Well when i canter I have to roll my sholders back, if you saw those pics you would know why. ;D

whoa! it looks like your horse is way over-jumping that jump! -but- i like the way your horse snaps up his knees over the jump!

I agree! Looks like you could point something at him even bigger! Fun fun!

I would try placing the ball of your foot on the stirrup, and tipping your toes up for better balance. i like that you are looking up and not looking down to the side, but try looking where you are going next, or between your horse's ears as opposed to up at the sky. have fun!

She's got more of an eventing style position. Nothing wrong with that but it does look like she is staring at the sky?

haha ya, my mom had been bugging me to look up (it was a downhill jump) and so to make her happy i looked up and over the trees on the other side of the field

ooohhh yah, for eventing do you want your foot farther in the stirrup for more security over a longer course? i remember reading that somewhere....but i failed to realize it : /
cool, is your mom your trainer?

it depends on what horse i'm riding and when but usually i keep it further in so my feet don't slide out from putting my heals too far down, also its a dressage thing that kinda has stuck with me.
And ya my mom has been my trainer for most of my life but recently i started riding with a local trainer so that i could actually get coaching at shows because my mom started competing again... here's a picture of my mom riding the same horse the summer before Visit Link

The stirrup should be at the ball of your foot BECAUSE it helps you have your heel down. You say you lose your stirrup from having your heel down too far....but your heel is not down at all in these pictures. To be secure, ESPECIALLY as an eventer who may be jumping up or down hill at any time, you must NOT pinch with your knees and get all your weight down in your heels. (I teach myself, but also take lessons. My teachers are upper level eventers and our local Grand Prix jumping trainers. Heels down is ALWAYS important.)

Other than needing to fix the security of your leg, I like your position.

ok just one point i have bad knees and that was before i started riding with knee braces so if i did put my heal down to the 'conventional' place my feet would slide right out because i couldn't hold any weight on my knees...

so i do agree that it is better to keep the stirrup more on the ball of my foot it was just extremely difficult for me at the time.

I'm not going to say that you are wrong, but I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying your knees were weak, so that if you put pressure on them, through NOT gripping with them, they hurt?

basically what i'm saying is that if i let my heel slide back and down my knees wouldn't act as springs and all the weight wold go into my heels and my feet would just slide out. i am fairly sure i'm not actually griping with my knees though, i just keep my toes more in because of my dressage training

Your heel doesn't need to go "back" any further. You just need to rotate your hip bones slightly to allow your knees to come off the saddle. This will also allow your weight to drop down into your heel and the back/side of your calf to come into contact with the horse, giving you a much more secure seat.

Nice picture! Its hard to tell how your leg looks in the picture because of the tree in front of it. To me it looks like it may be back a slight bit. But i cant tell for sure cause of the tree!

hey, so i dont think that this thing really worked.. but if you go to the link you can see the pictures. Can you tell me what you think of all three photos? The light bay is "Chip" the dark bay is "Monte" and the appaloosa is "Shadow". Thank you!!
p.s. I know that i probably shouldn't be riding in shorts and socks, but hey it was after a 12 hour day in the scorching heat and i was too sticky to put pants on!!

Those pics are hard to see but that 3rd horse is SCOPEY! and I think practicing bareback is great for balance. I do it 2-3 times a week.

Your leg is much better in this picture. Still looks like you've rotated forward onto your knee a bit, but you have a much nicer heel. You look like you might be scared. Your hands are very close to you and you are crouching a bit in the saddle. Make sure you extend your upper body...up! Just a tad, to straighten your back and make sure 100% of your balance and weight is in your legs and heels, not resting in your hands. Our hands are there in case we NEED to balance off them, but as you get more and more advanced, you'll be able to rely on them less and less.

Yeah she looks a tiny bit ahead of her balance and a bit tense. But maybe she's just nervous. When you are in blance it tends to change the whole picture for the better.