Heels Over Fences?

[springgreypony]

Hi everyone! First off, I appreciate you for taking the time to read this, so thank you. :)

Recently, I have been struggling with my form over fences and was hoping that my fellow COTHers may have some wisdom to share. I am currently riding in the hunters but I long to do the adult equitation. My coach thought it would be nice to get the hang of everything in the hunters first as it is a tad less intimidating, which I totally understand.
However, regardless of the class I train for, my position isn’t as I would like it, especially my heels! I have been working on every other part of my form, but would greatly appreciate any advice with my heels.

My heels are extremely far down and turned all the way in. Like, seriously. Out of the small amount of photos I have, you can see the sole of my boot facing right towards you. It is way too far down, and definitely too far turned out, also meaning that I accidentally add too much leg over the fence. (Not consistently wearing spurs while jumping, but when/if I do, I do not want to spur my horse over the jump either.) When I try to turn it out and really focus on it, my heel looks at a perfect angle. However, it causes my leg to slip back. So, how can I turn my heel out without having my leg slip back and/or pinching with the knee?

I would greatly appreciate any advice, tips, tricks or knowledge! Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.

[paw]

Two things: lose the stirrups for awhile (the jumps don’t have to be high), and don’t think “heels down”, but rather “toes up”. Also, remember this - equitation is less about how deep your heels are and more about how quiet and effective your leg can be.

[horseshorseshorseshorses]

I have the exact issue. I rode eq as a kid and switched to eventing as an adult. When I stand my feet point out evenly at about a 20-30 degree angle, I walk from outside heel to inside toe and I can do 1st and 2nd position from ballet without stretching. When I was a kid I would get rubs from my leathers wrapping around my shins. At the time I learned to roll my ankles just the right way to create the illusion that my toes are facing forward. Don’t do that. It hurts.

What I’ve done over the years is learn why I am so toe out and work to correct it. My confirmation causes my toe out from the knee and hip. I do a lot of stretching to open up my hip angle. Between highschool and graduating university I did social dancing. That taught me how to walk correctly and slowly I started to have better riding form. Also during that time I learned about dressage, started to ride with a longer stirrup and did a lot of no stirrup/bareback riding. After collage I have continued to do the same but added jumping back into the mix.

I definitely still wear the back of my boots more than the average rider and when I get tense my toes point out at almost a 90 degree angle but is better. When I am relaxed my toes point almost forward both in my jump and dressage saddle. I attached some photos to show what I mean. The first was before I started learning dressage, second is my form when my legs are relaxed and the third is what happens when things go wrong (that jump is 2’6” and clearly had a horse eating rabbit under it).

Best of luck!

[springgreypony]

@paw

Two things: lose the stirrups for awhile (the jumps don’t have to be high), and don’t think “heels down”, but rather “toes up”. Also, remember this - equitation is less about how deep your heels are and more about how quiet and effective your leg can be.

Got it, thank you so much! I will try thinking of “toes up” next time. I will definitely try some no-stirrup work as well. Thank you!

@horseshorseshorseshorses

I have the exact issue. I rode eq as a kid and switched to eventing as an adult. When I stand my feet point out evenly at about a 20-30 degree angle, I walk from outside heel to inside toe and I can do 1st and 2nd position from ballet without stretching. When I was a kid I would get rubs from my leathers wrapping around my shins. At the time I learned to roll my ankles just the right way to create the illusion that my toes are facing forward. Don’t do that. It hurts.

What I’ve done over the years is learn why I am so toe out and work to correct it. My confirmation causes my toe out from the knee and hip. I do a lot of stretching to open up my hip angle. Between highschool and graduating university I did social dancing. That taught me how to walk correctly and slowly I started to have better riding form. Also during that time I learned about dressage, started to ride with a longer stirrup and did a lot of no stirrup/bareback riding. After collage I have continued to do the same but added jumping back into the mix.

I definitely still wear the back of my boots more than the average rider and when I get tense my toes point out at almost a 90 degree angle but is better. When I am relaxed my toes point almost forward both in my jump and dressage saddle. I attached some photos to show what I mean. The first was before I started learning dressage, second is my form when my legs are relaxed and the third is what happens when things go wrong (that jump is 2’6” and clearly had a horse eating rabbit under it).

Best of luck!

Oh alright! I will have to see how my conformation affects my riding; that’s a good idea I will definitely look into. Thank you for all of your advice! I really appreciate it and will be using it. Also, your form over fences is amazing! I can see the difference when you are relaxed- I am hoping to have my leg look like that someday.

[kateh]

I have the same tendency, I think in part because of my ankles. I have a tendency to keep the weight on the inside of my foot instead of across the whole ball, and when I did try to even it out, it would feel like my ankle had to crack but couldn’t, or the outside of my calf would be incredibly painful. A friend recommended athletic taping, and I started taping the outside of my ankle and calf, which I feel like gave me just enough support to build up to a straighter foot.

[173north]

I have an old tendency to jam my heels down which locks my ankle and makes my leg tense. What works best for me is thinking ‘weight on the ball of my foot.’

If my heel is already too far down, whether that’s because I’m naturally conformed that way or because I’ve been trained into it, ‘toe up’ doesn’t actually change the angle of my foot. But if my heel is way down and I put my weight onto the ball of my foot, my heel comes UP to a more normal position, and my leg stays active and relaxed.

I just looked at a video still from a lesson last week and my foot is maybe on a 7 to 10 degree angle between fences and basically parallel with the ground over the fence - that’s really all you need. Might be worth taking a peek at the photos from COTH’s coverage of the 2019 Maclay finals. Over fences, these riders heels are really just a smidgen below their toes: https://www.chronofhorse.com/article…pionship-win-2

[DawgLady]

As a chronically flat-footed rider, I definitely don’t have this problem! However, I just want to suggest that you try lengthening your stirrups. When you say “my heels are extremely far down,” I hear “my stirrups are too short.”

Maybe post a picture to give us some reference?

[no.stirrups]

In addition to the above, a saddle with a narrower twist may help. A twist too wide pushes the knees away from the saddle and then the lower leg gets too tight to compensate, a twist too narrow can cause a rider to pinch with the knees and then the lower leg is loose. A happy medium (different fro everyone) allows the leg even pressure the whole way down.