Unlike in any other lateral movement, the horse remains straight in his body and neck in the leg-yield, except for a slight flexion of the poll against the direction he is moving. While leg-yielding doesn’t serve collection, it is still beneficial for teaching the young horse to move away from the inside leg and generally to acquaint him with the diagonal aids. It is also quite useful for a horse of any level to help him loosen up during the warm-up phase because the crossing of the hind legs allows the horse to give his back and come onto the bit.

Leg-yielding is not a demanding movement, but like everything else, it needs to be well done and as always: less is more. So when you ride it, take care that the horse promptly moves away from the inside leg, shows a clear diagonal crossing, is forward enough and retains his rhythm. I personally do not like to ride leg-yield or anything else with the head against the wall of the arena because this has a slowing down effect and no horse likes to go with his head against the wall. Leg-yielding can be started from the track across the diagonal or from the centerline toward the track. When riding this movement with an inexperienced horse across the diagonal, you must only ask for steps that fulfill the requirements mentioned. Do not ask for these steps on a steep diagonal because it would mean a significant crossing, which might easily throw the youngster off balance.

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