Knees

["Snodgrass, Bonnie" <snodgrab@ncr.disa.mil>]

A couple of things I haven't seen anyone mention as causes of knee pain is
body type of the horse and saddle type.

Horse: Now I know no one is probably going to run right out and buy a new
horse but this bears mentioning. People aren't physically designed to sit
comfortably on round barrels wether they are made of wood or horse flesh. It
hurts your hips and knees to try to bend those joints down and around a
round, wide shape. The Morgan I used to have just killed my hips. The
problem was actually worst when doing dressage work with a long stirrup, my
thighs were forced outward stressing the hip joints, my knees were way out
on the wide point of the barrel and my calves were trying to come inward to
contact his sides. Aching knees! When I shortened my stirrups for
jumping/galloping, my thighs angled forward ( relief for my hips) and my
knees and calves were further forward in that hollow behind the shoulders
that the girth rests in  so my knee angle was better. This also placed my
knees forward of the bulk of the girth buckles and into a hollow so I wasn't
spread outward quite so far. A narrower and flatter sided horse makes a big
difference. You aren't forceing joints to bend unnaturally. 

Saddle: Can make a major difference. You want as little as possible between
your knees/legs and the horse. With an english saddle you preferably would
have your knees ahead of the girth buckles and behind (not on top of) the
knee rolls if your saddle has them. Fat padded flaps will force your legs
outward. A saddle with long dressage billets (short dressage girth) lets you
ride long with no bulk under your leg. What if you ride in a western style
saddle? Again, you need to have as little bulk under you leg as possible.
How is it rigged? If the latigo/billet is under your leg it will again make
your horse barrel wider. Don't use a knot in the latigo, use the cinch
buckle. In some saddles you may benefit by shortening your stirrups to move
your knee ahead of the bulk. You may be better off with a different saddle,
rigged differently.  Ride a Sport Saddle? Get rid of those silly wraps
around the stirrup webs, re-rig the webs so the buckles are down by the
stirrups and not against your shins and you will remove a lot of bulk (and
rubs). 

Just some personal observations from a person with an arthritic hip, bad
knee and finally a narrower horse. YES!

Bonnie Snodgrass


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