Shin pain after riding.

[frecklejuice]

Hi all, I don't ride and have no idea about any of it so thought I would ask if any of you or your kids have ever experienced this?

My dd (10) has been riding for about 4.5 years and never had any problems with her legs but recently she has started doing a weekly jumping class on a Wednesday evening and you can guarantee that a few hours after her shins will be really hurting. She rides on a Saturday as well and never has any problems so it's definitely the hour long jumping class on a Wednesday.

She woke me up at 1am this morning crying that they were hurting so much, ibuprofen helps as does me rubbing along the side of the shin bone (not what I want to be doing at 1am!!) and after a couple of hours she went back to sleep.

Could it be shin splints?

Has anyone had this? Just wondering if there is anything we can do or if she just needs to build up the muscles she's now using on a Wednesday.

Thanks for any advice.

Possibly but if rubbing it helps then it's more likely to be muscular. She might be riding with her stirrups too short. Try dropping them a few holes or depending on her confidence, ride without them for a couple of weeks and see if it disappears.

My first thought is that she is riding too short as well.

I suspect more that she’s riding too short or even the leathers are sitting funny and rubbing her shin. Shin splits are a fairly major overuse/impact injury that you’re unlikely to get from horse riding

Thanks for the replies, it was my husband who suggested shin splints but he knows as much as I do! I'll get her to drop the stirrups a few holes next week and see what happens.

Thanks!