TRAINING - LATERAL WORK
Leg yield 'head on the
boards'
Becky Moody
I find this is a really good exercise if you
have a horse that tends to want to run away
a little in the lateral work, and it also helps
to really regulate the angle. I think it is good
preparation for starting the shoulder in too,
even though you are moving the quarters
rather than the shoulders it is still quite
related.
Riding large, as I come out of the corner
onto the long side I change the flexion to the
outside and then push the quarters in off the
track so you travel down the wall at an angle.
You can vary the angle depending on how
easy or difficult you want to make it.
A bit on the Side!
Courtesy of Childéric Saddles UK, we caught up with top international
dressage rider Becky Moody to get some top tips on lateral work.
Lateral 1: leg yield,
small circle out
“Lateral work not only provides those
essential building blocks for training,
helping to develop suppleness and
engagement, but it can also help spooky
horses stay more focused and wake lazy
horses up!
In this article I am going to share
with you how I start off the lateral work
and how to ride through a few different
exercises, which I use to help develop
my horses and their way of going.
Diagonal line leg
yield
Turn onto the diagonal and then
once you have established the line,
change the bend to the new inside
and then push the horse over away
from the new inside leg. The key
with this is to stay on the diagonal
- don't let the horse’s nose travel
in front of the line. This is a good
exercise to get the horse really
crossing over with his legs and
opening up, and also to get them
engaging the hind leg.
LEG YIELD
As a rule of thumb, whether I am
riding a baby horse or teaching
someone that is new to lateral work,
I always start off with the leg yield in
one of two places:
1) From a 10 metre circle in
the middle of my 20m circle, I use
my inside leg on the girth to push
the horse out to the big circle. I
want to feel that I am pushing the
girth over first not the bottom, so I
am conscious that I show direction
with the rein - whilst keeping inside
flexion I would take the hands
slightly towards the outside to help
the horse understand that I want it to
travel in that direction. If the horse
then starts to fall out through the
shoulder too much I would bring
both hands back to the centre.
2) Turn up the 3/4 line (half way
between centre line and outside
track) and then keeping inside
flexion take both hands a little
towards the wall and with the inside
leg slight ǒ&V