Riding with a foot injury

[SteveR]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help a non-equestrian with a query about this.

While looking for things to do on a forthcoming holiday I spotted an excursion featuring a couple of hours horse riding. My wife and I are both in our sixties and have never ridden before but it's claimed to be suitable for beginners (there's a basic lesson at the start and I gather the horses are easy to ride and well-behaved) so we thought it might be an interesting experience. However, my wife has a foot injury called "plantar fasciitis", an inflammation of the tissues under the foot running from the toes to the heel bone. It's quite painful when she puts any weight on the heel area so she has to take care when walking, which we limit to short periods. Sitting on a horse might be an ideal way to get about without walking but (showing complete ignorance here) I have no idea exactly how a foot sits in a stirrup or what forces are transferred through it when mounting, riding and dismounting. Can anyone advise?

Many thanks,

SteveR.

 

[chunky monkey]

I have suffered with planter in the past. Mine never stopped me from riding. It will depend on where her pain is.
I would strong advise your wife use a mounting block to mount and dismount. In particular the dismount. If no block available use a gate. Mounting up might not be a problem but getting off from horse directly to ground can really hurt. Being inexperienced riders you cant always judge the height of horse to ground and dismounting can really jar your feet if you get it wrong. So where you can use the mounting block.

In terms of your feet in the stirrup. The balls of your feet should be the bit in contact with the stirrup bar. But if you look at most beginners you will see that there mid foot is the bit in contact with the bar.
Very inexperienced riders who go into a trot will naturally find there feet gravitate from the balls to mid sole frequently.
Having your feet on the balls also means that if you have an accident your foot will more likely slip out of the stirrup should you and your horse part company. If your foot is through more, your more likely to be left hanging upside-down and be dragged.

Also meant to say if your wife suffers badly. It might be worth using a support bandage under her socks. I have weak ankles and when i get periods of pain i use a support bandage doubled up.

 

[SteveR]

Thanks, that's very helpful.

I don't know whether mounting blocks will be available. The excursion involves an hour's gentle ride into a mountainous area, then a break in the mountains before the ride back so I guess we could find blocks available at the start but nothing up in the mountains. They say it's suitable even for young kids though so I guess there would have to be something to help them on and off, I suppose I should enquire before booking. If they don't have them then would it be a sufficient substitute for me to somehow boost her on and help her off?

Regarding support, she has some shoe inserts (recommended by the physio) that cushion and support in the right places. Unfortunately it's something that just takes a long time to heal.

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

If she had wide western stirrups with foam insert she would be more comfy but unlikely they will have them. She would need a mounting block to get on probably and getting off the impact might be painful. Be very careful where you choose to ride there are some very cowboy operations which may not have insurance and not great on safety. Expect to be very sore if you are riding for 2 hours as first timers. if you want to post the link on here I am sure some folks would have a look and comment on whether it looks a professional outfit or not

 

[Skib]

It would be helpful to know where you are going and whether you will be riding "English" or Western.
My first trail rides were in the USA and most were walk only. We usually had a mounting block to get on the horses but occasionally it was a leg up.

This was particularly true when we went on a longer ride, with a break to rest the horses or use the toilet. There was no mounting block for remounting at this break but I think there was a seat or a fallen log.

You have two problems. The first is insurance, if your wife is unable to use one of the stirrups, I would suggest that you may not be able to get insurance cover that includes riding horses.
Then there is usually a form one signs at the trail riding centre. You wife might need to declare that she is unable to use one stirrup.
You really need to email the centre and ask whether this will be a problem.

There is a big difference between tourists turning up to trail ride in a National Park with crowds of visitors who have never ridden before, and going on a riding holiday which to be honest seems to me rather unwise for a beginner rider unless they are able to use the stirrups.

Many trail rides in the States take tracks which are quite precipitous and the rider needs to be well balanced and secure in the saddle so as not to unbalance the horse. If there is any doubt, the horse may be led by a wrangler (staff)

 

[SteveR]

if you want to post the link on here I am sure some folks would have a look and comment on whether it looks a professional outfit or not

Thanks for the suggestion. Being a new visitor to this site I don't know the local etiquette so didn't want to post what might have been too much detail that might have been useless, but this is the excursion I was considering.

Expect to be very sore if you are riding for 2 hours as first timers

Yes, that thought occurred to me too We went on an excursion in Morocco last year involving a claimed 2-hour camel ride and survived that without problems, but I don't think it was actually that long in the saddle (and I appreciate there may be only a passing similarity anyway).

It would be helpful to know where you are going and whether you will be riding "English" or Western.

It's in Crete's Heraklion area, see link above. I have no idea what type of riding would be involved.

if your wife is unable to use one of the stirrups, I would suggest that you may not be able to get insurance cover that includes riding horses.

To clarify, my wife's foot is tender and gets sore when walking a lot but she can and does use it. From the description of stuirrup use in this thread she should be fine using one as it doesn't seem to press on the heel at all. Insurance is an excellent point though. The organisers claim to have insurance, and our travel insurance covers us for activities including horse-riding provided that it is supervised and that appropriate safety equipment is provided. This appears to meet those criteria.

big difference between tourists turning up to trail ride in a National Park with crowds of visitors who have never ridden before, and going on a riding holiday which to be honest seems to me rather unwise for a beginner rider

Understood. This would clearly fall squarely in the former category.

 

[Skib]

involving a claimed 2-hour camel ride

Riding a camel (as a tourist) is nothing like riding a horse. One is sitting on a camel well cushioned and usually with a grab strap or something to hold and ones legs dangling loose or folded in front of one. The camel man will either lead the camel or sit in front controlling it.
In Jordan I avoided a 2 hour camel ride as I dislike the mid day heat. But later I regretted it and paid a guy to let me have a very short ride on his camel very early the next morning.

 

[carthorse]

I would say she'll be fine, and I'd be very surprisedf there isn't a portable mounting block for getting back on after the break - it sounds like they cater for non-riders and that being the case they aren;t going to expect you to mount from the ground. Still worth checking though!

If it helps I have collapsed arches in one foot which make walking and standing uncomfortable but I ride several timesa week with no problem, I just have to be careful dismounting.

 

[SteveR]

Reassuring to hear that a foot problem doesn't preclude riding, thanks very much for sharing that.

 

[Mary Poppins]

I have had quite severe plantar fasciitis in the past and know how painful walking can be. I didn’t have any problems riding because when you are in the saddle the stirrups are not holding your weight - you can also move your foot in the stirrup to find a spot that isn’t as tender. Getting off might hurt without assistance, I would suggest someone helps lower your wife to the ground so that she doesn’t suddenly feel pain in her foot as she hits the floor. Otherwise I don’t see any problems, sounds like a fab experience to me.

 

[SteveR]

when you are in the saddle the stirrups are not holding your weight - you can also move your foot in the stirrup to find a spot that isn’t as tender. Getting off might hurt without assistance, I would suggest someone helps lower your wife to the ground

That's what I had hoped but, as neither of us has any knowledge of anything related to horses, I thought it would be worth asking. We normally do quite a bit of walking around on holidays but this condition really limits that. We don't want to spend the whole holiday lazing around beaches and pools so we've been trying to think of alternative activities that might be interesting, and this sounds like it could be a nice experience. Apart from the post-ride soreness, naturally

Thanks for the encouraging reply, much appreciated.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Definitely worth a try! I hope you both have a wonderful time. Please come back and let us know how it went

 

[Skib]

OH and I went on an archeological trip to Crete. As well as good local bus services, there are coach trips to most of the best sites and busses pick groups up from hotels. Most sites involve very little walking and some are wheel chair friendly. We used a Dorling Kinderley Guide book.
There is also a World War 2 tour. If you want to do the famous walk across the mountains obviously that is not useful with a damaged foot, but a quick google search for Crete World War 2 will produce a variety of tours and opportunities.
There are tours of Crete which involve seeing spring flowers in the mountain meadows where walking is part of the holiday program.
OH and I are in our 80s but over the years we have been on coach tours which inclued travellers who were unable to walk in comfort. In both Poland and Crete, OH and I skipped a sceduled day of tours to go off on our own. Thus we spent a whole day in Knossos, rather than the afternoon offered. We also skipped souvenir shopping to spend longer in the Museum in Herculaneum.