HOW TO BE A TRAINER (PART 18) FOR JUMPING (PART 8)

By Dr. Mohamed Elsherbini THE MAIN AIM OF LATERAL MOVEMENTS – EXCEPT LEG-YIELDING – IS TO DEVELOP AND INCREASE THE ENGAGEMENT OF THE HINDQUARTERS AND THEREBY ALSO THE COLLECTION WHILE THEY ALL SHARE THE BENEFIT OF SUPPLENESS AND LATERAL RESPONSIVENESS OF THE .

ITEMS IN COMMON: is bent away from the direction in against the neck. Apply the left leg which it is moving. The horse’s inside strongly on the girth to maintain In all lateral movements – shoulder- foreleg crosses in front of the outside impulsion and the right one behind in, travers, renvers, and half-pass, the one, and the inside hind leg steps the girth to preserve bending. horse is slightly bent and moves on forward under the horse’s weight different tracks. The bend or flexion following the track of the outside The advantage of which must never be exaggerated so that it foreleg. impulsion does not impair the rhythm, balance, is created by engaging the inner and fluency of the movement. Using the corner could help in hind leg is used to send the horse performing the movement. When energetically straight after shoulder- In lateral movements, the pace should riding on the left hand rein, for in. Stop immediately when the horse remain free and regular in order to example, the horse is prepared with a becomes tense, irregular in pace maintain constant impulsion, yet it half-halt aid after leaving the corner. and heavy in hand. These are signs must be supple and balanced. The Shift your weight to the horse’s that the horse is not ready for the impulsion is always lost because inner hind leg, while maintaining the movement and one should go back of the rider’s preoccupation with same contact of both reins; the to for a while then try bending the horse and pushing it shoulder-out horse with the right hand which is again after few lessons. sideways. It’s advisable to ride the moved sideways out from the neck, horse and after forward straight supported by the left rein pushing each lateral movement so as to TRAVERS: prevent the horse from turning sour.

SHOULDER-IN:

When the horse is able to perform shoulder-out and leg-yielding movements it can be ready for shoulder-in. In shoulder-in the horse is ridden with a slight bend around the inside leg of the rider maintaining engagement and a constant angle of approx. 30 degrees. The horse Fig 1 SHOULDER-IN 56 In travers, the horse is more bent between travers and renvers but The rider can start this movement around the inside leg of the rider in travers the horse’s foreleg is on out of a circle as shown in figure 4. than in shoulder-in with an angle track and in renvers the hindquarters The rider puts more weight on his of 35 degrees. The foreleg of the are on track. If moving to the right inner seat bone with pressure from horse remains on the track and the (left rein leading) when performing his inside leg, (the left one in this quarters are moved inwards. The renvers, the left lateral pair of legs example), on the girth keeping the horse’s outside legs pass and cross pass and cross in front of the right horse bent around and also keeping in front of the inside legs. The horse lateral ones. the is bent in the direction in which it is impulsion. moving. The rider should shift his weight towards the direction where the The right leg of the rider, (outside A slight cut in the corner could help horse is going. The rider’s right one), is positioned behind the girth in starting travers. The rider should leg creates pressure on the girth to move the horse sideways. The left put more weight on the left seat bone while the left is kept behind the hand of the rider is kept away from if going to the left. The rider’s inside girth to keep bending and to keep the horse’s neck to lead the direction leg, (left one in this case), is on the quarters on the track. The rider and the right one is pushing the right the girth for impulsion and bending rein against the neck keeping the around it, and the outside leg is should apply the same contact of same contact of both reins. behind the girth to maintain bending both reins with the right rein away and keep the horse’s quarters away from the horse’s neck and the left It is a if the impulsion is lost from the track. The left hand of the one pushing against the neck. mistake in this movement and also if the hind rider (inside) should be away from the horse’s neck to guide the horse In travers and renvers horse and leg of the horse touches the track and obtain slight neck flexion while rider look towards the direction before the foreleg (too much angle). the other hand is supportive by in which they are going, with the always pushing the right rein against the horse bent towards this direction. For show jumpers, horse’s neck with equal contact. The remember that lateral work is not rider should not exceed a few strides HALF PASS: applied to perform a dressage test with good balance and should never but to give the horse suppleness, lose impulsion. It is a variation of travers, executed balance, engagement and impulsion. on the diagonal instead of along the The rider should not be preoccupied RENVERS: wall (sides) of the arena. The horse with the sideways movement and should be bent around the inside the angle of the horse more than It is the inverse movement of travers. and The hindquarters remain on the track leg of the rider and in the direction forwardness impulsion. while the foreleg is moved inward. it is moving with the shoulders of In theory, there’s no difference in the horse leading, and not the Reference: Training Show the horse’s shape and movement hindquarters. Jumpers By Anthony Paalman

Fig 2 TRAVERS Fig 3 RENVERS Fig 4 HALF PASS 57