Teach the Basics – Heels – part 1
by Barbara Ellin Fox/ Basics and Building Blocks
“Keep your heels DOWN!”
What rider hasn’t heard this a multitude of times? And what riding instructor hasn’t said this to the point of near despair? That one sentence has been spoken into the air for so many generations that you’d almost think future riders would be born with their heels down.
But they’re not. Furthermore, in the course of daily life there are very few opportunities which cause a normal person to use their feet in a heels down position. Consequently, muscles, tendons, and ligaments must be conditioned to this unusual position.
Since this will be a voluntary action from the rider, a wise instructor will get the rider’s mind engaged in the process of learning and conditioning for heels down. Without a clear understanding of what it’s for, what it looks like and how to and not to get heels down, a rider won’t make it very far out of the starting blocks in their riding career. Well, they might get out of the blocks but they’ll continue to progress in peril.
Keeping the heel down is a basic building block in the foundation of good riding. Notice I didn’t say the first basic building block. That’s because it’s one of many building blocks required to create a good foundation. Some of the foundation is taught concurrently and some is not. Frequently it depends on the age and ability of the student.
Keeping the heels down is one of the most important fundamentals in riding. Unfortunately if steps are not taken to get the beginner firmly grounded with their heels down, it will come back to haunt their riding later on. There are no quick fixes, short cuts or special stirrups that can replace learning this fundamental.
Take a look at this check list of reasons for keeping the heels down:
SAFETY
The biggest reason that the average rider needs to be able to keep their heels down is that it will help to keep them safe. And safety should be the number one concern of riding instructors.
One of the sensations we try to develop in riders is that of a lower center of gravity. A correctly “downed” heel will distribute the rider’s weight into the saddle and around the horse as opposed to on the ball of the foot.
And a downed heel keeps the rider in the saddle when sudden moves occur
SECURITY
“heels down = weight down = more security in the saddle”. Less unnerving wobbling. Wobbling causes students to feel very insecure.
BALANCE – prevents balance from pivoting on the ball of the foot
SEAT - all of the above allow the rider to develop a more secure seat
AIDS – helps the rider to use the leg and weight aids better because the leg is trained to be longer and steadier
Picture this – your student is out on a trail when her horse leaps to the side because a plastic grocery bag that’s stuck in a bush, flaps in the wind. Her heels come up, her weight goes up, her hands go up and the horse effectively steps out from under her. Or her heels go down, weight stays down, hands stay down and she rides out the spook that would have otherwise landed her on the ground.
Or picture this- Your student is learning to post . Trotting along the rail the lesson horse does a sudden strong downward transition ( not unheard of in lesson horses). Do your student’s heels come up and she flops forward on the horse’s neck or worse, falls off? Or do the solidly down heels anchor the student so that she unceremoniously plops back into the saddle.
In either case the rider with the heels down is safer, avoids injury, and just as important, avoids a blow to self confidence. The heels up rider pivots off the ball of the foot, loses balance forward, and even if she doesn’t fall off, receives a blow to her confidence making the experience very unpleasant. And very unnecessary.
And while I’ll agree with anyone who wants to make a case that other forces are involved in these two scenarios, I maintain that the first line of defense when wanting to avoid accidents, insecure riders and strikes against the confidence, is to develop “heels down” in your students.
Safety, security, balance, seat and aids are 5 crucial building blocks necessary to develop riders who love what they do and want to move forward in knowledge and experience. Without any one of these 5 building blocks, the forward progress door is slammed in the rider’s face.
Explain to your students why having heels down is important. You’ll engage their minds in the development process and your students will make better progress. Keeping heels down is a basic that should to be taught from the first day your student mounts up and it should continue without compromising. Heels need to be watched and corrected at every riding stage. Since it is a “basic”, its proper use will be effective at all levels.
Excerpt from “Basic and Building Blocks- Curriculum for Equestrians” copyright 2010
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Thanks! I look forward to the next installments.
When I was learning to ride, my heels would look great, but my weight wasn’t in them as I would pinch somewhere in my leg (first knees, then back of calf, etc.). Are there other exercises other than testing your balance a la Self or “Teaching Safe Horsemanship” to really get the weight in the heels? Or is two point really the only one?
This is a bit OT, but as to two-point vs “jumping position”, how come some delineate between the two and some instructors don’t? Does that come from the extreme forward hunter school? The kids get really confused when we have different instructors. Maybe a subject for another post? And does it affect the distribution of weight in the heel?
Hi Julie,
You ask the best questions. “Heels Down” has got to be as much a feeling as an action and there has to be a mental understanding or agreement that it’s important or else it becomes a mechanical effort, like you mentioned. Stiff ankles, as in cocked ankles or toes pulled, up set the stage for stiff joints over fences. The ankle is the first angle that has to close in jumping and it needs to be flexible and springy. This can’t be done very well if a person rides only a few times a week unless they add some off the horse exercises. That gives the continuity of exercise that most physical changes require. Some of these exercises will be in the next couple of blog posts.
Are you referring to the “The Importance of Balance” on pg 67 of “Teaching Safe Horsemanship”? “Standing up and balancing” is a good exercises as long as the rider’s knee remains bent and they are not perched on the pommel. It helps to give the rider the feel of weight sinking into the heels.
As an instructor I use two point to cure many problems and you’re right, it’s one of the best exercises for heels. And this is one of the places that using a neck strap or grabbing mane is way more helpful than leaning on the neck. How can a rider get weight sinking into the heels if the weight is sinking into their hands? But there are also exercises that help to keep the ankle from becoming rigid.
As far as two point vs. jumping position and even vs galloping position….. galloping position was the original name and then instructors started to use the term jumping position in the days of Margaret Cabell Self. And then the name two point was born. Originally it was 3 names for basically the same thing. As the hunter show world developed two point became the position that we see that is halfway between sitting and jumping position. It’s more of a jumping position with the hip opened and the upper body stretched up. The purpose of any of these positions is to keep the rider from bumping the horse’s back and upsetting his balance. Before the eventing world went to the short format with the tight turns and changing paces that we have now, riders rode the majority of the course in galloping/jumping position in order not to disturb the horse’s rhythm or upset his balance, consequently giving the horse the best opportunity to avoid fatigue.
Some instructors believe that there is a difference in the position used on the flat (two point) and the actual position used over fences (jumping position) which may be what you’re running in to. If beginning riders are taught to jump from two point then there is no change in their position over small jumps. As the jumps get higher the only change is the closing of the hip angle. At some point the rider is stable enough to learn to approach the fence in a full seat or even a light seat and there is a bigger change from that to the position used over fences. But any difference (if any) between two point and jumping position would only be in the amount the hip angle is closed.
Using different instructors has it’s gifts and penalties. Try to turn this into a gift by teaching the kids how to ask good questions of the different instructors. It will help them in several ways. Learning that it’s ok to question something that you don’t understand will develop good speaking skills. And learning varying reasons and ways for things they are being taught will give them more tools in their arsenals. Both of these things will help them in Pony Club ratings because they’ll be both articulate and able to reason using critical thinking skills.
Thanks for your comments. I hope this helps
Thanks! You interpreted my questions perfectly.
I think that this is a great article. When I was first starting to ride I never really could get the hang of putting my heels down, and I didn’t think is was really important. No matter how often my instructor told me too I never really tried. That was until my horse took a big jump and I immediately fell over his neck. Ever since I have always made a point of it, but I know many do not. That is why I think that this is a great article!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your comments. I’m a firm believer that we’re more likely to do something if we know why it’s important. Having heels down seems like such a minor thing until you find out what can happen when your heels aren’t secure!
Thanks for your comments and thanks for reading The Riding Instructor
Barbara