How to Straighten A Horse
Two simple exercises can straighten a crooked horse
You know the story: You ride your horse in the arena. In trot and walk, it is easy to see that he walks with his haunches shifted toward the right or the left rather than walking with his hips directly behind his shoulders. He canters comfortably in one direction, but swings his haunches toward the inside of the circle when cantering in the other direction, and frequently breaks out of canter.
Your trainer advises you to “Just get control of his shoulders! Align them with his haunches! If he gets crooked again, just tap his haunches with your whip to remind him to straighten up!”
You try that, and things go a little better. But not much. Here’s why, and what to do about it.
Like humans, horses have strong and weak sides. If your horse is bent to the left, that means her left side is stronger than her right. Her muscles on her left side are so strong that they remain contracted, while her right-side muscles are so weak that they remain in a permanently stretched out position. When she walks, trots, or canters to the left, her haunches always fall to the inside. The opposite is true if your horse is bent to the right.
If your left-bent horse were human, this is what she would look like:
You try that, and things go a little better. But not much. Here’s why, and what to do about it.
Like humans, horses have strong and weak sides. If your horse is bent to the left, that means her left side is stronger than her right. Her muscles on her left side are so strong that they remain contracted, while her right-side muscles are so weak that they remain in a permanently stretched out position. When she walks, trots, or canters to the left, her haunches always fall to the inside. The opposite is true if your horse is bent to the right.
If your left-bent horse were human, this is what she would look like:
If you tell the woman to straighten up, she will try her best, but will only be able to stay that way for a few steps before collapsing toward the left again. A personal trainer would tell her to work on stretching her left side muscles and contracting her right-side muscles, like this:
Over time, her muscles would become equally strong and flexible on both sides, like this:
You can do the same thing with your horse using two movements: shoulder-fore and shoulder-in.
If your horse is bent to the left, focus on shoulder-fore and (eventually) shoulder-in on the right, like this:
If your horse is bent to the left, focus on shoulder-fore and (eventually) shoulder-in on the right, like this:
If your horse is bent to the right, focus on shoulder-fore and (eventually) shoulder-in on the left.
This will straighten your horse because these movements require the horse to contract the muscles on the weak side and stretch muscles on the strong (contracted) side.
You can read more about how to do shoulder-fore here.
You can read more about how to do shoulder-in here.
This will straighten your horse because these movements require the horse to contract the muscles on the weak side and stretch muscles on the strong (contracted) side.
You can read more about how to do shoulder-fore here.
You can read more about how to do shoulder-in here.
Happy riding!
Copyright Denise Cummins February 6, 2021
The Thinking Equestrian
Photo Credits: Bending woman https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=1004&language=English; Woman stretching up https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326949#side-bends Shoulder-in https://www.horseanswerstoday.com/latest-riding-tips-and-advice/flat-work/item/175-riding-shoulder-in-correctly
Copyright Denise Cummins February 6, 2021
The Thinking Equestrian
Photo Credits: Bending woman https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=1004&language=English; Woman stretching up https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326949#side-bends Shoulder-in https://www.horseanswerstoday.com/latest-riding-tips-and-advice/flat-work/item/175-riding-shoulder-in-correctly
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Denise Cummins has over 30 years experience as an equestrian and horse business owner. In The Thinking Equestrian, she shares valuable tips on caring for and training horses, giving riding instruction, and running a successful horse business.
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