How to leg yield – dressage basics

Leg yield is a basic lateral movement we teach a horse. Teaching the horse to leg yield offers many benefits and provides a good foundation for other more advanced movements.

A true leg yield is hard to perform if you don’t know what to feel for when riding. It can be initially taught in hand to help the horse understand what is being asked of them. This is also a good time to assess how easy the horse finds the movement as this will help to give a rough guide when riding. It is far easier for a trainer, who is stood on the ground, to assess how successful the movement has been under saddle. A novice rider will find it more difficult to accomplish than a more experienced one. It is therefore recommended the experienced horse teaches the less experienced rider, and vice versa.

In this article, event rider and trainer Harriet Morris-Baumber helps out by providing advice on how to perform the movement. But remember, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and ‘practice makes perfect’.

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What is Leg Yield

Leg yield is the most basic of lateral movements and encourages looseness and flexibility across the whole of the horse’s body whilst ensuring that the rider uses the correct aids and leg positioning to influence the horse.

During leg yield, the horse steps sideways and forwards at the same time. This means that the inside hind leg steps into the tracks of the opposite front leg. The inside legs step in front of and across the outside feet and the steps should be equal and in positive forward momentum.

Why we teach it

When training on the flat, suppleness is a key element which should be carefully attended to and developed.  A useful exercise which can significantly help to improve suppleness is leg yield. It is the first lateral exercise that is introduced to a horse and involves working on two tracks.

Teaching the leg yield

When training for leg yield it is important that the horse moves off the leg and learns the aid to step sideways. The horse should be relaxed, have good flexion and be moving forward freely with good balance. Just testing these points on both reins will help your horse warm up for the movement to come. It is crucial that the rider positions the horse correctly to set up the movement.

To start with, in walk, turn the horse down the centre or quarter line and be sure to ride a few straight steps forward and straight before turning your horses shoulders onto a diagonal line in the direction that you wish to travel.

The half halt should then be used to make the horse’s shoulders wait and the outside leg can be applied for support so the horse does not move on a diagonal back to the track. Simultaneously, the inside leg should be applied slightly further back, just behind the girth and should be used to ask the horse to step sideways. The rider should sit with a heavier inside seat bone, which the horse should learn to move away from. To clarify, the inside leg drives the sideways motion whilst the outside leg ‘guards’ from an excess and encourages forwardness.

When leg-yielding, the horse should be straight through the body and give a slight flexion to the inside at the poll, which is encouraged by a gentle inside rein.

To finish, the horse should be straightened, so that his hind legs and forelegs use the same track. It is important that the movement is started and finished properly so that the horse learns to be obedient and not fall sideways until he reaches the track for support. Aim to finish on the outside track.

Even if your horse only performs one to two strides, this is a good starting place, which will help you build on more in the future. It’s better to do one to two strides of leg yield to start, than to try and do a whole line that is incorrect. Once the horse rides the leg yield, walk forward and reward to reinforce the correct way of going.

Be clear and concise with your aids. Leg yield can take time to perfect, and with consistency it will become an easy exercise used for many different situations.

Different types of leg yield

There are different leg yield exercises which can be utilised as training progresses. These include leg yield on a circle, off a diagonal line and from line to line. Leg yield can be performed in walk, trot and canter, but should be introduced in walk to establish the correct positioning and teach the horse to accept the aids. Only when the horse and rider are established at this pace should they prepare to move onto the next.

Leg yield is very useful for developing lateral suppleness, which will improve the horse’s way of going as well as teaching the rider to ride lateral movements correctly. When the leg yield is established, other lateral work can be introduced such as shoulder in which should be smooth as the horse has learnt to accept the aids involved.

With special thanks to Harriet Morris-Baumber.