Knee pain while riding

[6e]

I have my pretty little leopard spotted Appy that I got a couple years ago and I love him to death, but can't hardly ride him any more due to knee pain. It's always in my left knee. I ride western and I've tried different saddles, different lengths of stirrup, but invariably, after about 30 to 45 minutes, my knee starts aching so bad I can't hardly stand it. On the last long ride we went on, which was about 4 miles, I ended up getting off about half way and walking the rest of the way. As soon as I get off and start walking, the pain goes away, but as soon as I get back on, it flares up. Any ideas? Because I'm thinking I may have to turn my bag of Spots into a buggy horse instead of a riding horse.
I've heard the Aussie saddles are supposed to help alleviate hip and knee pain and I thought about getting one. Does anyone have any experience with this? Do they help? He won't let me ride bareback. For whatever reason he freaks if there's no saddle on him. Any suggestions?

[SFM in KY]

For me, it wasn't the knee, it was the hip, from a slipped disc. If I ride a western saddle, apparently the additional width forces my hip outwards enough that there is pressure on the sciatic nerve. In 15 to 20 minutes there is pain radiating down through my knee to my ankle and sometimes the leg won't even hold up as I dismount.

An English saddle works better for me, especially the dressage types but the best saddle of all for me I found was a McClellan cavalry saddle. It is very narrow where my pelvic bones rest on the saddle seat and does not produce any outward pressure that seems to cause the problem.

I don't know if something similar is causing the knee pain for you, but I'd borrow an Aussie saddle or an English saddle and try it, see if it helps the problem.

[6e]

Originally Posted by SFM in KY

For me, it wasn't the knee, it was the hip, from a slipped disc. If I ride a western saddle, apparently the additional width forces my hip outwards enough that there is pressure on the sciatic nerve. In 15 to 20 minutes there is pain radiating down through my knee to my ankle and sometimes the leg won't even hold up as I dismount.

An English saddle works better for me, especially the dressage types but the best saddle of all for me I found was a McClellan cavalry saddle. It is very narrow where my pelvic bones rest on the saddle seat and does not produce any outward pressure that seems to cause the problem.

I don't know if something similar is causing the knee pain for you, but I'd borrow an Aussie saddle or an English saddle and try it, see if it helps the problem.

My daughter has an english saddle, but my seat is not as good as it used to be and I like the more secure feeling of a more enclosed saddle should he decide to do something stupid. Used to be I could sit a bucking episode no problem. I don't know any more and the ground seems a lot harder now that I'm older than it used to be. But I will say that my knee will make it hard to dismount, but it sure feels better to get back on the ground. I've had a lot of trouble with my back and took multiple trips to the chiropractor and it didn't help. Yoga helped more than anything. I don't know anyone that has an Aussie saddle that I could try, although I see them for sale all the time and wonder if they're so great, why they're being sold.

[snowshoehair]

A stirrup straightener might help - they look like this:

http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CD...%2Bdata%2Bfeed

[ShyAnne]

I found that the wider the horse the more my knees hurt... I do have an Aussie saddle but I use it on my large pony who is narrow, so I cant help there.
My husband has had knee surgery, and he rides a wide mare, his knees hurt,we got him the stirrup straighteners and it helped a lot.
I also found that when I ride the wide horses with a bareback pad, I can hold my legs in a different position, and it feels more natural to me, causing better comfort and control.
To me personally the aussie saddle I use sits me in more of that natural position I prefer so I feel most comfy riding in it. I like my legs more forward less underneath me I guess?

[Molly Mckee]

I had that problem years ago with a top quality western saddle that I loved otherwise. I never thought that it could be the saddle until a trip into the "Bob" with DD and some friends of hers. One of the guys was a saddle maker in the winter and a government packer in the summer. He went over my saddle and found that the stirrup leathers were not punched evenly and off almost 1/4 inch. He took the saddle apart and fixed it---no more sore knee.

[MDKatie]

I used to have the same issue...same knee, and with a western saddle as well. They make swivel stirrups, so maybe you could try those?

[wr]

I love my Aussie and I find it very comfortable but you need to try one to see if it works for you too.

The old rancher has really bad knees and he finds that if he rides with his heels down, it makes a bad thing worse and he also uses a wide stirrup so he can shift his foot when he starts to get uncomfortable.

[barnbrat76]

As a certified massage therapist who also rides and works on quite a few people who also ride I can share my experience of where knee pain usually comes from (aside from skeletal issues). You have your Quadricep muscle group on the front of the thigh, two of those muscles are your Vastus Medialis and your Rectus Femoris and the Bicep Femoris which is in the Hamstring Group. When these muscles get trigger points, which are basically a malfunction in the muscle fibers (most call them knots), they can refer pain to the knee. The more stress you put on these muscles the more the trigger point flares up and causes more pain. Find a good LMT/CMT that does trigger point work and see if it helps.

[wolffeathers]

It's ankle and knee on my right side for me. I am fairly certain it is from riding with the big leather stirrup leathers of a western saddle. I started riding with a Wintec synthetic and it doesn't pull as hard as a leather, I've noticed much less aches and pain(despite less cushion in the seat).

I hope to treeless with the thinner 3-4 inch leather straps(like on the english saddles) and maybe some endurance stirrups(wider on the ball of the foot) on some swivels.

It should alleviate the strain on the joints, instead of the stirrup and leathers(fenders?) trying to pull my toes in(which screws up the rest of the leg joints). One day, I'll be able to afford that nice custom treeless saddle. LOL

[6e]

I will definitely try the swivel stirrups and see if that helps and if I ever find someone that uses an Aussie saddle that I can try, I'm going to ask. Around here everyone rides western and look at you funny if you're in an english saddle and even more so if you're in an aussie saddle. Thank you for the tips. I'm hoping that helps!

[brody]

check the eveness as someone suggested

long and absolutely even will help a little

[Minelson]

I had knee pain really bad forever...since I can remember. Only in my right knee. Plus I would get a sore butt. Like there was never enough cushion for my butt bones. Knee was the worse though and it made many a ride miserable. Now I have no knee pain and no butt pain since I started using a treeless saddle (Bob Marshall) along with crooked stirrups http://crookedstirrups.com/
The crooked stirrups worked somewhat with a treed saddle but nothing took all the pain away until I started using the Bob Marshall. Plus my horses LOVE it!!

Just wanted to add...I tried the swivel stirrups and stirrup straightener and did not like.

[akane]

You can also get stirrups on nylon straps that sit straight naturally and the nylon makes it so you can turn the stirrup to any angle with little force instead of turning against something that is solid all the way up. I don't remember where I saw them though. They would come up if pressure was removed unlike a solid stirrup but not an issue for anyone with a good seat who doesn't bounce around and lose their stirrups.

I have one saddle I love that everyone else complains about the left stirrup for some reason. It seems to not turn as well. I don't know if it's my small feet or the fact my left knee isn't in too bad of shape (entirely different story with the right) so I don't notice.

[tinknal]

Try a slick fork western saddle. I have a knee that was wrecked by a horse years ago. Most saddles make my knee sore but a slick fork is amazingly comfortable for me.

[6e]

Originally Posted by Minelson

I had knee pain really bad forever...since I can remember. Only in my right knee. Plus I would get a sore butt. Like there was never enough cushion for my butt bones. Knee was the worse though and it made many a ride miserable. Now I have no knee pain and no butt pain since I started using a treeless saddle (Bob Marshall) along with crooked stirrups http://crookedstirrups.com/
The crooked stirrups worked somewhat with a treed saddle but nothing took all the pain away until I started using the Bob Marshall. Plus my horses LOVE it!!

Just wanted to add...I tried the swivel stirrups and stirrup straightener and did not like.

I've thought about treeless saddles because my Appy is so darn hard to fit. Four different saddles and none of them fit him perfect. He's not real wide, actually on the smallish side. The first saddle I had on him was too wide, but worked good on the QH, the second was too narrow and sat up too high but worked good on the high withered TB. He's just the odd ball of the group. I have trouble with my butt too. I have often thought of getting one of those saddle gel seats. LOL

Do you think my horse would take a treeless saddle? For whatever reason he totally wigs if I get on him bareback. Would a treeless saddle feel like bareback to him? Also, what kind of stability is there? He's thrown my daughter a couple of times but has never offered to buck with me, but there's always a first and I don't trust myself to be able to stay on any more. LOL Just hope the day he does it there's 3 feet of snow on the ground!

[Molly Mckee]

Do your stirrups hang turned so you can just stick your feet in? They should be perpendicular to the horse. If your stirrups hang parallel to the horse and you have to turn them either with your foot or to put your toe in there is an easy fix if you are brave. You can either throw your saddle in a stock tank or bath tub and let it soak until the leather is completely saturated with water (over night or several hours). Or you can put a 2x4 over the water and put the saddle on it so the fenders hang in the water. You can remove the stirrups if you like.

Take the saddle out of the water, put the stirrups back on, put the saddle on a saddle rack. Put a short 2x4 in the stirrups, turning them perpendicular to the saddle, put weights on the 2x4 like a cement block or two and let it dry. The stirrups will stay turned. Do not ride in new blue jeans until you are positive that the saddle is dry. Then wait a day or two more. If the saddle is slightly damp you can dye the seat or fenders.

This is a very hard thing to do with your new saddle, but it does work. I think narrow stirrups are more comfortable, and easier on my knees than wide ones, but that is personal choice. As I said before, my problem was uneven stirrup leathers, something I never thought to check on a good saddle.

[Minelson]

Originally Posted by 6e

I've thought about treeless saddles because my Appy is so darn hard to fit. Four different saddles and none of them fit him perfect. He's not real wide, actually on the smallish side. The first saddle I had on him was too wide, but worked good on the QH, the second was too narrow and sat up too high but worked good on the high withered TB. He's just the odd ball of the group. I have trouble with my butt too. I have often thought of getting one of those saddle gel seats. LOL

Do you think my horse would take a treeless saddle? For whatever reason he totally wigs if I get on him bareback. Would a treeless saddle feel like bareback to him? Also, what kind of stability is there? He's thrown my daughter a couple of times but has never offered to buck with me, but there's always a first and I don't trust myself to be able to stay on any more. LOL Just hope the day he does it there's 3 feet of snow on the ground!

I really don't know what to say since he wigs out bareback. I have never had a horse act up any more bareback than saddled. Unless I am just jumping on without a bridle. The treeless are a really thick saddle pad with all the fixins...To me it feels more secure because I am "closer" to my horse...I can feel his back muscles with every step. I have to say that I did a lot of bareback in my youth (10-30yrs old) so to me there is enough stability. Yesterday I had a rough ride. My Spencer has a new Indian name "Dancing In Fields" lol! It was slick and a pheasant incident made him more than spicy and I thought for sure I was going to get dumped. I'm feeling it tonight big time in my legs. But i like that.
I would think treeless would be worth a try. It's not like bareback because it's cinched up, stirrups... and I use a breast collar also. You must have a super good pad to go with it though...something that distributes weight like a Skito Pad. You don't want to be sitting right on the spine so the weight needs to be evened out.
I had so much frustration with saddle fit. I am obsessed with it. I can say that I am finally satisfied...WHEW!!

[6e]

Originally Posted by Minelson

I really don't know what to say since he wigs out bareback. I have never had a horse act up any more bareback than saddled. Unless I am just jumping on without a bridle. The treeless are a really thick saddle pad with all the fixins...To me it feels more secure because I am "closer" to my horse...I can feel his back muscles with every step. I have to say that I did a lot of bareback in my youth (10-30yrs old) so to me there is enough stability. Yesterday I had a rough ride. My Spencer has a new Indian name "Dancing In Fields" lol! It was slick and a pheasant incident made him more than spicy and I thought for sure I was going to get dumped. I'm feeling it tonight big time in my legs. But i like that.
I would think treeless would be worth a try. It's not like bareback because it's cinched up, stirrups... and I use a breast collar also. You must have a super good pad to go with it though...something that distributes weight like a Skito Pad. You don't want to be sitting right on the spine so the weight needs to be evened out.
I had so much frustration with saddle fit. I am obsessed with it. I can say that I am finally satisfied...WHEW!!

I used to ride bareback all the time when I was young. Could ride a horse running, jumping and even bucking bareback as long as it wasn't bronco type bucking and manage to keep my seat. Then I didn't ride for years. Guess I just got a bit fearful, but I watched my husband get thrown from his horse and it hurt his hip pretty bad...still bothering him and that was a year ago and so now I'm like....Uhm, I REALLY don't want to get bucked off. LOL

I've tried getting on my Appy bareback twice now and each time he wants to run off with you. I have no idea why because he doesn't do that when there's a saddle on him. But he has a lot of strange quirks. LOL

[mountainwmn]

I have tried the stirrup swivelers, they are horrible. It seemed like a good idea, but the pender is hanging where your leg needs to be and it is uncomfortable. I liked the aussie saddle, but some of them are uncomfortable too. My paso is a little booger bareback too, I think he knows I'm a little off balance and takes advantage. And Apps are too smart for their own good.
Going gaited helped a lot with my joint pain, and the other thing that helped me is not using proper equitation. I don't put any weight in my stirrups, I sit all my weight on my rear end, and I put my legs a little forward and relaxed. And if I start to have some discomfort anywhere I drop my stirrups for a while, or dismount and walk for a little. Actually, can you just ride without stirrups most of the time? That might be the cheapest fix.