Lateral movements, such as leg yielding, shoulder-in and travers, engage the inside hind leg and lift the horse into your hand.
Lateral movements should be effortless. Ask yourself how you can do it with less. Turn as though you will change the rein, then as the horse starts to leave the track send the energy down the track. Always look where you are going.
You can practice lateral movements on the track or on an inner track. The track will help you to establish your lateral work. Once established, it should be the same whether executed on the track or away from it.
Leg yielding facing the wall is an excellent exercise for both rider and horse. The horse has to be “in your seat” (connected) and light in your hand. Cut off the corner, release, release, legs long, weight into toes, let it happen, be stable, light and allowing, carry your upper body. If you become stuck simply ride out of it and release – don’t try to correct if you have lost it as you will fiddle and fiddle and fiddle! And you will become tighter and tighter and tighter in your body.
We have to stop trying with all our will to “do the exercise”. Instead, just think. Think minimum and believe it will happen. Balance, and release, to allow it to happen. If it goes away don’t interfere and fiddle to try to get it back – just ride away and think release – give in the whole body and then just come again. Think about your breathing. Breathe in deeply. This affects the whole body and alleviates stiffness by stretching muscles. Let go as you breathe out…………concentrate, connect.
Going backwards
This is an excellent exercise for energy collection.
When teaching the young horse it is useful to start this exercise on the ground. A push on the shoulder with “and back” is usually enough to initiate a few steps. Reward the horse.
Later, the same can be done with an assistant on the ground when you are mounted. The rider helps the horse with her seat. Soon the horse will respond to the rider’s voice and seat. And ultimately the seat alone. This can be reinforced by repeating the exercise at the same place in the school.
Rein back can be an important precursor to halt-trot and halt-canter transitions. The energy collected for the rein-back can be utilised for the move off into the quicker paces. It helps the rider to understand and emphasise the change in the seat from rein back (pelvis tilting slightly forwards) to the “up and on” of a move off to trot or canter (pelvis changes to tilt slightly forwards).