust the physical part when you are aware of it.

There are lots of other exercises to retune your body, to become more aware of what your body is doing and saying to your horse, and to train yourself to be in the position you want!  

Answer 5

holding you legs close to the horses body helps along and remember every stride as the person above me said is a great tip! I do it all the time :) Good luck and im sure youll get this problem fixed :)

Answer 6

when you're sitting around at the computer or couch, keep yourself extremely pigeon- toed. then after you've been doing it a while, think pigeon toed, and your toes will point however you need them because you obviously won't do it as extreme in the saddle.. will make it easier.