Wonky Ankle and Long Rides

[dreamswept]

So now that I've started putting in 12-mile-plus training rides that generally last for 5 hours or so, I've been starting to have some issues with my right ankle. Part of the fact is that was the ankle that I messed up (but luckily didn't break) a few years back. I don't know if I'm unconsciously putting more weight on it or what, but after a while, it starts to hurt and go numb. Meanwhile, my left ankle is just fine even after miles and miles in the saddle.

I'm currently using regular trail stirrups and swapped the fenders for Wintec Webbers, but I was wondering if there was anything I might want to try instead that would allow that ankle to not hurt as much.

[Guilherme]

Dismount and walk for about 10 min. of every hour. Good for you, good for the horse's back!!!

Seriously, this is a very effective way to deal with a lot of minor human physical annoyances that seem to accompany long rides astride.

G.

[dreamswept]

Dismount and walk for about 10 min. of every hour. Good for you, good for the horse's back!!!

Seriously, this is a very effective way to deal with a lot of minor human physical annoyances that seem to accompany long rides astride.

G.

All right, I'll give it a go. Hopefully the folks I ride with won't mind the walk.

How about for the CTR I hope to ride next month? I'm not sure if we can dismount and lead. I was thinking maybe of putting my flexible english irons on my endurance saddle.

How about some kind of ankle brace?

[CristyC]

For a CTR you can dismount any time you wish but you cannot gain trail while leading. YOu would have to walk around where you are for a few minutes and then get back on for forward mile purposes.

Massage your calf muscles while you're off the horse. There can be little trigger points in the deep layer muscles that you can release with some massage. You might be surprised by how many joint aches are really caused by the muscles that move it. There is a book called the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Claire Davies that can serve as a great tool for use and overuse pain relief.

Make sure you ankle is loose & relaxed while you are on the horse. Loose, relaxed ankle = loose relaxed horse my mom always told me as a young un. It works. Many leg muscle soreness issues from riding can be caused by tenseness in the saddle. And, yes, try your other stirrups, I know several distace riders that had issues because of too wide or heavy stirrups.

[katarine]

define 'regular trail stirrups', please.

[dreamswept]

define 'regular trail stirrups', please.

They're the ones with the wide tread, mine are polymer/plastic/whatever with a foam cushion pad.

[JackSprats Mom]

I would try and work out if you are putting too much weight into your knees and ankels. Really they should just rest there and therefore have minimal pressure on them. There is a tendancy for people to brace themselves a little.

Other thing you can do is take a break, walk the horse (not you walk, stay on the horse) take your feet out of your stirrups and rotate them around every 20 minutes

[dreamswept]

I do work out. I try to run/jog/walk at least 3 miles a day, and also do my situps and crunches and all that. There's really no problem with my left ankle/foot and my right knee doesn't hurt at all. It's just the right ankle itself, which I did a number on a couple of times (both horse-related and non-horse-related) that starts to hurt. And of course, when I get off, I actually hobble around for a bit because that ankle hurts so much.

I've tried to consciously shift my weight to my left since I know my left foot is just resting there nice and loose without me trying, but it still doesn't seem to work much. I've definitely tried rotating my ankles around, but it doesn't seem to last long before the soreness/numbness comes back. At first I thought it was because I just wasn't used to spending so many hours in the saddle, but it's been a couple of weeks now, and I'm starting to wonder.

I should mention that I've got conformational flaws that would definitely end up on FuglyHorse were I of the horsey kind, being flat-footed and all (very very little arch to my foot). I'm currently wearing lace-up Ariat Dumas with half-chaps. Maybe i could try a boot/shoe with more ankle support?

[VWBug]

Dreamswept - does your ankle start to flop about and you have no control over it? Your foot then does whatever it wants to because no one is telling it what to do? If that's the case then check out something called exertional compartmental syndrome for a possible cause (I'm not a doctor!). It's a blood flow problem in your muscle. I have it and instead of the horrific surgery the orthopedic doctors said I had to have I rode without stirrups for 6 weeks, eased myself back into work over two weeks and I'm OK now (madly knocking on wood here). I am however much more careful about how I work and had to cut my two-point work in half to keep my leg happy.

So maybe that gives you something else to look into? Good luck with it- whatever it turns out to be!

[KarenC]

I have this problem as well, and I noticed that I tend to roll my foot to the outside...so my weight is concentrated on the outside half of my foot. If I regularly remind myself to roll my foot inward, it balances out and really helps with the ankle discomfort (I also can get knee pain from the same issue). Note that I don't really roll my foot inward, but thinking in the opposite extreme places my foot level so my weight is properly distributed across the entire ball of the foot.

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

It's kinda nice to see this thread for me. I have the same trouble. It gets the point that I'm riding around a numb foot and my ankle is completely rolled out and sideways and I have to quit in mid-lesson. Thogh mine tends to get this way after about 1/2 hour in a group lesson environment. My trainer seems to think I'm nuts and just quitting on her. It's sooo frustrating. I did try to go the brace route.. it didn't work for me. So not sure if that's a good bet for you to try. Getting off and walking does help, but it takes a while so if you're in an endurance competition that won't help you win. Good luck.. I hope you find a solution!

[DopyDgz]

Drop your stirrups from time to time and flex your ankles around, point your toes up then down, go through the entire range-of-motion.

If your ankle is week and breaks in or out, you might try wrapping it in an ace bandage for support.

[Just Wondering]

Other thing you can do is take a break, walk the horse (not you walk, stay on the horse) take your feet out of your stirrups and rotate them around every 20 minutes

I agree.

Also while you are moving along on trail, make a concentrated effort to flex your entire leg. Push your heel down as if you are trying to touch the ground. That will help to keep you from getting stiff.

[lizathenag]

I shattered my ankle and had it repaired with a lot of metal in April 2006. What has helped a lot are the bow balance stirrups. The combo of the wide foot bed and flexibility of the sides really seem to help.

I never used jointed stirrups before but it really makes a difference now.

.

[dreamswept]

Dreamswept - does your ankle start to flop about and you have no control over it? Your foot then does whatever it wants to because no one is telling it what to do?

Thankfully no. I can keep it right in place, but it's like the whole thing goes numb after a few hours, starts with the pins and needles feeling at which point I start trying to flex my ankle and move it around and stuff to get feeling back, but eventually it goes numb entirely, and when I dismount, I limp around for a bit until feeling returns. But I'm going to dig through my stuff, and see if I can find that ankle brace of mine that I used to use during martial arts. Or the ace bandage or something. And try my flexible stirrups. Something's bound to work.

[VWBug]

Looks like it's not the same thing. Good luck though - it's really maddening when the body doesn't cooperate with riding plans.

[Bugaboo]

I have a wonky ankle from a bad fall years ago. It's never completely healed and I find it gets sore when riding for over an hour. I do the usual take my feet out of the stirrups and rotate/flex/stretch and it seems to help a bit, but only for another 20 mins or so. I also ride in Sprenger jointed stirrups and could never go back to regular ones. They make a huge difference, for me.

I've tried braces/wraps, but find it nearly impossible to buy one that's supportive enough, and yet, actually fits inside my riding boot w/o cutting off the circuation. :confused: Any recommendations?