Turning left, stepping right

dressage lessons Turning left, stepping right.

One of the mistakes I often see when riders have to make smaller circles, particularly if they are challenging for their current level, is the phenomenon of turning left, stepping right ( or its inverse ). Typically this is seen as too much inside bend and the horse falling out through its outside shoulder.

Next time you get on a circle, ask yourself, where is the weight on my horses shoulders? To the inside or to the outside? Is my horse bent to the inside, but mostly stepping out through the outside shoulder.

In turning, the inside foreleg should be stepping in the direction of the turn, but often you see a tight/restricted inside shoulder and an outside leg flailing around.

In my online training course coming soon, I am putting together some really good videos showing this.

I feel its so important for riders to have 'compare and contrast' videos to help give them a reference point for improvement.