LATERAL/FORWARD
MOVEMENTS
TWO TRACK, LEG YIELD, AND HALF PASS
(adapted from
101 Arena Exercises and Arena Pocket Guides
as
appeared in Horse & Rider magazine )
©
1999 Cherry Hill www.horsekeeping.com
In lateral/forward work, the horse moves sideways and forward at the same time.
When moving to the right, the horse is moving in response to the sideways driving
aids from the rider's left leg. Lateral exercises supple a horse and strengthen
him so he can be ridden in balance in any maneuver at any gait. Lateral/forward
work contains varying degrees of lateral flexion, lateral bend, sideways movement
and forward movement. Lateral flexion occurs at the poll/throatlatch area.
Lateral bend occurs from head to tail along the horse's entire spine. The
horse remains parallel to the arena rails.
In the most elementary of these 3 movements, the two track, the horse is bent
away from the direction of movement. He has the most lateral flexion and
bend and shows more sideways than forward movement. Because the horse is
counterflexed, it is easy for the horse to cross over and move sideways.
Common problems are overbending, shoulder bulge, losing balance and rhythm, rushing,
excessive lowering of the head and balking.
In the leg yield, the horse has a small degree of lateral flexion away from the
direction of movement, no lateral bend, and about equal sideways and forward movement.
In a leg yield to the right, the horse is flexed very slightly to the left, the
body is straight, and the horse is moving to the right away from the rider's left
leg. The horse's left legs cross over the right legs. The forehand
is very slightly in advance of the hindquarters. This is an intermediate
stage on the way to a half pass.
In the most advanced of these movements, the half pass, the horse is flexed and
bent into the direction of movement. In a half pass right, there is pronounced
lateral flexion and bend around the rider's right leg and a great degree of sideways
and forward movement; the half pass is more forward than sideways. The horse's
shoulders are slightly in advance of the hindquarters. Common rider
errors are weighting the left seat bone and heel and trying to push the horse
over to the right and overbending to the right by letting the right hand cross
over the mane to the left. If the horse is not bent around your right leg,
you are basically performing an incorrect version of leg yield. 
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