We teach the horse to turn in front

We teach the horse to turn in front

The easiest and clearest way for a horse to begin his introduction to lateral movement is to teach him to turn on the forehand.

Starting from a stop, you will use this school movement to train your horse to respond to the direct impact of your inside leg, which requires him to move his hindquarters around the forehand in a circle. The horse must do this by stepping with the inside leg diagonally in front of the outside. Once he has mastered this skill, he will be able to perform elements such as leg yielding and shouldering in better, and you will find your ability to control the movement of the horse in circles, circles and arcs will improve markedly.

Find a point closer to the center of your arena where there is enough room for you and your horse to make the turn. We will move the horse from our left foot.

Check your fit first. Make sure you are sitting balanced on your sit bones, your core is pulled up and the weight is redistributed evenly and down through your heels. As you are about to move sideways to the right, ask for a light inside left motion, working lightly with your left hand towards your right thigh. At the same time, shift your weight slightly onto your left seat bone and left leg, but do not twist your torso.

Soften the contact slightly on the right rein to allow the horse to move to the right. The right leg should lie passively on the horse’s side, but you should be ready to reinforce it to prevent excessive side kicking, trying to get away, or taking more than one step at a time.

Bring your left inside leg slightly back, behind the girth, and push down on the horse’s side, asking him to take one step backwards around the forehand in a circle. As soon as the horse takes a step with his inside left hind leg, give him the signal that this is all the movement you need. Catch her leg halfway in the air by loosening your inside left leg and half-halting the outside right rein. Your horse should respond by dropping his foot down to the ground and completing a single step of the turn, aligning the rest of his legs into a rectangle.

Since this is an obedience exercise, stop and let the horse relax and calm down. You want a quick leg response, but you don’t want the horse to spin uncontrollably around the forehand. After three to five seconds, ask her to take another step, repeating the sequence no more than once or twice. Then give her a rein and walk along the arena on a loose rein.

Pick up the reins, return to the center of the arena and start again, this time asking for a left turn.

When you and your horse can consistently perform this movement in both directions, you will be able to improve your skills by doing this gymnastic exerciseAs serpentine counter bending.

Serpentine counter bending.

It is performed after preliminary teaching the horse to turn on the front. You gently ask for the ruling to one side and slide the horse’s hindquarters around the forehand in the direction of its ruling and bend.

Leslie Webb (source); translation by Valeria Smirnova