Knee Braces for Horse Riding
Anyone who goes horse riding understands just how tough this sport can be on your knees. However, the logistics of the sport makes protecting the knees very difficult with problems such as tight fitting clothing, the need for a complete range of motion, and most importantly the fact that most of us would rather suffer with knee pain than risk scratching our tack!
The Mechanics
Your knees are designed to move in one direction only, front to back. It is not meant to move side to side or rotate. When sitting on a horse, we compress this straight hinge structure against the round surface of the horse’s barrel. This creates a side-to-side stress on the knee joint that it was not designed to endure.
Over a long period of time, this pressure can cause the medial collateral ligament to tighten and the lateral ligament to weaken and stretch. Disruption of either ligament shifts the tibia in the opposite direction, so lateral-ligament weakness results in deviation of the tibia inward (medially), making the knee joint unstable. This instability can cause the knee to bow; the stresses on the joint accelerate.
When standing and walking, the body presses down on the knee unevenly, with more weight borne on the medial surface of the tibia. This results in compression of the medial meniscus causes inflammation in the joint and degradation of the cartilage that can eventually lead to osteoarthritis. Add hook like arthritic bone spurs, and the result is likely a future knee replacement. The use of a brace can help to keep the joint straight, thus reducing the symptoms described above.
Our Recommendations
Taking all of these points into consideration, we suggest choosing a horse-riding brace that features a removable inner hinge to help prevent any harm to your saddle, and one that isn’t overly bulky, so you still have the flexibility and comfort to have the option to wear it discreetly underneath your breeches.
Bearing these two things in mind, we would recommend the Donjoy Playmaker or the Donjoy 427. Both of these braces provide protection, compression and support for ligament problems and general knee instabilities. The Donjoy Playmaker is a wraparound-style brace, whereas the 427 is a pull-on style brace.
Pull on braces as standard are a slimmer fitting less bulky design, however, it is personal preference which style people prefer. However, despite being slightly more bulky, the Donjoy Playmaker does have the benefit of being manufactured specifically with athletes in mind and is made from DryTex fabric that will keep the leg dry and cool during exercise.
Hugely popular brace with improved design for even greater comfort and usability
Offers medium support for general knee pain caused by overuse, tendonitis and arthritis
Provides strong support with a patella buttress to aid tracking and 3 securing straps
Provides support for stiff, weak or painful knees with state of the art technology
Top Tip
A customer of ours recently had a great idea, as she found that she did not like riding with her brace under her breeches; however, as she was using it for showing, she could not have the brace on display. Her solution was to cut a pair of old, slightly baggier breeches above and below the knee, creating a perfect sleeve to cover the brace when in the show ring.