Heels Down, Toes Up?

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Permalink Reply by Joan Adler on October 26, 2008 at 12:20pm

Corrie - you are not alone. This is a 'typical' issue for novice riders. If you can find an instructor to lunge you on a quiet horse, you would be able to practice finding your balance through a variety of exercises. As well, remember that we, the rider, need to warm up unmounted BEFORE we ride. Usually we become 'unglued' as a result of tensing up our muscles - and by being lunged effectively you will be able to 'discover relaxation' & how this can affect your seat/hips/legs/heels etc.
Cheers & good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Jodie Bater on October 30, 2008 at 6:04pm

I like to think of it as toes up, seems to have better mental connection. If you can easily wiggle your toes then your heels are down.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Lorentsen on January 19, 2009 at 8:35pm

what one of my coaches had me do was stand on a set of stairs and rest the balls of my feet on the step as if it were a stirrup and then drop my heels below the step level and do that for 15 mins hold down for 5-10 secs then return to level and then reapeat you will elongate your calf muscle and strengthen your ankles so you have greater control of your muscles and muscle memory so heels down wont be so hard also ALOT of no sttirup work at the trot and canter really help to. HOPE this helps :)

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Permalink Reply by Dorita Peer Kozak on January 20, 2009 at 3:05pm

It really helps to relax the whole leg from its "roots", the ball joint, and to gently let gravity open the hips through sitting trot. I have given exercises on the lunge which actually ask the rider to let the ankle just relax and the foot hang. Then, the rider can lift the toe from a stretched - but not forced to stretch - leg, through proprioception, or attention. The ground exercises that were suggested are also very useful, but 15 minutes seems like too long. Relax, have fun and give it time.

Happy riding, Dorita

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Permalink Reply by kassie on February 24, 2009 at 2:26pm

my instructor always said heels down, thumbs up ..haha

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Permalink Reply by holmanthompson on March 6, 2009 at 10:06am

Erika,
I can't really tell from your picture but it looks as though your heels are going down rather well and you have a nice position, but your hips are really tight, I think. If you can relax the psoas muscle, very tight in most women, and open up, it will be easier to have your leg and heel just drop down. Here is a stretch and also an explanation of what the muscle is and does: http://stronglifts.com/the-psoas-is-it-killing-your-back/
The old torture of "sitting" in an invisible chair with your back flat against the wall, your knees bent, for 1 minute or more per time also loosens the hip area, strangely enough. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Amber J. on March 7, 2009 at 1:11am

I had long boots and my instructor told me that it is harder to keep you toes down when you have long boots because there is all the rubber/leather in the way try wearing gaiters or short chaps with short boots

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Permalink Reply by Ruth Hogan Poulsen on April 19, 2009 at 9:31am

Hi Erika... Ruth Poulsen here... i just posted a video on some position issues, i don the think the first one covers the heels, but the second one does... sometime stubborn heels are a product of a stiff hip, or calves... are you stretching at all before you ride? Ruth

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Permalink Reply by Karen McLain on April 19, 2009 at 10:38am

One thing that helps keeping the heels down, is to keep my chin up. Heels down, toes up, chin up. This allows for deeper breathing, (which keeps the whole body relaxed), opening up the chest and shoulders, and keeping my eyes looking where I want to go.

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on April 20, 2009 at 5:24am

Hi Erika, looking at your pic, I think you are sitting too far back in the saddle. It looks like you could sit more forward into the deepest part of the seat, this will keep your knees from being pulled up by your hips. When you are sitting do you feel you are sitting on your seat bones or your crouch? If you lift you pelvis a little you will sit in the deep part of the saddle and the angle of you leg will straiten a little letting your heel come lower . Cheers Geoffrey

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Permalink Reply by Savannah Rijk on April 24, 2009 at 8:42pm

hey
try to stretch your calfs before you go on your horse. or when you go upstairs to get something orso just push your heels down for a couple seconds and if you do that a couple times a day it really helps i find.
And looking at your picture try to make your stirups longer so you have a deeper seat because I think you have to much angle at your knee and also try to get all your weight in your heels so they will automatically go down.
I train my heels down on my horse with riding my horses without stirups and then you get your balance and you need to keep your heels down otherwise I have the feeling I dont have any balance.
Hope you can do anything with it :)

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Permalink Reply by ridergal49 on May 5, 2009 at 9:12pm

Erkia

I have found that what works best for me is standing on a stair as if you are going up the stairs but with your toes on and your heels off the stairs and stretching your heels down. You can hold onto the stair railing and just kind of stretch downward. I don't know if I have explained it very good but it sure works well for me. It stretches the long muscles in your legs and really makes it so much easier in the stirrup. Hope this helps.

Ridergal49 (Jan)

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