Watch horses at play and you’ll notice that they rear, spin and leap. Obviously, these maneuvers are performed, with little effort, by a fit, healthy, riderless horse. But how do we ask the horse under saddle to do the same?
The foundation for all advance maneuvers begins with basics. One frequently ignored, but necessary basic event is the turn on the haunch.
Horses being ridden commonly carry more than half their weight on their forehand (the two front legs or front half of the body). Our goal as a rider is to free up the forehand in preparation for many different tasks by asking and allowing the horse to shift his weight bearing to the haunch (the two rear legs or back half of the body). After all, the horses “motor” is his hindquarters and it needs to be engaged in order to drive the horse forward. A horse pounding his weight on his forehand has an unused motor dragging behind him that creates a multitude of related riding (and potential health) concerns. The turn on the haunch is the beginning of schooling that teaches and allows full engagement and ultimately leads to more precise maneuvers under saddle.
To begin schooling the turn on the haunch, the horse should be supple and soft to the rein and leg. He should be obedient moving forward and understand yielding to pressure. I also make sure I have a verbal cue that indicates movement (such as “clucking”). I have a completely different verbal cue for backing up so that the horse knows he is being asked to move but not backwards. A rider can easily confuse the horse when initially asking for movement that is not strictly forward. When this happens, the frustrated horse often tends to avoid contact by backing up. This can lead to more serious avoidance such as balking or rearing if the horse finds consistent reward in the bad behavior versus the task being asked.
I use a sturdy and safe fence corner to start the actual process of the turn on the haunch. This way the haunches are semi-confined and the riders lack of skill can be somewhat diminished with the assistance of a physical barrier. I also remind riders to ask for ONE GOOD STEP in the beginning, rather than the entire sequence. You will set your horse, and you, up for success by performing a clean step and rewarding that step instead of allowing a series of good/bad steps and confusing the horse as to what was done correctly and what was not. You’ll also find that the horse is more willing to participate in schooling when he is having success. He is less apt to be sour in practice if consistently rewarded and if taught new skills intermixed with others he already knows well.
Once the horse has been rewarded for standing quietly in the corner, I take up light contact that causes the horse to shift backwards (NOT step backwards) in frame, freeing up the forehand. Immediately following the shift I use the indirect rein to “push” the forehand over while reinforcing the front foot crossover step with the leg on the same side as the rein. The rein is the main cue and the leg simply reinforces when the rein aid is ignored or not responded to accurately. The horse’s body should remain straight and the head must not be pulled into the step or it will cause the hindquarters to swing out and off the pivot foot. The horse must respect the forward boundary created by the contact but seek an “out” for the movement you are asking for, which he finds on his opposite side with an open rein and fairly open leg (the side which he is moving toward). When one step has been done correctly, remove the pushing pressure as a reward and stand quietly.
The entire sequence ends up with a planted hind foot acting as a pivot point while the forehand crosses over to accomplish an arc around the hindquarters. Just remember to only add additional steps as success is achieved with one, then two, then three etc steps at a time. Think in terms of success of small parts, of the overall process, rather than trying to do the event all at once. As the horse becomes comfortable with the haunch work in the corner, begin schooling along a fence, then in the open. Finally, don’t overdo the practice. The horse will resent doing the same thing repeatedly when he’s made an honest effort.
Robin has her Thoroughbred gelding standing quietly in frame in the arena corner.
Robin’s gelding is crossing his left front leg over his right front leg while his hind right foot acts as a pivot point. Note that Robin’s indirect (left) rein is pushing the forehand over while her left leg supports that cue. Her right rein is open as is her right leg, allowing the horse to move freely in an arc around the pivot foot.
After the crossover step is completed, the right rear foot remains in the spot where it began and the left rear foot has moved forward enough to accommodate the amount of movement created by the arc. The green horse remains somewhat in frame with his hindquarters still confined in the corner.