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The Perfect Shoulder-In
Top Olympic dressage rider Carl Hester gives us the low down on riding the perfect shoulder-in, an important stepping stone to more advanced lateral work.
Once you reach elementary level in dressage, lateral work starts to be included within the tests, but it can also be incorporated into your every day schooling work at home as it not only adds variety, but will help strengthen and balance your horse, as well as helping you both become straighter. Lateral work also helps make the rider more aware of his or her leg aids and the influence of their distribution of weight and ensures that you are riding truly leg to hand.
The most basic lateral exercise that you can start with is the shoulder-in.
The principle of the shoulder-in is that the horse's footfalls are on three tracks. The horse is encouraged to bend his body round in front of the inside hind leg, so that this hind leg propels the horse along. If you can ride a good and correct shoulder-in, your horse should find all the other lateral movements later on easier.
The best way to start introducing shoulder-in is in walk, or if your horse is a little stuffy then trot, but only then in rising if your seat is not established, otherwise you may find the horse will back off. I always start off teaching my younger novice horses by using a corner or a circle to prepare as this enables you to really utilize the natural bend already there as you turn.
As you come out of the corner or circle, allow the forehand to leave the track and as you do so, ensure that your shoulders mirror the angle of your horse’s shoulders. In the early days don’t ask for too much bend, as the horse will end up shuffling or falling out through the shoulder. As the forehand comes off the track, remember to keep a contact on the outside rein, whilst using the inside leg on the girth - to keep the horse bent and prevent them drifting off the track. Try and think of yourself encouraging him along the track, riding from inside leg into the outside rein whilst your outside leg lies passively slightly behind the girth.
Do not try to ‘cheat’ by pulling the horse around with the inside rein, it just won’t work! You need to think of a contact which is there, without interfering!
The most important element is for the rider to stay supple and go with the horse, rather than restricting; if you are stiff this will just make the exercise even more difficult for the horse! Also, I feed all my horses my own Carl Hester Joint & Muscle supplement, which I find really helps those horses that are a little stiff and is also an investment in my youngsters’ future careers under saddle.
A common rider fault is for the rider to keep nagging the horse throughout the movement. Once you have the correct shoulder-in position, allow the horse to continue and only correct when you need to. Another is too much angle –remember this is a three track movement, so ensure you ride it correctly and don’t just think of the bend through the neck, it’s the whole horse’s body that you should be thinking of and you must never pull the horse around with the inside rein!
The best way to ride this exercise is to have an expert pair of eyes on the ground and/or with mirrors as you need to get a feel for what is correct and what is not.
Good luck with this exercise and with time and correct training, you and your horse will soon be able to begin mastering the Half-Pass. But remember, time spent riding this exercise in the early days will mean that both you and your horse will reap the rewards throughout your training, not to mention the positive benefits it will have on your horse’s muscle development and suppleness.
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Concentrate on straightness all the time, not just in front of the judges! |
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