Let me see your perfect riding position….
If you’re in any lesson program you probably hear this all the time. Heels down, eyes up. Quiet hands, foot under you. But what does it all mean and why is it so important? What if you ride a different discipline? Let’s break it down.
In this photo the rider is using her spur to push the horse forward, so her heel is raised. However when her leg is relaxed the heel will be lower than the toe.
Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up. Before we jump in, I want you to know most of this is true for any discipline you ride. There may be some exceptions though so I will try to note them when they come up.
Feet
In your most perfect riding position your heels should be lower than your toes and your toes should be pointing forward toward your horse’s face. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, you’ll notice when your heels are down that your foot doesn’t slide so much in the saddle. Secondly, you’ll be less likely to get your foot caught in the stirrup in case of an emergency. And finally, you won’t poke your horse in the ribs with your spurs every step (if you wear them). So really stretch those heels down as far as you can.
Legs
In every riding sport we want your knees bent. How much will depend on the discipline. The longest legs will be in western pleasure, reining, and dressage. Shorter stirrups are used for trail riding, jumping, or cross country. And the shortest for racing. However, in every sport (except cutting a trail) we want your ankles directly below your hip. If your ankle is in front of your hip you’ll be likely to fall backward or have your center of gravity too far back in the saddle. In sports that your horse often drops their shoulders, like cutting, we want your leg in front of you to actively keep you in the back of the saddle.
Seat
Tuck your tailbone just a little so your core can engage. Your hips are your greatest shock absorbers in the saddle. If your tail is out behind you you lose those shock absorbers. Our goal in every discipline is to get you glued to that saddle so that there is never any air between your seat and your horse’s back. The best way to do this is to really tuck your tail.
Shoulders
Even though your tail is tucked we want to see a nice long back. Keep your upper back straight and roll your shoulders back and down, imagine pinching your shoulder blades together. This will keep you sitting tall and balanced no matter what your horse does. If you are reining or doing any kind of cow work, you may find it helpful to keep your back more rounded so that you can keep your center of gravity low. One more thing about shoulders. In most sports we want your shoulders centered above your hips which are above your ankles. No sport wants your shoulders behind your hips, though some want them just a bit in front. For example, when jumping (see image below), you’ll want your center of gravity high and forward to help your horse carry you over the jumps. Be careful though, that when you bring your shoulders forward you keep your tailbone tucked.
Arms
Whether you ride one handed or two, you want to think of your hands as extensions of your core, not your shoulders. This will make your hands both stronger and more quiet. Keep a bend in your elbows so that your hands can be elastic and move with your horse. Imagine you are holding glasses of water and trying not to let them spill. Hold your hands as quietly as you can.
Hands
This is the weird one for a lot of new riders. If you are riding two handed, make a fist around the rein. The side connected to your horse’s mouth should be coming out of the pinky end of your fist. Thumbs up like you’re holding ice cream cones. Now the weird part. Put your pinky finger underneath the rein. This is because your ring finger is a lot more strong and dextrous, so you’ll have much more control with that finger than with your pinky. If you are riding one handed first make sure you have the right bit (that’s a whole different blog post), then hold both reins evenly in your non dominant hand with your thumb pointed toward your horses face, back of your hand toward the sky. Put your pointer finger gently between the two reins.
Head
Where you look is where you land, so keep those eyes up and looking where you want to go. I like to imagine there are balloons hovering at eye height along my path, or those floating gold coins from video games. I’m looking at those, not the ground.
This rider is in a perfect jumping position.
I hope this helps you understand what your trainer is asking for when they ask for your perfect riding position. Next time you are warming up your horse do a little body scan. Start at your toes and work your way to your head, fixing your position as you go. Maybe have someone take photos or video so you can see what you actually look like in the saddle. Often our heels aren’t as low as we think!
Notice this rider’s heel, hip, shoulder alignment.