AMA: Is The Notion Of “Heels Down” For Rider Safety Only?
I understand the notion of ‘heels down’ for rider safety reasons. But is there anything else to it?
“‘Put your heels down!’ is a heard frequently in equitation lessons, not simply because this command produces a certain look, but because it causes the rider to be more securely fixed on his horse and gives him a position from which he can be more effective.
When a rider’s heels are down, he has allowed his weight to drop as far as it can and, consequently, he’ll be much less likely to fall off than a person who doesn’t exert this downward pressure.
It is important that the weight not only be distributed downward, but also that it be distributed equally on each side of the horse. When a rider leans down to one side, causing his weight to shift off the horse’s center, he is apt to fall off on the side he is leaning toward if the animal suddenly moves in the other direction.
If he remains in the center of his horse, however, he’ll be able to stay on through balance and become unseated unless the horse has a major mishap, such as falling or rolling over.
The concept of staying on through balance and downward weight distribution becomes clearer if the rider is compared to a sack of grain laid over a donkey’s back. The bag of grain has no muscle to hold it on and only stays in place because the grain has settled equally on each side of the donkey. So it is with a rider who sits in the middle of his horse and does not allow his weight to shift more to one side than the other.”
– By Anna Jane White-Mullin
This excerpt is from “Judging Hunter and Hunt Seat Equitation“, available from Trafalgar Square books.
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