the rider
Island Life - April/May 2011
Shoulder-in
Straight
Creating Power
Whatever job
or hind quarters coming out of line,
when performed well will improve
your horse
preventing the hind legs to come under
suppleness and the weight carriage by
does, for him
the center of his body and carry his
the inside hind leg. As with all exercises
to be able
weight.
use the same amount of work on both
to perform
One very simple exercise I use to
reins to maintain even muscle build.
correctly it
keep the horse straight is to put two
is important
pairs of poles 1 ½ metres apart and 5
bring in a bit of shoulder-in. This means
to be able
metres from the sides on the ¾ line of
as the horse meets the track the front
to ride him
the school parallel to the track. Ride
legs are asked to come in off the track
straight. Think
through the poles in walk , trot and
a little with the horse being slightly
of the hind
canter remaining straight until you feel
bent through his body around the
legs of the horse as the engine creating
you can give away the contact for a
inside leg. This starts to increase the
the power, this power must then be
second or two without any change in
lateral suppleness throughout the horse
directed by the rider so the horse
the horse. When this becomes good
and engages the hind legs further.
should appear to flow in the right
introduce transitions and increase and
For the dressage horse to be able
direction without tension and in good
decrease the stride length through the
to collect and extend the stride and
balance.
poles remembering to keep your body
remain in balance in his lateral work he
Balance is decided by how much
in balance in the middle of the horse
must be straight, for the showjumper
weight the hind legs carry and how
and to keep him going in a soft way.
he must jump equally from both hind
The next step is to introduce a bit
feet under his body to keep maximum
By Robert Booth
much they push forwards. Too much
The next step in the exercise is to
push and the horse will appear to hurry
of sideways and lateral work. Start by
power. But for any horse being
and lose rhythm, rather like driving a
riding straight into the first poles on
balanced and supple will prolong the
car too fast and sliding on corners. On
the ¾ line and slowly ask the horse to
active life and soundness of your horse.
the other hand restricting the forward
move sideways and forward towards
movement may create tension in the
the track by using your inside leg
horses body through the neck and back
keeping him straight through his body
causing short tense steps and shoulders
and parallel to the track. This leg yield
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