Lower-leg goals

Developing an independent lower leg is a major goal for most amateur riders, says Luz Wollocombe but how much do our stirrup length, style and physique play a part?

- Luz Wollocombe

WE'VE all had those days when we skip up to the photography van to find, gasp, our lower leg has swung so far back you can hardly see it. While our ego may take a little knock, does this swinging leg really matter?

Top eventing coach, Caroline Moore, says that "while the ideal is that the stirrup leather stays vertical to the ground, everyone will have a slightly different lower-leg position". And it's true. If you take a look at the top riders, in both showjumping and eventing, they have eclectic styles. Even at the top level, lower legs can move around a fair bit.

So just how important is the lower leg?

Top showjumper Nick Skelton admits "my leg was definitely not the most artistic, perfect leg position - I used to ride where I felt comfortable.

"Growing up I just had a pony and no teachers, but it was about getting the job done, not how you looked," he adds.

With team and individual Olympic gold medals under his belt, his horses don't seem to mind that his lower leg wasn't always faultless over a fence. However, he is keen to emphasise that "the lower leg is so important for keeping the balance for the horse, which is the main thing".

He adds, rather endearingly for someone with his multiple successes, "it would be nice to have the perfect position on a horse".

Caroline Moore highlights the difficulties in keeping the perfect position when jumping around the top tracks.

"At the top level, showjumpers will often stay a lot more forward over a fence and on landing than the cross-country riders do, mainly because they have bigger jumps and shorter distances so there just isn't the time to come right back to the upright position," she explains.

While showjumpers can probably get away with an imperfect lower leg, top event rider Harry Meade signals the importance of defensive riding in crosscountry, when the rider has to be ready for adversity at all times.