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Re: [RC] [RC] knee pain and riding downhills - Deanna GermanI'm far from an expert, but I ran into the same thing when I first started picking up speed on the downhills, particularly when I started doing more trotting last fall. What helped me was a combination of lengthening my stirrups by a 1/2 inch and learning to ride to spread the impact of the trotting over a larger area -- my inner thighs to be exact. Someone here offered that they concentrate their body weight on their thighs and that seemed to make sense for me. I also really work on leaving my knees loose, not gripping, not bracing due to advice I got here. I use an Ortho-Flex endurance cutback and where the stirrups hang seems to be the optimal position for me, espcially with the additional 1/2 inch of length. But, my mare has also always been pretty good on downhills, she's developed this sort of slidey, trippy, scoot on down the hill gait that makes it pretty easy for me. (Go figure, since she's got a long back and long legs.) YMMV. I too take ibuprophen before the ride start, but no more than 400 mg. Every vet check, I pop a couple more. Before the start, I have my "breakfast of champions" which consists of ibuprophen, a Zantac, a decongestant and an iced-coffee drink. I wear a Camelback to keep drinking from being a hassle because I worry about putting all those drugs in me. But at Spook Run last fall, my knees were screaming at me. So, I'm witcha, babe. I hate being the weak link. Hang in there, you'll get it figured out. Deanna =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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