Help keeping leg on in posting trot!

Alright you all,
I don't get to ride alot, but when I do, I work on the posting trot. We've (meaning my lesson horse, me, and my instructor) been working on this for about TWO YEARS now. I feel SO embarresed! TWO YEARS trying to get this down! Anyway. When I post, I post too high, and I'm working on that. But when I post, my legs end up real forward, and not in their usual place anymore, and my feet slide back so the stirrups are practically bracing against my heel. How can I keep my leg on while posting? Thanks so much!
Happy trails
~PasoFinoPower
(srry if this is so confusing!)

Take the stirrups away.

...yeah... but... I kinda need them to fix the problem... do you mean to not use them until I get it down? Thanks, though.

Paso - welcome to my world. I think I have personally driven my trainer to serious drink by my inability to keep my feet where they are supposed to be.

Try a few things - instead of worrying about keeping your heels down (if you push your heels down, your leg is much more likely to go forward) and think about lifting your toes. Also, keeping your heels down does not mean you have a 90 degree angle at your ankle.

If you are posting too high (and yes I have the pics that show me straight up out of the tack), think about going forward and back and swinging your hips. To do this, you need to relax your back and let the horse push you forward toward your pommel and then sit. As I am now 57, for some reason the simple mechanics of this escaped me for the longest time and I am now just being able to somewhat relax my back and go with the motion. My trainer is constantly telling me to bend my knees - that's the other part - foot and lower leg stay still, flex is from the hips and knees, kind of like doing squats with a little "dirty dancing".

Keeping your leg under you - think about a string that goes from your heel, to your hip to your shoulder. As you post, in a perfect world, every time you sit, that string from heel, to hip to shoulder is still in place.

Keep working at it and relax - yes, I know, not as easy as it sounds. Can you do lessons on a bouncier horse so you get the feel of the horse pushing you forward? Smooth schoolies don't help this issue. Ask me how I know!!!

Good luck! It will come!

That's exactly what I mean. It sounds to me as if in the process of getting your heels down, you are bracing against the stirrups and so your leg is coming forward. If you take the stirrups away, you can have your legs in the correct position (with a lot more work, but worth it!) and not have that happen.

2 exercises fix your problem bc they build the muscles that you don't have. First, balance in a half seat, all gaits.
Second, ride all gaits without stirrups.
MY Hunt Seat Instructor had my class post without stirrups, 3x around, both reins. We got strong, fast.

Thanks justashowmom! All these things helped me a lot! I'm so excited to show my instructor! I've been practicing the posting trot in my room with a chair as a horse (lol my only option right now) and I've been getting better with each time I do it! This helped me so much! Thanks for taking the time to reply, all of you.

Thanks everyone to replied! I don't have time to respond to everyone but I read all of em and I can't wait to see if I've got it down on my next lesson. Thank you again!