WHY HEELS DOWN and not UP?

I have always, always heard heels down and never anything else. There are several reasons but the main one for me is simply that if you have your heel down, you are much, much more balanced.

At my last lesson my instructor wanted me to move my leg back further, less of what looks like a chair seat. In doing this she said that I should be posting from my calf. I get the "heels down" thing, do the best I can but can't really figure out the posting from the calf. She said if you are doing it right your calves should be burning some. Can anyone clarify this?

people are more balanced with their heels down, they even make shoes now that lower your heel bc even walking & running you are more balanced

I think what should happen here is "Her of the indoors" should take a video of Barry riding in the ring and outside of all of to us see exactly how well his horse responds.........It is after all about the horse not the rider......

you want to be posting from your calves, yes. you do NOT want to be posting from your stirrups and an easy way to tell if you are is to simply take away your stirrups. you will then see if your struggling to post, its because you are used to using your stirrups to post instead of from your calves. you know if you're posting from your calves if you can post pretty decently without them. you want to post with your calves and thigh. when you're posting, your thigh should be moving forward and your hips should be moving forward. i remember this from a book, but picture yourself riding with just a pair of boxers on. when you are posting, the only part of your leg that should be moving is those boxers. moving your thighs and hips forward. you shouldn't be balancing off your stirrups and if you are, people watching you will easily see that because they can see you pushing off your stirrups and there is just a lot of leg movement going on :)

does that make sense at all? it takes a lot of leg muscle, i can guarantee you that!

G&K
No chance of any photos - there's just no way I could look glamourous, handsome,slim, masculine, sauve, gentlemanly, young, elegant, sophisticated, poised, debonair, charming, etc etc etc. It is best you ladies all use your imagination.

But I'll tell you anyway.
In the arena, from nice rythmic walk, up thru to working trot, including sitting trot - then heels down maybe 95% of the time. My back nice and upright,head up, me trying to concentrate on looking "correct" - after all there will be others watching critically.
I'll probably be looking slightly head down through the horse's ears.
One skittish shy from DiDi at something passing by and those heels will be up as soon as a wink.

Out in the lanes - depends on DiDi's mood. If she is feeling sharp or skittish then heels will be flat at walk & trot but after the first two or three shys, then those heels will be up and that body weight down thru the balls of the feet onto those stirrup bars waiting for the next shy which can be caused by anything from a paper bag to a bird flying up from a bush.
(DiDi did her first whirl and bolt this week - the chamomile and valerian makes no difference - I'll have to up the dose)

At the collected canter over uneven terrain, for sure I'll be up on those stirrups, leaning slightly forward over the centre of gravity with only a light seat in the saddle. Knees will be locked into knee rolls. All Littauer forward style.
There will be noone watching and I'll feel safe and confident as and when that Girlie DiDi is wrapped between my thighs. My heels - well I can't see from where I am sitting, so who cares.

As has already been written eloquently by others, the heels are not so important - it is the disposition of body weight and the dispersal of the forces of motion which count from utilising the shock absorbers of the ankles, knees and hips and the toes.
I am not so worried about what I look like - what concerns me is whether I can still sit and control the horse. Currently the big issue is to stay relaxed whilst sitting on a time bomb.

Sadly what applies to me is an auld english expression - "you can't teach an old dog new tricks".

Barry G

no matter how many "facts" there are on "the rotation of the sole and heel of your foot" and all that stuff, when u ride its simply heels down. Reasons...
1. Balence
2. If u fall off ur foot slips out easier and u dont get dragged along like a rag-doll
3. It is the correct way to ride, and the leg aids u give r more clear

Well, I could come back with a REALLY sarcastic comment on the correct way to spell

But I'm too nice for that, so I'll just say that - in ANY activity, not just riding - saying "this is the correct way" without giving any sort of reason just isn't an effective way of helping me to learn. I do much better when I can see the WHY of what I'm trying to accomplish.

IMO, "Heels down" has absolutely nothing to do with the ankle and everything to do with the leg.

My coach usually refers to a 'deep heel' and a 'deep leg'. She doesn't care about ankle flexion, and everything to do with weight and muscle relaxation. You want your legs dropping down from a relaxed hip, right down to the ground. Stirrups are simply there to 'catch' your downwards motion, so they stop the toe but allow the heel to keep going. Does that make sense?

That's why it's easier to keep your heels down after a long time no stirrups. No stirrups relaxes your leg (as it gives it room to stretch/fall naturally), and adding the stirrups creates a lifted toe/deep heel.

As for why, it's about balance. Personally, I used to ride with really cramped legs. My hips were tight, my hamstrings were tight... my knees were practically up around ears my leg was so scrunched up. I couldn't stretch it down though. I used to stand in my stirrups, balancing over my toes with all my weight in the ball of my foot. This was not good. I had really bad balance problems. I would use my stirrup/ball of my foot to leverage myself out of the saddle, which gave me no stability what so ever. My center of gravity would be waaay too far forward, and if the horse ever took a step wrong I would go flying up the neck.

My coach started giving me lunge lessons no stirrups, stretch exercises, lots of no stirrup work and lots of work on the two-point on the flat. Hips relaxed, legs lengthened, my hamstring relaxed and my entire leg dropped down. With my leg dropping, my center of gravity dropped down as well and I became much more balanced. I felt like I was actually cemented to the horse, and riding became MUCH easier.

In short, it's easier to ride correctly with a long relaxed leg.

GeminiJumper,
That makes sense posting from your calf now - I will try that today. We don't ever do stirrupless riding (green horse) but I will give it a try. thanks for the clarity.