UNDERSTANDING THE LEG YIELD

By Leslie A. Kennedy

THE PURPOSE:  A very important exercise in the training of all my horses is the leg yield. The leg yield is the most basic of all lateral movements and is the building block for further lateral work.   The purpose of the leg yield is to loosen, balance and supple the horse. It improves the contact,  The elasticity,  promotes shoulder freedom and regularity of pace.  However, it is not a collecting exercise.  Later on, it also becomes a correction for half-pass.

WHERE IT IS DONE:  Leg yielding can be done on the diagonal, head to wall at approximately a 35 degree angle, and on a circle.

AT WHAT STAGE OF TRAINING  DO I BEGIN:  I prefer to teach this fairly early on in the horse’s education. I want the horse to understand the “sideways” pushing aids from the leg.  Chances are your horse will have learned to move sideways from your touch. Most of us automatically push the horse over in the cross ties, or move them over in the stall by applying some degree of pressure in the girth area.

 I am a strong believer in ground work for horses of all ages. Many of my exercises are taught from the ground first.  This way, when mounted the horse has had experience to some degree in moving away from pressure and in responding to the coming back aids with a light squeeze on the reins.

 A LOGICAL POSITION:  It is my training philosophy to put the horse in the “physically logical” position to do what is being asked.  Too often the horse is put in an illogical position caused by the rider which makes the task at hand impossible for the horse to carry out.

In order to achieve this, you need to be able to understand the horse’s way of thinking and how he might respond physically and mentally.  During ground work, the handler’s body position plays a big role in determining if the result of the requested movement is successful or not.  The same rule applies for the rider. 

Realistically you cannot expect your horse to perform a movement in rhythm and balance when you, the rider, are not in balance and sync with your horse.  If you think about what is logical to the horse, you are on your way to producing a successful result.

WHAT IS A LEG YIELD?  The leg-yield is a lateral move without bend. The horse moves forward and sideways with slight flexion at the poll away from the direction in which he is traveling. By slight flexion I mean that the rider just able to see the eye and nostril of the horse to the inside. Done on the diagonal, the horse moves parallel to the wall, with the shoulders slightly in advance of the hindquarters, the inside legs cross over and in front of the outside pair. It is critically important that the rider keep the horse’s head and neck in front of the shoulders.  Failing to do so results in a “neck in” position which serves only to block the horse’s shoulders and hind legs.   This effectively bends the horse like a pretzel and makes it illogical and impossible for the horse to carry out the movement.

NOTE:  The side which the horse is yielding away from is called the “inside”. For example, if your horse is moving away from the left leg by moving to the right, the left becomes the “inside” side.  The left rein is the inside rein; the left leg is the inside leg.

Once the horse understands the leg-yield at the walk, I proceed in trot. The reason for this is that during the trot, the horse’s legs travel in diagonal pairs. It is easier for the horse’s inside pair of legs to step in front of and cross the outside pair at the trot.  Remember, we are setting the horse up to be successful in his efforts.  This is a logical position for the horse to be in.

THE AIDS:  I begin to teach the leg yield on the diagonal line.  The inside leg aid is given slightly behind the girth to ask for the sideways movement and the outside leg is at the girth to help control the shoulder and to prevent the hindquarters from leading.

 If necessary the rider may need to use both reins to slow the horse down if he rushes.  However, the use of both reins should be a squeeze and release and not become a pulling back rein.  The horse would become confused and the forward movement would be blocked.   The inside rein asks for the flexion while the outside rein regulates the flexion and helps control the shoulder. The shoulders should be slightly in advance of the hindquarters.  To summarize, the inside leg determines how much sideways you travel and the outside leg determines how much the horse moves forward.

WHAT NOT TO DO:  In the event the horse does not respond to the inside leg, moving your inside leg further back, as often seen, won’t help.  Rather, reinforce your leg aid by tapping with a whip behind your inside leg.

 Be satisfied with a few steps at a time in the beginning.  When your horse responds to the sideways driving aid, cease the aid and let the horse continue on his own. Apply the aid again when he stops moving in the desired direction.  I like my horses to continue a movement on their own until I ask them otherwise.  The reward is to stop using the aid; the punishment is to continue the aid unnecessarily. Repeated nagging will, over time, cause the horse to ignore you.

I would like to emphasize during early training, I do not ask for the inside flexion at the poll.  The important point for me is that the horse move clearly forward and sideways and remains straight.  Flexion can be introduced once the horse understands the leg yield.  At that point, adding the flexion is easy. Often riders pull too much on the inside rein in an effort to create the flexion. Pulling the horse over with the inside rein disables the horse from being able to move forward and sideways.

Initially the angle should not be too steep, but as the training progresses, ride at various angles to assess just how much control you have and how responsive the horse is.

In summary, the leg yield is very important to teach young horses the lateral aids.  Older horses benefit from the loosening and suppling effect of this exercise. Later on, it can be combined with other lateral work.  Leg yielding can be done on a diagonal line, beginning either on the quarter-line or centre-line; head to wall which teaches the combination of holding and driving aids, and on a circle.

SPEAKING FOR THE HORSE

"PUT ME IN A POSITION THAT IS LOGICAL FOR  ME TO PERFORM THE MOVEMENT."

"REWARD ME BY DISCONTINUING THE AID; PUNISHMENT IS TO CONTINUE USING THE AID UNNECESSARILY."