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I did the ‘boards as blades’ exercise with a young rider I know well, and discovered that it was difficult for her to get her right board to go down. 

Later, when the group did a dismounted exercise, she realised that she curled her toes under her foot on that side, which in turn led to her knee coming up, and also her board coming up. This is a very unusual pattern - usually the knee that comes up goes with a seat bone that goes down - and I had misdiagnosed her, falling short of my own principles! 

When my young friend tried on a set of toe separators the next day, she felt so contorted she could barely walk. But when she rode in them, the change was almost instant, with her knee, seat bone, and her entire right third coming into place with ‘stuffing’ and stability. 

Toe curling is a big deal - take it very seriously, it’s an exceptionally debilitating pattern, which many riders experience in canter.