I have been riding, with a few breaks along my life, since I was just four years old. I can vividly recall my first ever canter, on a chestnut horse called “Cobby”. Obviously this was such a significant event it is still locked in my memory banks. Cobby, in retrospect, must have been an old boy as he had a docked tail, common in working horses before the practice was made illegal in England in 1952. The lessons were with a local young woman starting up a new business. They were in a scrubby grassy field beside the railway in the village where I was born. In the early 1960s riding was only beginning to emerge as a leisure opportunity for a wider public, horse numbers were beginning to increase from the post war decimation. That small business grew, with more horses, then stables built, staff taken on. Out of curiosity, while writing this, I searched on line: the horses have been replaced by a Methodist church but the road names are unchanged. Anyway, my family moved, I continued riding elsewhere. I have had many teachers over the years, I have ridden a great many horses, I’ve ridden on several continents, in many countries. Three days ago, I had a lunge lesson on a lovely, responsive horse at the yard were I regularly ride now . As usual, various issues quickly emerged to work on, this time my leg position. Well, back in that field as a four year old child, in my riding hat with a piece of elastic under my chin, I was being taught to grip tightly with my knees and to always keep my heels DOWN! Riding has moved on considerably since then. But I still have trouble keeping my feet doing what feet are supposed to do when I’m in the saddle. After decades of focus on “Heels down” or “Toes up” or “Feet parallel” this time I was told “Think about putting weight into you big toe”. Oh, the light bulb moment! Maybe I will now do better with a more consistent contact.