Warming Up at the Trot, Leg Yield Right to Half Pass Right

Leg Yield Right to Half Pass Right.

The Leg Yield is used to teach the horse to move sideways, away from leg pressure, and forward at the same time. A wonderful suppling and loosening exercise, one can also use it to transition into the true lateral movement of Half Pass. This exercise uses the natural boundary of the school wall to help develop both the Leg Yield and the Half Pass.

Counter Pattern, Leg Yield (head to wall) to Half Pass (head to wall).

This is where it gets tricky. Since this is a “counter pattern” you will start by tracking right, but you will be asking your horse to bend to the left for the head to wall leg yield / shoulder out movement. The posting diagonal needs to be changed before you change the bend from right rein to left rein. This will help you really push your horse into that outside rein (which is your right hand because you are in counter pattern mode) off your inside (left!) leg.

Leg Yield Right to Half Pass Right

From your 10m circle near F change your posting diagonal (this is a counter pattern!) and go large. As you go around the purple cone in the corner by K – change the bend to the left and continue down the long-side in a shoulder out / leg yield / head to wall like position.

Try to maintain a 30-35 degree angle, 45 is too much and less than 30 degrees really doesn’t do anything constructive.

At E change the bend and your posting diagonal. Continue in a Haunches In / Half Pass / Head to Wall like position. Since we are changing the bend, we are also swapping our inside and outside aids. The old inside leg (left) stays in position behind the girth. The new inside leg (right) moves forward towards the girth. Our seat should also change with the new inside seat (right) advancing and becoming deeper. Softly change the rein as well so that the left rein becomes the outside rein and the right, the inside rein.

Try not to get the angle too deep, think more like a shallow bend of the horse, make it easy for the horse to do.

Leg Yield Right to Half Pass Right, from the centerline back to the track.

Now do a 10m half circle and turn up the center-line, straighten for a stride or two. Change the bend and your posting diagonal. Bend your horse slightly left and ask for leg yield right staying parallel to the long-side. About half way back to the track, try changing your posting diagonal and counter bending a little to the right, changing your seat and leg aids to Half Pass right. Try and ride all the way back to the track at the letter K in Half Pass. At first the Half Pass can have a rather shallow angle or bend, referred to as a “soft” Half Pass. Over time as your horse gets stronger it will develop into a true Half Pass with a steeper angle and more bend.

Once back to the track straighten and now change your posting diagonal and ride a 10m circle on the left rein in the purple cone corner by K.

Now, change rein and repeat the exercise in the other direction.

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