Lesson 19 Sideways
The better you horse goes backwards and sideways, the better he’ll do everything else.
Like backing up, sideways is a manoeuvre horses don’t do very much. Yet this will become very important to you later as the foundation of turns, spins, leads and lead changes.
Equipment: Natural Hackamore; and a fence! You’ll do the sideways manoeuvre with a fence in front of you to help prevent forward movement. In the next level we’ll ask you to do it without a fence but in Level 1 the fence will help you a lot.
- Hold your reins in two hand, picking them up like you learned in the previous lesson in the 9 step back up. You’ll get to step 3 and then change your focus to go sideways.
- Look to the side you want to travel, pick a long focus.
- Open that side: your rein, your leg, even point your toe toward the thing you are focused on.
- Close the other side; elbow bent to your side, fist on the reins, put your weight into the stirrup, close you leg to push zone 3, make sure you don’t start kicking, maintain steady pressure.
- As soon as the horse makes a move sideways, release. Then start again. Pretty soon you can take several steps before releasing.
Success Tips
- A long focus, keep it at least at eye level or above.
- An open rein and leg; use a direct rein position that lifts the front end slightly.
- “Closing” the other side; lock your elbow firmly into your hip, curl your leg around zone 3 pointing your toes down, curling them inside your boot to give your calf power, and pushing with your heel.
- Putting weight into the outside stirrup so your weight is pushing from the outside, rather than leaning into the direction you are traveling.
Pitfalls
- Focusing on the ground
- Kicking with your outside leg
- Leaning in the direction of travel
Troubleshooting
Horse will not go sideways, resists your leg
Fix it on the ground; get the Porcupine Game in zone 3 working well and also review Game #6 Sideways to make sure your horse feels comfortable going sideways. If you still have trouble, keep your leg pressure a about 8 oz (not strong!), transfer your reins into the direct rein hand, lift your elbow and point it to your focus point, then swing the lead rope part of your hackamore reins like a propeller on the outside of zone3 to drive your horse sideways. If this is still problematic, drive zone 1 then zone 4, 1 then 4 and so on while maintaining your focus and position. As soon as the horse responds, relax, then start again. Always try to ask the horse sideways with your hands and legs before bringing in the driving factor.
The horse tries to turn forwards
Hold your horse straight with your reins. Usually its the outside rein that will help keep straightness so don’t let the horse take your outside rein and hand out of position and don’t lose your focus! The also means that he’s not responding to your leg, so check out how effective your Porcupine Game is.
The horse goes backwards
Maintain your focus, squeeze your horse forward (spank if necessary), think in terms of shutting every “door” available to your horse except the one in the direction of your side ways movement. In this way you’ll cause the right thing to be easy and the wrong thing to be difficult.
Summary
The better your horse goes backwards and sideways the better he’ll do everything else.
Sideways leads to better turns, spins, leads and lead changes.
Use the Natural Hackamore… and a fence.
Pick a long focus.
Close all options to your horse except the one to go sideways in one direction.
Push your horse by closing one side of your body and opening the other.
Your weight needs to be in the outside stirrup. If you have problems achieving this, stand in the stirrup to exaggerate it.
If you focus on the ground. Kick instead of push and lean into the motion… you will have problems!
If the horse resists your leg, re-examine your Porcupine Game and the Sideways Game on the ground.
Support response to your leg by swinging your string and them gently tapping the horse while you hold the push of your leg. Release immediately you gain a response.
Using a fence at first will help prevent forward motion.
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