Training Tip Tuesday: Training the Leg Yield

Today's training tip is going to focus on the very important movement- the Leg yield. USDF defines the leg yield as "the horse is almost ‘FEI Rule Book’ straight, except for a slight flexion at the poll away from the direction in which he moves, so that the rider is just able to see his eyebrow and nostril. The inside legs pass and cross in front of the outside legs. " The Leg yield is introduced in training prior to the horse developing collection and is generally the introduction to the lateral movements in dressage. 
Now why is it so important to learn how to ride a proper leg yield? In my opinion, the leg yield is a super movement to really give the rider the proper feel of the correct inside leg to outside rein connection. This is pivotal for all the movements to come and also to develop proper balance in the horse. First, I will explain the aids I use for the leg yield, then I will discuss how to introduce it, and finally some common issues and exercises to improve. 
Aids: 
First ride a straight line and make sure you are sitting evenly- that you feel the horse between both reins and both legs. Then you flex the horse slightly towards the driving leg- be careful to not over flex. Then let your shoulder on the side of the driving leg go back slightly (make sure that you don't become crooked, still sitting up like there is a string pulling your spine to the sky). Think of slightly weighting your seat bone in the direction the horse is going to go(because many riders end up leaning over the driving leg- this really just makes sure you sit even and go with the horses balance). Once you are in the proper body position then you can add the driving leg aid- Usually I put this leg on and hold it at their side and then the leg on the side the horse is moving to can bump to drive the horse forward. Make sure to keep the elbow on the side the horse is moving to at your side and elastic- so you can give if the horse feels restricted or take if the horse falls over with the shoulder. 

How to begin riding leg yields:
Firstly, your horse has to be able to move freely forward in its body and also understand the forward driving aids. This means when you apply the leg aid the horse should do something. Then I check and make sure my horse has an understanding of a turn on the forehand. This is the easiest place to teach the horse that the leg aid can mean something other than "go forward". 
From there I typically ask the horse to walk on a circle- usually approx 12m- and then ask with the turn on the forehand aids idea. I want the horse to keep its shoulders slightly to the inside of the circle so I can gain correct control of the hind legs initially. You often have to help the horse understand that it cannot run away from this "new" driving aid and that its instead asking the horse to step better under their midline. This is also where you really start understanding when to push with the driving leg and how much to hold the outside receiving leg. 

Common mistakes and exercises to help:
My horse just does a diagonal line when I ask for a leg yield- how do I fix this?
- I would initially go back to the turn on the forehand and make sure that I was getting a quick and proper response to my sideways driving leg aid. This helps break things down for the horse with a much simpler maneuver, it also gives the rider more time to feel like they can more easily feel errors being made. 
Once you feel like you have a good handle on the turn on the forehand then ask the horse to try a "walking" turn on the forehand where they keep the legs moving- the shoulders are turned towards the middle of the circle with the outside rein and you use that sideways driving leg to push the haunch on a bigger circle then the shoulders. If you can do that then you go on a quarterline and you want to feel like the shoulders can walk a diagonal to centerline(meaning you feel like you align your body with that line) and then you apply the sideways driving aid keeping that thought of the diagonal to centerline. 

My horse can move sideways fine, but he becomes overflexed or against the outside rein? 
- I would start to fix this by initially just walking or trotting a counterflexed circle (not way overflex, like an inch or two) and making sure the horse is able to move as supple in the counterflexion as in correct flexion. From there I would ride the leg yield off the wall and once the horse began pushing too much into the shoulder then I would turn a circle to the opposite direction of the leg yield bend (so you change the bend) and then you return to the leg yield line and repeat. Another way is to ride the leg yield with a 45 degree into the wall and try to keep the haunch over while asking the horse to become straight then flexed in the direction of travel instead of counterflexed. This issue is generally a suppling and thoroughness issue and very important to resolve when developing a horse. 

It is important to develop proper rideability in the leg yield as it is a very important movement when you look at the long-term training of the dressage horse. You want to feel that when the leg yield is truly secure and rideable that the horse is moving from the driving leg to the receiving the leg. The horse should be fairly soft but not abandoning the rein that is flexing the horse slightly, but your outside rein shouldn't be heavy or leaned against. The contact should feel like you have the ability to take the outside rein contact and at least straighten, if not change the flexion without significant bracing or resistance. 
It is also important that while competing the leg yield you want to travel fairly straight- often parallel to the long side. With that being said when I train the leg yield that I train what I feel- if I feel the horse is dragging the hind legs then I work to get the horse to feel like it can lead with the haunch. If the horse is becoming too sideways and becoming behind the leg then I try to make either a forward, less sideways line or I stair step(straightening and riding forward when the horse becomes behind the forward driving aid). I am always seeking to improve the horses overall rideability, not just simply training for the minimum requirement of the test. 

As I said last week- I am currently not riding so I can heal, but once I am back riding I can make a video if it is of interest to show some of what I discussed above. 

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