Heels Down; The horse riding basic that many riders and equestrians misunderstand

It’s probably one of the first things you were told on your first ride. It is also, for many riders, a misunderstood concept. The truth of ‘heels down’ is that once you can correctly master it, it is an absolute game-changer for everything else in your riding. It is that important.

How much your heel is down will depend on what you are doing at any given time. What doesn’t change is that the weight is dropped into the heel. Always.

It is a pretty easy thing to do. Heels down. And it is also one of the first things you should work on putting onto autopilot in your riding. Meaning that you don’t have to think about it. It just happens by itself.

Having heels down on autopilot will allow you to focus on your actual communication with your horse.

Heels down are easily visualized. If someone tells you to put your heels down, you know what they are talking about and what they want you to do. Compare this with ‘allow the weight to drop into your heels’. Come again?! And this is why riding instructors use the term ‘heels down’ when working with novice riders.

However, I want you to begin to understand that it is the weight dropping into your heel that is important. Your heels down is a result of you allowing weight to drop into your heels.

But again, when you are initially starting out on the riding journey, ‘sitting’ in your saddle. Foot firmly in your stirrup due to the level of mental comfort it provides; the question is often "what weight?!  I’m sitting down in the saddle!”. As you dive more into your position and posture as a rider, you begin to understand that there is carrying and a draping that happens through your body. A balance between elongating and simply allowing.

The degree of heels down can certainly change. In fact, I can bet that it will depend on the set of circumstances you find yourself in at any given time.

What shouldn’t change is the fact that the weight is dropped into your heels.