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Exactly so. I have tried to explain it the distance your foot travels in an arc. When the heel is landed, it becomes a pivot, over which the whole of your foot has to rotate. The longer that arc, the more ungainly your (my) stride will be, because it takes time and effort to get that sole landed on the ground. Shorter arcs, are easier to walk in. This looks like an extreme, (though expensive) solution: Zanotti likes a very high, short shoe. (Steep rise.) I'd like to think this is fairly easy to walk in, though at £350 on an auction site, I'm never going to know.

Yes. I find it a question of balance. If the heel is set in (which is what I meant but used the opposite expression...) it makes the whole walking process much easier. I'm sure there is a mechanical reason but in practice I find it very difficult with a set-back heel to walk without slapping the sole down, and that also makes your gait much more jerky and thus more noticeable.