5 Reasons, 5 Helps, & 5 Exercises for Heels Down

Keeping the heels down is one of many building blocks required to create a solid riding foundation. If care is 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.

5 Reasons it’s Important for a Rider to Ride with “Heels Down.”

1. Safety
Technically, all the reasons for having the heels down contribute to rider safety, our number one concern with beginners. But in the simplest terms, if the heel is lower than the toe, the rider’s foot is less apt to slide deeply into the stirrup.
2. Seat-Lower center of gravity
We try to develop the sensation of a lower center of gravity in riders. 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. One of our goals is to teach the rider to carry their weight lower on the horse as apposed to carry it between their shoulder blades.
3. Balance
A rider who balances on the toe and does not have their weight sunk into their heels will continuously lose their balance unless their stirrups are excessively long. (Excessively long stirrups are another problem altogether)
4. Security
“Heels down = weight down = more security in the saddle.” It reduces Wobbling. Wobbling causes students to feel very insecure.
And a downed heel helps keep the rider in the saddle when sudden moves occur.
5. Aids
A downed heel helps the rider to use their leg and weight aids more effectively because the leg is trained to be longer and steadier

Picture this – your student is out on a trail when her horse spies a plastic grocery bag stuck in a bush and flopping in the wind. The horse leaps to the side. Her heels come up, her weight goes up, her hands go up and she parts company with her horse.. Or her heels go down, weight and hands stay down, and she rides out the spook.

Or picture this– Your student is learning to post . Trotting along the rail the lesson horse stumbles. 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,  loses her balance and feels out of control, making the experience unpleasant. And 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.

5 Sources of Good Heels (aside from good instruction and continual nagging 🤠)
1. Sitting Correctly:
Student must sit correctly in a balanced position. The optimum spot is over their own feet.  You can tell if a rider is sitting over their feet because at the walk and halt there will be a straight line from the ear through the shoulder through the hip through the heel.
2. Good Posture

In order to have good heels, the rider needs to sit up. When a rider rounds the back or rolls onto the buttocks and slops the shoulders down, it becomes difficult to stretch the heels down, When the slouch occurs, the muscles are blocked from allowing the weight to sink into the heels.
3. Correct Saddle Fit

For a rider to sit correctly, the saddle must fit the rider and the horse, and it must be in the correct spot on the horse. The rider needs to sit in the deepest part of the saddle, right behind the pommel.
4. Stirrup Adjustment

If the stirrups/stirrup leathers are adjusted too long the rider will reach for the stirrups with their toes and be unable to lower their heels. Properly adjusted stirrups encourage the angles of the hip, knee and ankle to flex, and will allow your rider to drop their heels lower than their toes. The rule of thumb for correct adjustment for a beginning English rider is for the bottom of the stirrup to touch the middle or lower part of the ankle bone, when the feet are both out of the stirrups.  As the rider develops a deeper seat, they can ride with a longer stirrup and still keep their heels down.
5. Practice
Good riding develops with practice. There isn’t a good trade for time in the saddle, but with heels there are a few things your rider can do between lessons.
Bonus Source
It is easier for the rider to get their heels down, if their foot is properly positioned in the stirrup.

5 Exercises That Will Help Develop Heels Down
On the horse:
1. Ankle Circles

With feet out of stirrups have riders practice the same ankle circles that were described above.
2. Standing and Balancing

Have the rider hold the mane or neck strap and rise up in the stirrups, letting the weight sink into their heels.  Knees are slightly bent for shock absorbers.  Be sure the seat isn’t pulled forward onto the pommel.  This should be practiced at the walk and trot. This exercise has the added benefit of working on the rider’s balance and helping them to find their center.
At home or before mounting:
3. Stretch back Muscles and Hamstrings

Good old Toe Touches- stand up straight, roll forward and down slowly trying to touch the floor with your fingertips. Hold to a count of 12.  Roll up slowly.
4. Loosen Ankles and Stretch Calf Muscles

Sitting in a chair with calves vertical lift toe off floor by flexing ankle. Hold for a count on 12. Then release and lift the other toe.
5. I like reader Joyce’s explanation for number 5:
“An exercise I have found useful to my less flexible students is to stand with the balls of the feet on steps holding the railing. Bend your knees slightly and let your heels drop. Feel that lovely stretch in the calves? To take it a step further, slowly raise up slightly on your toes and then gently back into the heels down position. Be sure your feet aren’t going to slip off before doing this. For example: doing this in socks on wooden steps would be a BAD idea. There are plenty of reasons for tight calves including being a biker or a runner or simply wearing high heels most of the day.”

For more, detailed posts on heels down, problems with heels, and solutions:
Get Those Heels Down part 1, part 2, part 3,

Here’s to giving deep lessons to cooperative students,
Barbara Ellin Fox

TheRidingInstructor
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