Quick Tip Tuesday: Draping the Leg Around the Horse
Bending Legs the Way they Bend
The dilemma: the horse is 'round' and the leg is
'straight.' So how does this work?
Having a closer look at the leg, it has three major joints.
At the top, attaches to the body in a ball and socket; in the
middle, it has a hinge; at the bottom, it has a hinge with
some rotation.
The knee joint is the limiting joint. It has no
sideways (lateral/medial) movement. As a hinge, the
shin bones fold in the same plane as the thigh
bone.
The ankle is primarily a hinge and then has some wiggle
room. If your knee is pointing forward, it is possible
to have you foot point slightly left or right.
The hips socket, being a ball socket, has a wide range of
movement and can align the entire leg.
Thigh Alignment
Is this still a thing? How many have heard of 'quibbing?'
Oh -- not the game.
Many moons ago, before riding instructors got it hammered
into their heads 'do not touch your students in weird ways!'
quibbing was a way to align the leg on the horse. As
Centered Riding Instructors, we do something similar -- but
we ask first!
In quibbing, the instructor would slide a hand between the
thigh and horse from behind, grab the britches, and pull
backwards. This rotates the thigh to point
inward. (Trust me, what we do as Centered Riding
Instructors is much more refined and feels
wonderful!) This aligns the knee to face forward,
which then allows the toes to face forward.
On the ground, you could move your heels out so the whole
leg rotates from the hip to place the knees
inward.
The point here is that you don't face the toes forward by
pointing your toes forward. The rotation of the thigh
points the toes forward.
If you look down your thigh, you'll notice it's roughly
triangular. The muscles in front sit in the middle of
the leg; the muscles in back are wider. The inner
thigh is flatter and getting this on the side of the horse
rotates the leg so that the knee can hinge properly and the
the toes can point forward naturally.
In the skeleton, the greater trochanter moves in the direction
of anterior, medial, and inferior (footward) relative to the
socket.
When folks are in a chair position, the greater trochanter
is often moving in the direction of posterior, lateral, and
superior (headward) relative to the socket.
The Knee Directive
Sitting in a chair or leaning against a wall (or standing
if you can), hold your leg just behind your knee, at the
bottom of your thigh so your shin is dangling straight down.
So you might need to rotate the thigh, using your hands, to
get the shin to dangle straight down. Using your arms,
not your legs, lift and lower the knee gently, staying in
comfort, so that the foot begins to swing forward and back
under the knee.
This is the knee hinge.
Respect it!
No waggling the shin left and right.
Notice how your toes point out of your kneecap. The
foot swings under the thigh and out; the bottom of the foot
is lined up with your shin and your thigh. They are all
in the same plane.
The Hip Directive
I like to give little tiny shakes to activate the mobility
of the hip; you can also stand and tap circles with your foot
on the ground, circling your heel around your toes. I
find the tiny shakes, done by the arm that's holding the leg,
can release the entire leg.
The Foot Directive
Sally Swift liked to reference flicking water off your
toes. Again, I just do some jiggles paying attention to
my ankle.
Putting it Together
I confess, this makes a lot more sense in person!
Here are a couple of pictures that hopefully help.
Finding ready made pics was not fruitful -- so consider these
with a helping of salt.
Keep the alignment of the leg
through the knee and ankle joints, using the hip socket to
rotate the entire leg as a unit.
Lynn
5/9/23
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