Heels down, Toes in

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gnubee

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After seeing some recent photos of me riding, I have realised just how appaling my foot position is. There are a couple where it looks ok (probably taken when I was thinking about sitting correctly) but the rest look better suited to some hideous ballet. My ankles look positively deformed in some of them.

So... does anyone know of any tips/tricks/exercises to help establish a more consistent lower foot position? Perhaps even just tips to help me remember to keep them right more of the time. I didn't think remembering would be so difficult, but I noticed the problem at weekend, got home from my lesson tonight, and realised not once did I think about my wonky feet.
 
Relax !!! and breathe , I was having the same trouble some work on the longe helped me
I was tense and gripping up just sitting helped as did riding without stirups...
 
Probably non stirrup work would help ..... in that you would like your leg as long as possible and all the weight down into your heel .... If your turning your toe away from the shoulder your also turning your leg away from the contact of your horse .

So remembering to keep that contact .... Toes in towards horses shoulder and drop weigh down into your heel .

Even as you trot around ... repeat out load if necessary :D ;)

Col x
 
Work without stirrups helped me, and when i was riding a horse i didnt feel comfortable doing that with i lengthened them, that made me relax into the stirrup more and corrected my foot positioning.
 
Was always told to put heels down, towns up, but after having lots of lessons lately, my instructor has told be to put my heels up, toes down. She reckons the fact my heels are so far down, telling me to put my heels up will me me correct eventually. She also said to pretend i'm kneeling in trot, and that really worked. You should try it and let me know, the kneeling really did work.
 
I do quite a bit with no stirrups, but even then I find that I naturally sit with my toes out and down, and have to consciously fix them.
I think I might be naturally pigeon toed!

Will try to think about keeping the weight in my heels though, and repeating it to myself out loud might help as long as I remember to start once I've got on. I would hope it will happen more naturally once I get into the habit of doing it.
 
Queenarmiardilo,, Really try the kneeling in trot, when you go up and down, just pretend that you are kneeling, easier said that done,couldn't balance properly, but it does work, your not gripping with your knees, just up and down, more forward body position, probably need laura, my instructor to show you, but she's in Ireland. ww.connectedhorsemanship.com
She's some lady to teach!!!!!

PM me and i will explain it in full
 
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What I find helps my pupils is imagining that they are pointing their heels at horse's hind feet, while pointing their knees downwards:)
Don't worry about pointing toes though - once your leg is in the right place, your toes will be too.
 
For me it helps not to think "heels down", but rather to think of letting the weight of my leg drop down through my knee, sounds strange but thinking of it that way means that I don't tense up my legs trying to force my heel down. As for toes in, I'm no help, I look like an equine ballerina - well my feet do.
 
I always think just toes up, so then my heels automatically drop :)

Other way to do it is to keep your knee pointing forwards so your lower leg will automatically follow :)


work without stirrups helps too, but be careful not to grip with your lower leg as then your heel will come up :p
 
I have the same problem, I find turning my toes in actually painful though!:eek: I think it's because I have banjaxed knees, as a result of having flat feet and rolling my weight to the inside of my foot when I walk - that's my theory anyway:o

An old instructor told me to think of letting my knee drop as opposed to pushing heels down as I was fixing my lower leg, which I found helpful:)
 
Spudlet said:
I have the same problem, I find turning my toes in actually painful though!:eek: I think it's because I have banjaxed knees, as a result of having flat feet and rolling my weight to the inside of my foot when I walk - that's my theory anyway:o
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Same here, it got to the point that RS said she wouldn't worry about toes in too much (as long as I wasn't taking the P) as the rest of my leg was in a good position without it. One thing I found really helped was those little velcro ties that attach your stirrups to your girth. I hate using them but I do have to grummbly admit they really help :p Can't remember the name of them though as RS had a knock off pair! ;)
 
I ride with my toes pointing out too - instructor tries all sort of things but best one was when she told me to pretend I'm 'searching' for my stirrups (like when I first get on) but for the whole of the lesson.. It does help and she doesn't have to shout as much..
 
I'm another one who used to do this. I found that if you lift your legs away from the saddle, sit yourself on the 3 points of your seat, then place your legs back with your inner thigh next to the saddle, your knees and toes will automatically be in the correct position. You may need to make a point of stopping several times during your schooling session to do this exercise again + put yourself back into position, but before long your legs will be in the correct position automatically.
 
Difficult to explain without seeing but does it help if you ride with a loose knee and lower leg so you can't grip, this will make your lower leg less tense and so will be more effective when you use it, I wouldn't worry too much about having your heels totally down as it can make for tension, I've always been told it doesn't matter if your foot is level in the stirrup as long as your foot/leg is straight. I like to think of it as keeping my ankles loose. Thats just for dressage/flatwork. For jumping I've been told you need to have a v strong and secure lower legs with the heel lower for security, it may help if you have a shorter stirrup length too, again if you ride with a loose knee it makes the lower leg more effective.
 
Toes out is usually because your thigh is in the incorrect position. The inside of your thigh should be against the saddle and the inside of your lower leg (not your calf). If you open your hips and turn your upper legs inwards your toes (and heels) should be in the correct position. Simply turning your toes in will do nothing for you :(

You may also find that in doing this you need to drop your stirrups a hole or two as it really does alter everything :)
 
Like everyone else has said, lots of non-stirrup work, but what helped me with the 'toes in' part is.. When sitting at home watching TV, or standing in a queue, anywhere really.. Jst stand with your toes facing inwards to stretch the back muscles in your legs and to teach them to start stretching properly.
Not sure if any of that makes sense, im tired :P but its helped me out alot, and i now have the heels down toes in knees out position ive always wanted :) x
 
When I was younger (many moons ago!!) my old instructor told me to imagine i was a ballerina and balance on my little toe. It worked as it atuomaticllay makes your foot forward rather than out to the side!
 
Similar to Charlie007 - my instructor told me to imagine all my weight was on my little toes. Worked wonders for me - shame it took 30 years to be given that little gem :D

Incidently my old instructor (she taught me to ride originally so I blame her for everything!) constantly informs me my feet are a disaster and look like elephants ears - oops!
 
I was told as a kid that toes in and heels down was the way to ride. But someone else (I think Mary Wanless) says that thats mechincally incorrect and instead you should think about heels out and toes up as this uses the muscles differently and puts less strain on the ankle. It certainly seems more natural to me and helps to keep the contact with the horse better.
 
jenhunt said:
I was told as a kid that toes in and heels down was the way to ride. But someone else (I think Mary Wanless) says that thats mechincally incorrect and instead you should think about heels out and toes up as this uses the muscles differently and puts less strain on the ankle. It certainly seems more natural to me and helps to keep the contact with the horse better.
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This analagy works for me too, however, I think my knees are not on right as I need to bury my knees into the saddle inorder to achieve this!
 
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