Introduced in First Level dressage, the leg-yield is an important prerequisite for the horse and rider before starting more advanced lateral work. But it’s also a useful warm-up move for horses of any level to loosen the muscles before moving on to other work.

When you first work on the leg-yield, your expectations should coincide with your horse’s level of experience. Initially, I look for the horse to grasp the concept that I am asking him to move sideways in a steady rhythm. The elements of more leg crossing, connection, and straightness will all become more refined with time.

Troubleshooting Leg Yield Errors

Here are four common errors you will face with your horse if you’re just beginning to work on the leg-yield, and how to fix them.

Error No. 1: The horse rushes off when you squeeze your inside leg. An exercise that is helpful for this problem is to begin the leg-yield, and the moment your horse begins to rush, start a circle in the opposite direction of the movement. Return back to the line you left from and proceed on with the leg-yield.

For example, if you are leg-yielding left from the centerline (away from your right leg) and your horse begins to rush near the quarterline, turn right onto a 15-meter circle to help rebalance him and then return back to quarterline and proceed straight with the leg-yield again.

Error No. 2: Your horse won’t move sideways. I like to teach as much from the ground as I can so that it translates easily to the horse under saddle. One in-hand exercise I use to teach the leg-yield is the turn on the forehand while keeping the horse straight through his body.

If your horse is still struggling under saddle when first being asked to leg-yield, providing him with an opening outside rein and slightly shifting your weight in the direction of the movement will guide him over. As your horse begins to connect the push of your inside leg with moving over, you can begin to stay more neutral in your stirrups and keep the outside rein toward your horse’s shoulder to build the leg-yield straighter and straighter.

Error No. 3: Your horse comes off the bit. This is commonly due to a loss of balance. When a horse is first learning to leg-yield, I don’t get flustered if the connection doesn’t stay consistent the entire time.

The leg-yield is used to improve connection from inside leg to outside rein, creating a more rounded connection over your horse’s back. As he gets stronger and improves in the exercise, the connection will also improve.

One thing you need to be sure of is that you don’t automatically begin pulling back on the reins to “wrestle” your horse’s head back down. This leads to tension in his back and loss of control of his hind end.

Instead, be sure to offer a rebalancing half-halt on the outside rein, keeping a slight flexion away from the direction of the leg-yield, and trust that the issue of the connection in the front will be fixed by your horse coming more underneath you with his inside hind.

Always be sure to soften the rein pressure as your horse begins to relax down into the bit as a reward and reassurance to him that he is doing what you’ve asked.

Error No. 4: Your horse will not cross his legs. For this, I use the “head to the wall” leg-yield exercise. Beginning in the walk, travel straight through the short side and cut the second corner on a diagonal toward the wall. I tell my students to pretend they are going to ride out of the arena on a diagonal line.

As your horse’s head comes to the wall, keep his neck straight and send him away from what was your outside leg. For example, if you are tracking right, you would be sending your horse sideways from your left leg. Be sure to keep his body on that same diagonal line, around a 30- to 35-degree angle, and not swinging straight back to the wall or perpendicular to it. This is also a useful exercise for the horse who has a tendency to rush through the leg-yield.

When ridden correctly, the leg-yield establishes a better connection from inside leg to outside rein and helps to supple the horse through his hips, croup, lower back and shoulders. Ultimately, it will improve overall balance, which is important for keeping you and your horse working in harmony.

This article about how to fix leg yield errors appeared in the June 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Correcting Leg-Yield Errors with Your Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Good horsemanship means having control over your horse’s body and knowing that your horse will listen to your cues. To perform any high-level show maneuver, your horse needs to listen and respond as you move his shoulders and hips.

Whether you plan to ride a reining pattern or just want to improve your everyday rides, you’ll help your horse tune in to you when you ask him to listen and obey.

Here, trainer and coach Sharee Schwartzenberger shares the exercises she teaches all riders to do during daily warmups. The skills will help you feel confident, knowing that your horse is listening and willing to follow any directional cue. Learning how to move your horse’s body in any direction gives you the ultimate control. Plus, you’ll have a go-to list of exercises to gain your horse’s attention and focus.

Body Control

Make these exercises part of your warm-up routine. Get your horse outfitted in his usual tack and head to the arena. You may ride with one hand or two. However, you should be working up to one-handed riding.

Begin at a walk and then trot. Your goal is to have your horse move forward and sideways at the same time. In dressage, this move is called a leg-yield. The same movement is important for reining and western horses because it helps the horse move his shoulders and hips. Plus, your horse will have to listen to your aids as you warm up.

The Leg-Yield: First, get your horse moving. He’ll begin to warm up while listening to your cues to move to the left or right. This skill will help your horse move away from pressure and move his hips in the direction you want. When you work up to flying lead changes, you’ll need this control over your horse. You’ll also need this sideways movement for many ranch riding requirements.

Start at the far end of the arena so that you have plenty of room in front of you. Ask your horse to walk straight ahead, and then ask him to move to the left while he maintains his forward motion. Move your left leg away from your horse’s body and apply leg pressure with your right leg. Pick up your reining hand slightly to help your horse know that you want him to move to the side and not faster.

Make sure that your horse is crossing his front and back legs as he moves. He should maintain a straight body position and not bend or turn. When your horse is listening well, calmly moving to the side while staying straight in his body,
practice again at the trot.

If your horse leans in to you or refuses to move forward and sideways, try adding intermittent leg pressure. Kick your leg gently to reinforce the cue to move to the side without giving your horse constant pressure to push against. Once your horse takes even a small step to the side, remove the pressure and praise him for the smallest effort. He’ll learn when you release the pressure and offer praise.

The Sidepass: If you’re still having trouble or simply need another exercise to practice, add a barrier. Work at a walk while asking your horse to face a fence or wall. With the barrier in front of you, you can focus on the sideways movement and help your horse understand that you don’t want him to move forward.

Begin by moving from right to left. Move your left leg away from your horse’s side and apply pressure with your right leg. Keep light pressure on the bridle by picking up your reining hand. This will help block his forward motion and keep the horse engaged. Make sure not to pull back.

You may need to move your right leg forward toward the horse’s shoulder then back behind the cinch to move the hips. Find the “sweet spot” where you can apply pressure while keeping his whole body moving to the side without turning. If he takes a step, release your cues and praise him.

Once your horse understands, only apply pressure in the spot where your leg naturally hangs—in the middle of his belly. This cue should help him know to move his shoulders and hips to the side. When your horse easily moves to the left, practice again while moving to the right.

Circling and Redirecting

You should be able to keep your hand in the center of the saddle horn without having to constantly steer. Here, you’ll test your horse’s willingness to keep listening to your cue—even once your hand is back in the middle and he could choose to take his own path.

You’ll teach your horse to respond to your cues and then move forward on a loose rein. You’ll teach him to stay in the middle of the reins and build up to consistent neck reining.

Redirecting Exercise: To start, trot a large circle in the middle of the arena. Plan where your circle will go and place your reining hand in front of the saddle horn. If you feel your horse pulling to one side (or bending his neck away from your relaxed hand), pick up your reins and move your reining hand up and to the side to correct him. Ride a few strides with your hand in this position.

Ask your horse to move over by applying leg pressure; then put your hand back in the middle. If he is pulling to the right, steer him to the left, applying right leg pressure. If he pulls to the gate, redirect him away and make him stay in the circle.

Help him learn that if he steps out of the circle at all, there will be a correction.

You want to stay on the path of your circle without him pulling in
any direction.

Cut the Circle: Next, mix up straight lines and circling. Trot a quarter of your circle, then turn right, moving straight across the circle’s diameter. To turn, pick up your hand in the direction you want to go and apply pressure with the opposite leg. To turn right, move your hand up and to the right and apply left leg pressure. After you’ve moved straight ahead, turn to the right again to get back on your circle. Ride another quarter circle before turning and going straight again.

Remember to keep your hand down in front of the saddle horn after you have told your horse what to do. You are still testing him to make sure that he’s listening and continuing your directions after you give them as you try to achieve control over your horse.

If at any time your horse moves off the path you choose, correct him for a few strides, then replace your hand. If you consistently correct and redirect your horse, he’ll know that he must listen, and he’ll happily stay on the path you choose. Practice daily and make sure to release pressure as soon as your horse does what he’s asked to do. Soon you’ll have control over your horse and a horse that listens well to any cue.

Thanks to Sharee Schwartzenberger and Game Day Surprise, an 11-year-old AQHA gelding, for demonstrating these exercises.

Meet the Trainer

Trainer and coach Sharee Schwartzenberger turned pro in 2017 after a lifetime of showing at top NRHA and AQHA events. Her freestyle reining performances have earned her top titles, and she’s won over $160,000 as an NRHA non-pro. She coaches youth riders and trains reining horses in Longmont, Colo.

This article about listening for better control over your horse originally appeared in the September 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Listening for Better Control Over Your Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The leg-yield is the building block of most lateral work in dressage. In a leg-yield, the horse travels forward and sideways, moving away from one of the rider’s legs while remaining straight through his body. There is a tiny bit of flexion in the horse’s poll away from the direction of movement.

Leg-yield can be ridden in the walk and trot and sometimes in the canter. In competition, it’s shown in the trot at First Level.

“Leg-yield teaches the horse two things,” says instructor and trainer Angelia Bean, a U.S. Dressage Federation bronze, silver, and gold medalist who operates Straight Forward Dressage in Glenmoore, Pa. “It teaches the horse to follow the rider’s weight in a sideways way, and to step with his inside hind leg diagonally underneath himself in a forward way.”

Getting Started

Here’s how Bean introduces the leg-yield concept. Start in the walk along
the long side of the arena, a few meters away from the rail. Shift your
weight slightly to the outside (the side nearest the rail). Most horses will
naturally take a step or two of leg-yield toward the rail because they want
to be balanced under the rider’s weight.

Remember the turn on the forehand (see “Turn on the Forehand” in Horse Illustrated July 2019), which taught your horse to move his haunches away from your inside leg?

Now, you’re going to incorporate that inside-leg aid so that you’re asking him to step both sideways and forward while your outside aids say, “Don’t go sideways too fast; keep traveling forward and maintain your alignment.”

But as Bean explains, when some riders are learning to use a unilateral (single) leg aid, they lean toward that side, which contradicts the leg aid. That’s why she usually starts by teaching the weight aid and adds the leg aid later.

Eventually the sequence becomes “bump with the inside leg; shift your weight; bump with the inside leg; shift your weight,” she says. After horse and rider get the hang of traveling forward and sideways, then the sequence becomes bump with leg; weight shift; and slight “containing” squeeze with the outside rein to prevent the horse’s shoulders from falling sideways and losing the alignment of his body, she says.

Used correctly, the outside rein actually encourages the crossing of the horse’s hind legs because it limits how much the inside hind leg can step straight forward, she explains.

Try It at the Trot

After you and your horse feel confident leg-yielding a few steps in the walk in both directions, try it in the trot, either rising or sitting. You may actually find the movement easier in the trot because you’ll naturally be inclined to use your inside leg during the moment of suspension in the gait, says Bean.

Use the arena letter markers to help you ride an accurate diagonal line. In First Level Test 2, the movement is ridden from the center line to the rail—a width of only 10 meters—over 36 meters, so the angle is quite shallow.

There’s no “wow” feeling to a correctly ridden leg-yield, says Bean. If your horse glides smoothly along the desired line while maintaining the alignment and the trot tempo, you’re doing it right.

If you find yourself drawing your inside leg back because he isn’t moving away from it, or you’re pulling on the inside rein to stop that falling-sideways feeling, you either need to reinforce the obedience to your inside leg or correct the alignment. Let the geometry help you to assess the correctness of your riding and training.

This article on how to leg yield originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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