Training Tips from Sara-Jane Lanning Dressage
Perfecting Leg Yield
Leg Yield is a really useful exercise and the beginning of lateral work. It starts in novice level eventing tests or elementary pure Dressage.
Leg Yielding is the beginning of teaching a horse to move sideways away from the leg. In dressage tests it is performed in working trot but as a training exercise can absolutely be done in walk, trot or canter.
The horse should stay almost straight but with a flexion at the poll away from the direction in which it is travelling. The inside legs pass and cross in front of the outside legs.
I teach mine to leg yield really early on and later on together with shoulder in, is a really good way of making a horse supple, loose and unconstrained to aid the freedom, elasticity and regularity of the paces. Also the harmony, lightness and ease of its movements.
Sort your legs out
Leg yield can be ridden on the diagonal, in which case the horse stays parallel to the long sides of the arena, although the forehand should always be slightly in advance of the hindquarters. It can also be performed along the wall; in which case the horse should be at an angle of about 35 degrees to the direction in which it is moving.
Your inside leg should stay at the girth with your outside leg slightly behind the girth and the horse staying from your inside leg to the outside rein. Frequently you see riders’ inside legs drawn back too far with their outside legs sticking forward like a spare part!
Aim to keep the same quality of the pace and not let the horse slow down, come against the hand or lose balance. Think about maintain the straightness and bear in mind your corrections may well have to be different on both reins. Often the way a horse bends more means they fall out more through the outside shoulder because they offer too much bend, whereas the stiffer way it is easier to maintain straightness so the leg yield may feel harder work but appears more correct in the positioning.
Use mirrors if your arena has them, or watch a video playback, or have someone as eyes on the ground to help you get the correct positioning.
Keep the angle and line easy to start with, ie don’t go too steeply back to the track, as the horse will fall through the shoulder and lose forward tendency. Think for every step he takes sideways he must take two forwards!
If your horse tries to fall through the shoulder ride a few steps sideways then go straight a few steps, then leg yield a few more steps, then straight a few more. Continue like this a few times to help them stay straight and get the idea. Also if they fall back to the track, start from the outside track and leg yield in towards the middle rather than out towards the edge to keep them thinking!
Practice makes perfect. Good luck!
