If you think about impulsion and flexion and what it takes in order for ahorse to be able to move freely and fluidly in all directions, you will soon see the obvioussigns of natural flexion and therefore elevation.

For a horse to truly get his feet underneath him, particularly in sideways and backwardmanoeuvres, he needs to lift his body up, hence flexing vertically to some degree throughthe whole body. Try it yourself. Get down on the floor on all fours and try lifting yourback up as high as you can. Note what happens to your shoulders, neck and head.

For a truly flowing and fluid sideways or lateral movement, a horse needs to elevate. Hislegs swing like pendulums, so when he lifts through the body, it becomes easier to movefreely. This makes true sideways and backward more elevated movements.

Have you ever seen someone trying to back their horse up or go sideways quickly? If thehorse is flat and on the forehand, his movement will be less than smooth. A horse goingbackward like this will just drag his feet on the ground no matter how fast he goes. Insideways, he’ll appear to skip across so that he doesn’t trip, rather than cross his legssmoothly.

When riding laterally, remember that with collection comes elevation. The more collectedyour horse is, the more elevated he will become. If you want your horse to flow freely inhis lateral moves, make sure you get in time with his feet, lifting and elevating acrosswith him rather than just pushing harder causing him to be flat.

One of the things that humans are renowned for is being very literal. Try notto exaggerate too much, just get in time with your horse’s feet; find the rhythm and thinkup and across, timing your cues to offer the direct reins not just pushing constantly withyour leg. If your horse goes toward the open door, he will reach further in his stride andhave more flow. If you just push harder with your leg you will cause him to flex in theopposite direction and possibly push against you.

Remember, horses will go toward comfort given half a chance. Offer the open door and thenget out of his way and allow him to take the good deal.

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