[Paintlover]

I need help with Lou Lou's half-pass/leg yield. When she is doing it, she travels at a slant and sometimes forgets to stretch/cross her back legs. I don't expect her to do it right away, but we have been (on and off) doing them since summer. She could improve her side passes a little more, and I am sure that will help a lot, but does anyone have any suggestions?

[Super_Trooper]

When you are practising, try turning up on a line parrallell to the fence, but about 15 feet away, ride straight and apply inside leg, pushing your horse into your outside rein and shoot to have her 3 feet from the fence before you get to the end of the ring...try that.

[Paintlover]

I have tried that, but she often leaves her hind legs behind. The only way I can get a good one is if I start out sidepassing and then gradually have her go forward.

[castana4]

The half-pass is a lateral movement where the horse moves both straight and sideways simultaneously along an imaginary diagonal line. The horse is bent towards the motion around the rider's inside leg. The neck is bent so that the horse’s outside ear is on the same line as the inside shoulder and the head is at the vertical. The rider’s hands are applied equally; elevating horse's front end to help create motion that is like gliding across the arena. Half passes are performed on collected trot or canter and are always performed with the horse's body is parallel to the wall of the arena. This is because the front of the horse is narrower than the hind and moves a bit further in the motion of the movement, so the body actually goes parallel to the side of the arena while traveling along the diagonal line. The rider should look in the direction of the movement – along the diagonal line. The half pass serves the same aims as other lateral movements and a number of half passes combined in one exercise are very helpful for developing lateral balance and flexion as well as obedience to the aids.

Teaching half-pass
A half pass does not appear in competitive dressage until 3rd level. This tells us that although a half pass is considered part of regular schooling, it is a somewhat more advanced movement. There are so many things horse should learn and be able to do well before we ask for the half-pass. First and foremost, the horse should be light in front, engaged behind, and flexible enough to bend towards the motion with ease. In particular, he must easily bend his neck and most importantly his body.

We also need to question if the horse is ready mentally and physically to understand and execute the movement. Are his muscles are ready to support the movement? Is he mentally advanced enough in his training to understand when he is being asked to move both sideways and forward simultaneously? I work on and assess all of these aspects before I feel comfortable with trying my first 2-3 steps of half pass. It might take up to a year, depending on horse's level and training program, to teach the horse to carry himself and stay in balance on side movements. As with all dressage training, patience is key.

Preparatory Exercises
Many of the exercises that are used in basic dressage training will help the horse develop the flexibility, balance, muscling, and mentality to learn the half pass. Some exercises and their specific purposes and benefits are described below. They are listed progressively – start with the first and gradually add in additional exercises until the horse can do them all with ease.

Small circles
Small circles teach the horse to bend around the rider's inside leg. These should be performed with the rider’s inside leg on the girth and the outside leg about one a foot behind the girth to encourage the horse to bend around the inside leg aid. The horse should feel your inside leg, otherwise he will not bend around it - spurs can be helpful with this. I start introducing a horse to small circles by doing spirals – making progressively smaller circles from 15m to 6m and then back. Watch the horse's head on those circles - most horses tend to tilt it inside. You can correct the tilt by lowering the position of your outside hand. Lower the hand as much as needed to correct the problem - even if it is one foot lower than you’re inside hand position. Watching for and correcting this tilt now will help prevent this from becoming a (much harder to correct) habit later.

Bending exercises
Bending exercises develop flexibility in horse's front and help make the horse's front light and agile. In a previous month, I wrote a whole article devoted to bending exercises – review it. These exercises are very helpful and will save you time in the long run and minimize frustration when riding your horse. Do the exercises in the stall. Put a bridle on the horse and then bring his head to the vertical and put him on the bit. He is supposed to not pull on your reins and should chew on the bit. Slowly turn horse's head left and right keeping his face at the vertical. Do not let him get away with tilting his pole. A few repetitions of these exercises each day is a good warm up before your ride, even after the horse has mastered them.

Figure of eight
A figure of eight is a combination of two circles in different direction performed one right after the other. The horse should have already mastered the circle part during the earlier exercise, so the trickiest part of this new exercise is the middle when you have to change direction (and therefore bend) in a short period of time. This exercise helps to balance up the horse from side to side and is good practice for the rider to learn how to switch the opposite pair of aids in a short period of time. Start schooling this exercise using large circles with a straight line in the middle between them. This allows more time to work on changing aids and bend. Gradually reduce the size of the circles and shorten the middle section as the horse gains balance and flexibility. A common problem is that the horse will probably try to stick his nose out during the change. Bending exercises in the stall will help to develop flexibility in horse's pole and solve the problem.

Turn on the forehand
The turn on the forehand helps to check the horse's response to the rider's leg aid. In this movement the horse draws a circle with his rear legs while turning it around his front legs. To try this, go to the middle of the arena, halt, and try applying one of your legs while maintaining a light but steady contact on the reins. The horse is supposed to move from just a light touch of your calf. If there is no response, then use the spur or a whip at the same spot where you used your calf. Still nothing? Increase your demand until horse yields and moves away from your whip or poking spur. (Remember that a constantly pressed spur will not do the trick. Horses instinctively move towards pressure and therefore will most likely try to go against it. That is the opposite of what we intend to accomplish. A repeatedly poking spur will do the trick.) When the horse does 1-2 steps away from the spur or whip, immediately pat him. Then try to use your calf again.

Nothing? Repeat your demanding method and then pat again when you get a response. The horse should quickly learn what you want from him. One more thing - if the horse's front legs do not stay on the same spot, check your aids. It should be outside leg into inside rein. If the horse’s front legs are moving on a large circle and/or his neck is very bent, there is something going wrong with your rein contact. You should have slightly more contact with the rein opposite of the leg you are using.

Haunches in
The haunches-in is the next step after a turn on the forehand to check the horse's response to rider's leg aids – this time while moving. If the horse knows how to do a turn on the forehand, he will understand the aids for the haunches in. The aids are the same, but now it is with forward motion. It is best to try it at a trot along the wall of the arena. When horse trots he already has motion to help maintain energy (as opposed to a walk which can be quite sluggish). The wall will be a guiding line for the horse’s front end. Apply your outside leg and maintain rein contact (with a little extra contact on your inside rein) until the horse gives 2-3 steps with his butt in. After a few strides, straighten him up along the wall. If the horse does not respond, return to turn on the forehand and/or use your whip or spur. Repeat the exercise frequently, holding it for a few strides and then straightening. Later try combining the haunches in with circles to enhance the difficulty (and benefit) of the exercise.

Shoulder in
The Shoulder-in balances up the horse and helps strengthen the inside hind leg. It is opposite from haunches in - now it is inside leg that drives the horse's body sideways along the wall and drives him into outside rein. There should be an imaginary line from horse’s inside hip through rider's body into outside shoulder, which should be parallel to the wall. The horse’s inside hind leg follows in the track of the outside front leg. Just let the horse go one step inside the arena and push him along the wall with strong inside leg into the outside rein. The outside rein prevents the horse from turning in and performing a circle. This exercise is difficult to do if horse is not balanced and stiff as a board – and the coordination skills of the rider play a role. There should be a slight bend, but not much – this should not be a “neck in” nor should the horse be moving in a steep diagonal line along the arena wall. Try the exercise immediately after a circle – hold the outside rein and push with your inside leg as the horse is about to turn away from the wall to perform another circle. As with turn on the forehand and haunches in, the horse should move easily away from your leg – if not, return to the previous exercises, as always. Leg yield
Ok, we are almost there – the leg yield is the next step. Now we complicate things a little. The leg yield is a half pass with no flexion with inside shoulder leading the way. This exercise combines the gained lightness of the front and sensitivity to the legs' aid that we have been working on in all the previous exercises – without a bend. Turn your horse along the centerline and start to head on a very slight diagonal and apply one leg along the girth, being sure that horse is moving sideways with his shoulder leading. Be careful to make sure his butt is not leading (as this will make for bad habit at the half pass). Shoulders should always be leading the way, and that the horse is not simply trotting along a diagonal line. He should move away from your legs both sideways and forward. The outside leg moves the horse sideways, while the inside moves him forward. A common mistake is use of only one (outside) leg, resulting in the horse moving steeply sideways instead of on a gradual diagonal line.

[Paintlover]

wow, did you type that all yourself?!