Dealing with hip pain associated with horseback-riding

My right hip has always tended to be a bit tighter than my left. Around four years ago, I started having issues with that right hip, mainly when I ran long distances. Then I had a fall which made it worse. Manageable, as long as I didn’t run too far… or ride too far. When I started doing endurance seriously, one of the most difficult things for me was dealing with hip pain. Long distances in the saddle meant barely being able to walk when I dismounted and a lot of pain at night. At the Sesenta Anos pioneer ride in 2020, Fantazia and I did all three days (read about it here). The final day, we only completed the LD. Fantazia could have done the 50. I could not have. My hip waas shot.

I’ve finally discovered a way of dealing with hip pain–stretching! After six months of regular stretches, my pain in the saddle (and after rides) is much alleviated. I’d like to share my stretching routine here. Hopefully the stretches I’ve discovered to be most useful for alleviating riding-induced (or worsened) pain can help others. If you try them, however, listen to your own body. Only you can “feel” the tight places and which stretch best facilitates working through them.

Backstory on how I settled on my routine

Many people over many years have tried to teach me to stretch

I learned all of my stretches–or something close to them–from people who know more than I do. My first encounter with a rigorous stretching routine was at my shotokan karate dojo in Panama. I just didn’t get it then, even though I was never very flexible. My Sensei would have up rotate our hips, and I simply couldn’t feel a thing. Now there are days when I can barely rotate my hips. Since then I have practiced martial arts in various places, and every dojo had its warm-up tradition. The two stretches that I never skip were part of our danzan ryu jujitsu warm-up routine in Arcata. I have also had physical therapy. More recently, my sister-in-law, who has practiced yoga for years, has stretched with me and given me pointers. In fact, Maite helped me take many of the pictures and videos you will find below.

But only now have I made the stretches my own

Every stretch is unique to the muscle(s) and the individual. When you are stretching to relieve tightness, you have to feel exactly where the muscle(s) is tight, and the exact movement that will help you work through the tightness. You have to feel where the pain is, and then push against it until it is relieved. You feel it, breath and push/pull, and then settle into the stretch. For me, each stretch begins with an initial push/pull, then, after 20-30 seconds, I can breathe into a deeper stretch/position.

As my flexibility has increased, the exact stretch has changed. Every day is a new day, and sometimes a new stretch. As I have made my stretches my own, you will have to do so as well. Listen to your body. Work towards full flexibility at the rate your time and physical limitations permit.

Pain?

Yes, there is pain involved, but it is (or should be) good pain. You need to know the difference between pain that signifies something is being broken or is too broken to work through (“bad pain”), and pain that is part of working through the issue. Now, sometimes “bad pain” is necessary. I’ve had physical therapists and others inflict “bad pain” (the kind that makes you nauseous) on me when needed to get to a state of no or less pain. But, those were professionals. In general, I’d say it’s a bad idea to think you can “work through” “bad pain” to somewhere better.

Still, this is a totally subjective perspective. Everybody has to learn to know their own body. There is the pain associated with stretching a muscle and the pain associated with contracting it (this is often worse, for me). There is the pain necessary to work through an issue, and the pain that should be avoided. I cannot tell you how to know the difference. I suspect it is unique to each individual.

Above: On the left, my super-flexible, yoga-practicing sister-in-law Maite modeling the ideal form of stretch # below. On the right, inflexible, stiff me doing the version of the stretch that works for me. Just do what you can!

The stretching routine that helps me deal with hip pain

Standing warm-up stretches

I begin with standing stretches. Beginning on my feet limbers me up a bit to better do sitting stretches, but it’s a matter of preference. I also do neck stretches, but do not describe them here as they are not hip-related.

Hip Circles. With feet planted at shoulder-width and hands on hips, I rotate my hips in circles in both directions (10-15 times both ways).
Quad stretch. I grasp my ankle and pull my foot back and up as far as it will go to stretch my quads. Both legs, 2-3 times, holding for 20-30 seconds. I’ve been doing this after running for years.
Torso twists. Raise arms straight out and rotate both ways, slowly, as far as possible. I do ten with hea facing forwards, ten turning and stretching from neck down. I started doing this with my dad because it was on his list of exercises to do to recover from brain surgery. I love it. It stretches everything from neck to hips.
- I do this when riding too, when my horses have calmed down enough to keep going forward at a steady pace without my hands on the reins.
Touch opposite toes. With feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, I bend to touch each toe with the opposite hand. This felt like noting when I was a kid. Now I can feel it stretch my hips, hamstrings, and shoulders.
Side lunges. I’ve been doing these since I practiced shotokan. I do two types. With both, I start with my legs about two inches wider than shoulder-width.
- For the first, I keep both feet flat on the ground and facing forward. I bend on knee and, keeping my torso as erect as possible, I lower my body over that knee as low as possible without losing balance or touching the ground. I hold for about 20 seconds, then do the opposite leg. Repeat 3-5 times.
- For the second, I keep the foot I lower my body over as flat on the ground as possible and point the other toe up. This means I get lower to the ground. If necessary, I put my hands on the ground for balance. Sometimes I will lower my body until I am on my toes on the supporting foot. My sensei used to hate that, but I feel it stretches my legs nicely sometimes.
Spread legs, reach for ground. This probably has a more elegant name. I do it to stretch my inner thigh muscles and hips. It helps prepare me for the ground stretches below. Simply spread your legs to a comfortable position and reach for the floor. I used to be able to grab my ankles and put my head on the ground. Not anymore.
Cross legs, touch toes. I started doing this on the advice of a chiropractor. She didn’t help my hip, but this exercise is good. I do two versions. For both, put one leg over the other (e.g., right over left). Bend to touch toes. Let your knees bend slightly if necessary. Change legs, repeat.
Doing both versions described below targets different muscles.
- Version 1: Have both feet parallel and toes lined up. You can see me do this in the video below.
- Version 2: Place the front foot in front of the back one, so that back toes line up with front heel.

Stretches on the ground

I use this thick yoga mat for these, but you could do them on a carpeted floor or lawn.

1. To start with, I kneel then bend straight forward and place my head on the ground with my arms along side. I breathe for a while, then push foward and up off my hands into what I thought was Upward Facing Dog, but seems to be Cobra, as my thighs stay on the ground. I am not doing yoga, and I do not enter these classic yoga poses correctly, but I end up in Cobra usually. It feels great for my hips.

2. I then do my essential stretches, the ones that if I only have a few minutes, I’ll always do. I demonstrate them in the videos below. For the videos, I move from one to the other quickly in order to speed things up. In real life, I spend at least 30 seconds on each stretch. Remember to breathe.

Ideally, your body will remain straight and both buttocks on the ground. This is not the case with my stiff body! but I try.

For the first stretch, try to see your foot on the opposite side.

Bending forward over my legs is astonishingly difficult on my tight side (my right hip is the bad one). Do what you can do. It will get better. I usually start stiff and end up sinking into the stretch. I am much more flexible now than I was in October.

Above: Maite demonstrates proper form for the final hip stretches I do in the videos below.I am too hosed up to keep my body straight and my buttocks on the ground.

The last two, where I pull my leg across and in front of me, are also very difficult with a bad hip. They were easy-peasy ten years ago. Now it’s a struggle, but they really help.

3. Next, I do the classic spread-legged stretches where you reach for each foot. I hate them, because they are difficult. But they do help my hips. Maite agreed to demonstrate in the video below.

4. Finally, I do butterfly stretches. I have been pulling my feet as close to me as possible, to better stretch my inner thigh muscles. This is really important when I’ve been riding, because they get sore. However, Maite pointed out that doing the same thing, but with my feet two hands-width out, is a better stretch for the hips. Now I do both.

Above: Maite shows how to do a butterfly that targets the hips.

Stretches on horseback

I also find it really helpful to stretch from the saddle. No matter how fit and prepared I am, doing endurance means a long time on a horse. Any time I spend more than 10 miles in the saddle, my hip is going to hurt if I don’t remember to do frequent stretching.

The most important stretch is very easy. Simply keep one hand in place by holding on to the breast collar, pommel, horn or mane, twist back and grab the cantle with your other hand. Reach as far as possible to the opposite side and look backwards. Stretch through your neck, torso, and hips. Use your hand on the cantle to pull yourself into it. Don’t forget to breathe. Do both sides. I need to take a video from the side, but you can see it from the back, and from the perspective of my GoPro, in the videos below.

Above: the saddle hip stretch from behind. You can see how I grab the cantle. Here I move too quickly, and don’t breathe properly. Slow down! It’s actually easier when the horse is going down the trail (see video below), but it would have been hard for my mom to film it!

Of course, your horse might wander. Sometimes you need to pick up your front hand and steer, but try to keep the reins loose and hold onto something. This will keep you straight. Horses get used to it. Mine just keep going straight at the walk or trot (unless there is green grass or a Big Monster).

Other exercises to do from the saddle:

I also drop both reins, put arms out parallel to the ground, and twist around in the same way I do when standing. This is only good once your horse is happy to keep at a steady walk with no hands!
Drop stirrups and twist ankles around: this relieves pressure on knees and hips and loosens ankles.
Drop stirrups and bring both knees up, bending feet up underneath your body. This is remotely like what you’d do on a racehorse. It relieves tension in hips and loosens your knees.
Use lats to pull shoulder blades down. This really relieves tension through the neck and shoulders. I have neck pain (too many horse falls have caused issues) that radiates to my shoulders, so I do this all the time, in the office, driving, and horseback.
Bend one leg up under you, stretch the other forward, keeping feet in stirrups. This will pick up a hip and shift your weight to one side, but keep centered. Your balance should still be the same, exactly through the horse’s center of gravity. Maintain for a few minutes, switch legs. Make sure to do both sides equally.

Get off and walk alongside your horse!

It’s also a good idea to get out of the saddle once and a while. If you can, hop off and walk alongside your horse now and then. I do it on downhill grades, especially with my mare, who has a bit of arthritis. Staying in the saddle for 25 miles is guaranteed to make me dead lame when I get off for a vet check! Of course, when you’re riding in cattle country, this never happens because gates. But in the desert you can do an entire endurance ride without seeing a gate. So you’ll need to make a point of getting off and walking now and then.

Do you have any stretches you use to address pain associated with horseback riding?

I am always looking for new ideas, so please share!