Holding the line

Maintaining straightness

Unless a rider specifically focuses on straightness, every horse, due to his natural asymmetry, will naturally travel in a way that is most comfortable for him, and this is usually with his weight distributed unequally throughout his body. Just like humans have a dominant side of their body and tend to stand and move in certain habitual ways, horses tend to have certain tendencies and strengths, and therefore lean their weight in one direction more than the other.

‘Straightening’ a horse involves helping him to move more symmetrically. The exercises mentioned here are not designed to make your horse ‘straight’, but instead to highlight when your horse is not travelling straight, so that you are able to correct the tendency when it arises.

To detect losses in straightness, there are a few things you can look for:

Does your horse bulge one shoulder more than the other when travelling in a particular direction?

Does he throw one shoulder towards the middle of circles?

Does he drift in or out on a circle on a particular rein?

Does he stick to the track more on one side than the other?

If you notice these things when riding the following, and other, exercises, and start to correct them, you will be in a better position to help your horse to move straighter and more balanced.

EXERCISE 1: LOOK, NO WALL!

In this exercise you ride on the inside track around the entire arena. By doing this on both reins, you will learn about your horse’s tendency to lean to the outside, and will develop a feel as to how best to correct it. This exercise encourages you to use your vision to create perfectly straight lines without the help of a fence.