Heels down over fences- struggling to do so

[anmoro]

I am hoping everyone on here can offer me some insight and/or exercises to help with newest bad habit.

I took several years off from jumping and just started doing so again (very recently). I’m taking lessons with a great H/J/Eq trainer who is really helping to fix the bad habits I developed over the last few years.

The one I cannot seem to break (probably because I don’t realize I’m doing it) is my heels coming up while I’m in jump position over the fence. I keep my heels down on approach, take off and landing but they seem to pop up while over the fence.

I’m not standing on my toes or reaching, we adjusted my stirrups, etc. Im not falling flat on the horses neck either. I have no idea why it is happening and when I focus so much on driving my heels down, I end up losing focus on the jump and my equitation goes to pot. Luckily I am only jumping tiny fences (2’3"), but I need to fix this issue fast or I won’t be able to progress.

Any exercises you all can suggest would be much appreciated.

[merrygoround]

Perhaps a lot of two point work on the flat will solidify your lower leg on the horse so that it doesn’t shift. Also don’t pinch with your knees, or allow your seat to come up too far out of the saddle.

All of this needs to worked at on the flat.

[SugarCubes]

Instead of thinking about driving your heels down before the jump, think of letting your weight sink down into your heels. If you “drive” them down, the ankle joint will be stiff and won’t absorb as much shock as if you just relax and let your weight sink down. This is a work in progress for me too, but when I think “sink into my heels” versus thinking “heels down”, I’m able to keep my ankle soft and therefore my heels stay down.

[HicksteadFan]

I have a jumping DVD by Tim Stockdale. (I know most show jumpers don’t have great position but this DVD is small jumps.) He said instead of thinking of leaning forward in the two point, just think as if you’re standing up. Instead of leaning your upperbody forward, push your butt out. This will keep you legs from swinging back and hopefully keep your heals lower. (This isn’t to say that you stand straight up and don’t bend over the horse’s neck. Pushing your butt out does that automatically for you).

And don’t feel discouraged. In my experience this is the most common problem hunter/jumpers have.

[triple]

In one line, forget every other part of your position other than just folding at the hips and pushing your bum backwards - as in just slide your a$$ back towards the cantle; your seat will naturally raise without you “standing” in your stirrups. If you focus on pushing back, your weight naturally transfers to the lower leg and heel thereby putting them into the correct position.

Coming from someone who had an awful habit when reaching a fence slightly wrong of just standing bolt upright and flinging my hands at the horse’s ears, I’ve found this to be the simplest bit of advice to correct such faults. There’s already so much to consider when jumping that trying to instigate a whole host of complicated position tweaks when you’re already half way over a fence is just not going to work!!

[PaintedHunter]

I have struggled with this, and here is what caused it for me: getting too far ahead and pinching with my knee, causing a pendulum action. I also have a habit of tensing my leg, causing my whole leg to come up. I worked on these, and my heels-downing improved drastically.

[blueribbons]

I found that gripping with my knees caused the exact issue you are describing. I didn’t have any issue with my heels on the approach or landing, but I tend to grab with my knees at the peak of the bascule, which forces my toes in and my heels up. I found that cantering a caveletti on a circle repetitively and thinking about wrapping my heels down and around the pony I was riding helped a lot. It also helped that he has a flamboyant jumping style, and it was really obvious to me when I was relaxed in my knees and when I wasn’t.

[SillyHorse]

In addition to keeping a TIGHT calf and pushing your butt back, think about landing “heels first.”

[Justice]

Try the Greg Best looped stirrups exercise. I am living in this set up this winter (although I am terrible at setting it up so hoping someone else will chime in). Currently have buckles biting my ankles. I have some major body control issues over the top of the jumps and a right leg that slides forward. My leg is fine without stirrups, strangely, and the looped stirrup exercise is to teach me to use my stirrups without bracing against one or the other… if you have unequal weight in a stirrup you will slide around.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

you may be slightly pinching with your knee or thigh over the top of the fence…that will lift the weight out of your heel (or block it from flowing down depedning on how you think about it).

If the saddle doesn’t fit me right…I do this as I’m fighting the balance point of the saddle a bit.

[Manahmanah]

Echoing that you are probably pinching the knee.

Something that works a lot when I tell people to do it is - place your inside ankle bone gently on the horse’s side and keep it there. This opens the knee without having the rider chant “knee knee knee” over and over again in their heads which can often lend itself to MORE knee pinching and tension.

[findeight]

Couple of things I learned. Getting your heels down is not just pushing down thru your Achilles tendons. That’s where we misunderstand what actually has to happen for those heels to go and stay down. They do NOT flex and go down independent of correct posture and weight distribution, the lower heel is a reflection of proper pisition and weight distribution.

You actually are sending your body weight from your head down thru your core, glutes, hammies and calf muscles. You are not just flexing your lower calf and tendon to push the heel down. If you are? They don’t stay down because no weight is anchoring them, that weight is going on knees, maybe reduced by throwing it forward with a leading shoulder pivoting on the knee.

So if your heels are not down and/or stay down? It’s everything else that needs to be fixed, not just lower calf and Achilles flexibility. Conversely, some people can flex really deep in the heels because it’s all lower calf and AT, they don’t have strong and correct position despite the uber flexed heel, it’s just flexed and not weight bearing.

I know that when I first really sank into my heels? My butt was sore for days, right up at the top of the hamstrings. When I rode, I was much tighter in the saddle from upper thigh down to the iron and my videos surprised me, almost no movement in lower leg, pretty solid despite not having a spectacularly deep heel. It doesnt have to be, it does have to be a product of correct, strong position. It really felt amazing when I finally got there.

All the things that usually come up, core strength, flexibility, Yoga or Pilates and wearing flat shoes instead of heels are what it takes+good instruction+ A saddle you don’t have to fight for position in+ a horse you are not afraid will kill you so you can relax=success in getting heel lower and weight bearing as well as staying there.

No Majikal quick fix.

[pryme_thyme]

Think Flinstone car brakes. That helped me atleast!

Thinking about keeping my weight down my calf through my heels because “I need to stop the car with my heal brakes” and make sure you think about butt to cantle.
Most times if you have you weight down before and after the fence but lose it over the fence it is because you have lost your centre of balance by jumping ahead and your crotch being too far up the saddle.

Two point over raised canter poles in a row will help stretch your weight down. But be sure to think butt back so you don’t tip yourself forward.

GL!

[Jaegermonster]

What is the looped stirrups exercise?

[BITSA]

My guess is you are jumping ahead of the horse (therefore pushing with your toes). I watched a Bernie Traurig video on equestriancoach.com that helped me, it was on leg position (on the flat). He talked about how with every canter stride, on the down, your heels sink. For a long time when I approached jumps I just would chant (in a rhythm) “heels, heels, heels” so I would feel them going down like shock absorbers. You have to be in a light enough seat that your heels feel the downward weight. That, and then wait, don’t jump ahead. Good luck

[ellevt]

I love what Triple said. Agree x 1000. You might also check your saddle fit. I struggled with this for a long time, and it changed almost overnight when I bought a new, larger saddle.

[BITSA]

I should have added. Make sure your foot is placed correctly in the iron. One the ball of the foot with the outside edge leading (so its most far forward at your little toe).

[anmoro]

Thank you all! Great advice. I’ll work on my two point for sure. As far as saddle fit, that is fine. I will admit that I’m riding in a County Stabilizer, which has a more centered point of balance versus the more traditional hunt seat saddles I was used too (old Crosby Hunterdon, Tad Coffin, etc). It feels different but very secure.

FWIW, I’m in this particular saddle because it is best for my horse. We went through several saddles before we found this. It’s very comfortable and I feel quite secure, but it is definitely different than what I’m used to

[snaffle635]

Skimmed through the responses, so apologies if this is a repeat.

You could try tying your stirrups to your girth. Be sure to use something that will break if you fall - like a flimsy spur strap or a thin piece of baling twine. Make sure your leg has enough swing, because this will feel just awful at first. Since your leg physically cannot swing back, it will help you feel exactly when your leg moves and will help your muscles learn where they should be. I spent an entire summer riding like that and it helped a lot.

I also spent several months with my trainer ‘shouting’ (I put that in parens because she never actually shouts) “HEELS” at the base of each jump. It’s a good reminder.

And, thinking ‘BUTT BACK’ on takeoff helps as well.

One last idea - what do you do with your elbows over the jump? I like to stick mine out like chicken wings, but when I let them drop gently along the sides of my horse’s neck, it helps everything else fall into place.

Good luck!!

[RugBug]

OP, I would wager you are pinching with your knee in the air. If you’re coming out of your heel, the support is going somewhere else and the most common place is the knee.

[QUOTE=Justice;7874054]
Try the Greg Best looped stirrups exercise. I am living in this set up this winter (although I am terrible at setting it up so hoping someone else will chime in). Currently have buckles biting my ankles. I have some major body control issues over the top of the jumps and a right leg that slides forward. My leg is fine without stirrups, strangely, and the looped stirrup exercise is to teach me to use my stirrups without bracing against one or the other… if you have unequal weight in a stirrup you will slide around.[/QUOTE]

Justice,

I have pictures of this.
Step 1

Step 2

Step 2 close up

Step 3

Step 3 different view

Over saddle close up

not sure that is helpful to you or the OP. I don’t think this would stop someone from lifting their heels…(as long as they did both at the same time and were pinching with their knees to stay on. )