Your student is learning to post.  Trotting down the rail, the lesson horse does a sudden crowhop.  Do your student’s heels come up and he flops forward on the horse’s neck; or worse – falls off?  Or does his solid foot position anchor his body position so he is able to correct the horse and maintain forward motion?

Your beginner daughter is along on a trail ride.  A strange object blows across the path and her horse leaps to the side.  Her heels come up, her hands go up, her foot slides through the stirrup and the horse steps out from under her.  Or – do her heels stay down, her weight stays stable and she safely rides out the spook?

You’ve practiced long difficult hours in the saddle with an expensive trainer.  Yesterday at the dressage show, your scores were disappointing.  While unsaddling, you overhear across the aisle, “Such a shame, but I saw her heels move up during transitions and it threw her whole leg and body out of position.”  You wonder – “Should I have practiced with the Heel Trainers?”