I’ve definitely changed this, this picture is about two years old now and is an example of me in a hunt saddle, not currently riding in a dressage saddle 
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Actually, I think the heels down mantra is counter-productive for someone moving over from hunter/jumpers. In dressage the weight should flow down the leg, yes, but pushing it down into the heel, or really having a toes up/heels down tendency will result in bracing against the stirrup and tightening in the knees and hips. I’ve had to relearn this myself as a former western equitation rider who could jam my heels down with the best of them. A light push down into the stirrup with the ball of the foot to keep from loosing the stirrup is all that’s needed, then the hips and knees can stay light and springy, and stirrup pressure can be added as a new aid to influence movement. Think more of pointing the kneecaps downward, keeping the hip open and the pelvis continually moving forward in space, rather than leading with the head/shoulders.
OP, taking the leg off and fluffing it back down repeatedly helps. But if you are weak in your core as you say, I would work on that, paying special attention to symmetry. of strength and balance and hip mobility.
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I find toes up, or heels down, to be counterproduct to what actually needs to be done, which has nothing to do with the feet.
it’s all about the ankles, and the leg above it.
Toes up often leads to pulling toes up and losing the stirrup, as well as be inflexible.
Heels down often leads to shoving weight down and creating an inflexible ankle
ALL disciplines should have weight flowing down through the heel, Hunters, Jumpers, Dressage, WP, all of them. Even if you’re riding in a situation where your feet are “home” in the stirrups, your weight is still moving down through your heels.
If your leg is doing what it’s supposed to - rotated from the hip appropriate for the saddle and work being done, ankle supple but with appropriate tension, not gripping with your knee, ear/shoulder/hip/heel reasonably properly stacked, then the feet and heels end up doing whatever your conformation and level of suppleness allow
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I find I get jammed when I think heels down. I imagine “long leg, tall, through the calf” and bam my weight ends up where it needs to be.
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I don’t disagree! I have bionic feet/ankles so i forget that my problems aren’t everyone else’s 
I do have to force my heels down just to get them level.
I found this response very helpful, thank you. You’re spot on. I just need to find a way to mimic ROM through my ankles. Thank you for the food for thought!
standing with your heels off the back of a step to gently work on stretching all the back side things is one exercise.
If you can kneel on the ground (towel under your knee if needed), put one leg forward like you’re getting ready to stand up. Rock slowly forward so your knee pushes past your toes, as best you can. That back and forth motion is great for ankle mobility.
Standing, lift your heel of one foot and rotate it in a circular motion, slowly, 10-20 times or so, and then reverse.
“Heel sits” are great too. Your feet will be fully extended so you’re sitting your butt on your heels, top of your foot on the ground. If it bothers your knees, wedge some towels between your thighs and calves, sort of like a baseball catcher’s wedge.
All those things help with flexibility and mobility in the vertical plane
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Height has nothing to do with the stirrup length…I am shorter that a lot of my clients but I am all leg so they usually have to shorten the stirrups a hole or two when I have been in their saddle! Felicitas von Neumann Cosel has some great tips on her FB for position etc.
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I know
When I first get on, I ride at the walk for 10 minutes with no irons. Yeah, I only do this on Miss Mare the Brave and not Sir Spooksalot.
It really helps me lengthen my leg.
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noob. love that word.
Hahah same!
Riding is still getting better. Only one this weekend but the canter was much better from the waist down. Upper body is better but arms are still everywhere. Sitting trot was much improved, I did some quad stretches after I mounted and then rode without stirrups for the first several minutes. Next weekend all three days are available in the morning so I’ll be doing that. I did get some pictures and no, my stirrup is definitely not long, in fact it looks hunter appropriate still as far as I can tell. I must have really had them jacked up… Still looking perchy at times at the posting trot, this pictures shows it, but overall I’m getting better.
As far as the feet thing… for me, its not heels down or toe up, its just visualizing the same weight distribution in both my feet as if I were standing square on flat ground. It helps me stop focusing on my hip and thigh (and therefore getting tight and clothespin-like, and demonstrating the pernicious “creeping knee,”) to center myself over the horse’s spine and stay there, and to be able to drape and use my lower leg appropriately.
There’s a YouTube channel called, I think, myridingsuccess, with an Australian gal, who has some very clear demonstrations and visuals of all this. She’s a bit loud and over the top, but she knows her stuff, and I’ve found her very helpful.
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