In the last blog post, we explained how to correctly execute a turn on the haunches. In this blog post, we would like to discuss common problems while performing a turn on the haunches. As a review, there are two ways to perform a correct turn on the haunches for Western dressage. Both are to be judged equally. The first method is to keep the inside hind leg as the pivot foot. The horse is allowed to pick up and set down the pivot foot when needed to relieve stress on the leg

The turn on the haunches is a lateral movement performed at the walk. It is a collection exercise which engages the horse’s hindquarters and encourages flexion of the joints in the hind legs. Your horse’s hind legs should be stepping more underneath his body, making his body more compact and freeing up his forehand, creating more suppleness and mobility of the shoulders. It is also a stepping stone to the more advanced movement of pirouette. The turn on haunches exercise can

A basic, but highly effective training exercise that should be in every rider’s toolbox is the turn on the forehand. The turn on the forehand is a stationary movement, meaning during the exercise, the horse learns to yield away from the rider’s inside leg at a standstill. The horse’s forehand should not be moving forwards, sideways or backwards. Instead, the front legs move up and down on the spot, or in a very small circle, with the outside foreleg very slightly ahead of the

In the last blog post, we talked about how to ride a correct 20-metre circle. This month we will be talking about the many common errors while riding a circle. A correctly ridden circle should start and end at the same point and be round, not oval or egg-shaped, which can be caused by the horse falling in on the circle, drifting out on the circle, or being ridden too deep into the corners. While on a circle the horse must maintain his rhythm in whichever gait is called for. A