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What do people mean by saying you have a "dressage leg/heel"2007-11-24 21:21:27

In regards to riding horses, wondering what someone was meaning to say with this comment.

Answers:

that the rider has such fine cueing/ signaling to the horse that they could be doing dressage

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Probably meant your leg is long and straight with your heel even with the irons. Other riding styles like the heel down more.

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Your riding style is good and will suit dressage.

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you are a very strong dressage leg user:in other words you have strong legs and your horse likes to respond to your legs

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That your stirrups are long and your leg is not bent, but straight. Also, your foot is somewhat flat, whereas in many disciplines it is required to have your heel down.

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This is a dressage heel. It is longer and the heel is straight in the irons.

http://www.elitedressagestallions.co.uk/...

http://www.jumpoff.co.uk/horses%20for%20...

This is an english HUS or jumping heel. It is down, and it is shorter than the dressage leg.

http://www.oakhillfarmsltd.com/images/gi...

http://www.sportpix.com/assets/images/db...

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It really depends on who said it - what you were doing - and what the context of the comment was. I see a lot of people saying that a dressage leg is specific to dressage riding, and that is simply false. With any style of riding, I think it's important to have a "dressage leg" with the calf of your leg resting and maintaining contact with the horses side. The main different between the leg of a dressage rider and a H/J rider (I do both) is that typically in the Hunters you have a much, much shorter stirrup - which is specifically because you're in a saddle with shorter, more forward flaps, but you should still have the same degree of contact with your legs. Your heel is down, because putting weight into your heel allows you to have the proper ankle, knee and hip angles that go along with a an effective 2-point. I don't think they meant it as a criticism, unless you're riding hunt-seat, in which case, I would say you need to shorten your stirrups about 2-3 holes and get those heels down :)

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It means that your legs are stretched very long and your heel isn't down quite as much.

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It probably means that you can cue the horse without showing a lot of movement with your leg. That is what you want in dressage/equitation: excellence without showing a lot of struggle. That's a complement so good job!

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I could give your my meaning but to be get the true meaning of what the people meant, I would just ask them!

Why guess?