On the straight and narrow

Most horses are born with a preference to one side. Andrea Oakes investigates how you can combat this, and the importance of straightness in training

- Andrea Oakes

GOING straight doesn’t sound so difficult, in the grand scheme of dressage. So why is straightness up near the top of the training scales, just one step beneath collection?

To understand its complexity, it’s worth a quick refresher in what the term straightness means in the context of training. Put simply, the hind feet of a horse who is travelling “straight” should track directly into the hoofprints of his front feet — not just when he is moving on a straight line, but also on a curve or circle.

Trainer Andrew Day likens true straightness in motion to hitting the “sweet spot” in a racket sport — an optimum point, where the horse generates the most power for the least effort.

“This longitudinal alignment is best seen as the opposite of crooked,” explains Andrew. “It represents the full and unhindered thrust of the horse’s hindlegs, which propels his centre of balance forwards equally into both reins.”

Unfortunately, nature throws a spanner into the works.

“Horses are born curved,” explains Andrew. “Whereas the human foetal position is like a crouch, a horse in the womb has a lateral bend. While this largely rights itself once the foal is freed from uterus, and during the first few years of growth and development, a horse will always have a slight spinal preference.

“The job of the rider is to recognise the horse’s preference and to teach him to move evenly through both sides of his body,” adds Andrew.