How to keep heels firmly down in canter and jumping?

Firstly I'd like to state I only pinch with my knees in jumping position over the jumps SOMETIMES where as I don't in canter. I ride with long stirrups but they're not too long. I ride without stirrups and I'm capable if doing no stirrups in canter with a steady horse. My heels are fine in trot but in canter I find it difficult. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I've been riding properly for a year now.

Myself and some friends just had a long discussion about this, actually. Almost exclusively, when you can't keep the heel down it's because your base of support (seat, thigh, core) is not strong. Usually, sorry to report, fitness is the only thing that will help. Spend some time working in your half-seat (not two-point... don't allow yourself to use your hands for support) at the beginning of each ride in walk and trot, really working on allowing your heel to sink down. Ultimately, you have to make a conscious effort to keep on top of it. If you pinch with your knees jumping, you probably do so at the canter as well and just don't realise it. When you're so focused on everything else, a lot of time a rider won't even notice she/he is pinching. Especially if you struggle with fitness, fatigue will set in and make it almost impossible to not pinch. It might also benefit you to shorten your stirrups a hole for a little bit.You might also consider that your saddle is not a good fit for you. Stirrup bars may not be positioned well for your conformation, especially if you're a woman... men design saddles for me, and they often don't work for us ladies.

It can be hard to do. What I do when jumping is to relax my feet and tighten my legs. That worked for me. Helps with posting too. Hope this helped.

When you push your heels down it is using muscles that you may not be use to using. The best way that I have found to build up those muscles is to pratice without your horse. If you have any sort of stairs at your house you can use them to help you. Stand on a stair with your feet in half way off of the stair and let your heels drop down. This will help you stretch out those muscles and get them use to be down.After you've done the above exercise for awhile you will just have to practice in the saddle. Eventually riding with your heels down will just become a good habbit you will form!

Don't think about keeping your heels down, it tenses your calf. Rather, think about pointing your toes up towards the horses nose.Good luck and good riding.

the whole time while riding, hug the horse with your legs, always pushing your heels down. Try and do some exercises at home, for instance getting a crate or something similar, even a step will do, and put a towel or something non-slippery over the top. stand on the box/crate only standing on the edge with your foot placement as though your foot is in a stirrup. I advise to hold onto something in front of you while doing this. just rise up and down, meaning pushing your heels up and down, as if you are rising tot the trot. next, try pushing your heels down as far as you can without hurting them, and stay there for a long period of time, maybe rising them slightly. These exercises will make you ankles more flexible and therefore, while riding, you will not notice that your heels are down