Manolo Mendez
LATERAL WORK
Lateral Work (part 1): Beginning Lateral Work By Manolo Mendez, Specialist of In-hand and Classical Equitation with Ysabella Dean and Caroline Larrouilh
T
he key to success in executing the higher school dressage movements with graceful precision is preparation.
Preparation is the key to developing horses properly at every stage of their training from green to Grand-Prix and beyond. If the training has progressed correctly and the horse has been prepared carefully and patiently, there comes a time when the horse is going freely and smoothly, in correct balance and rhythm. This is the moment when the horse is ready to be introduced to the beginnings of lateral work which will eventually lead to movements such as pirouettes, piaffe and passage. Preparing the horse for smooth transitions is crucial in helping it maintain its balance and rhythm in the lateral work. If smooth transitions are not confirmed all the lateral work will appear and feel stiff and forced, translating into lost rhythm and poor quality of movement. In the early stages of training, we do not ask for more than a little bit of lateral bend here and there, and we are willing to go back to the fundamental basics of training to maintain the horse’s confidence in the work. We want to avoid drilling and making the horse crooked by using aids that are too strong, thinking we can impose the bend we want. If we work calmly, and we prioritize developing the horse’s suppleness, straightness and balance, we create the ideal conditions to obtain good elasticity and bend-ability in the whole horse. By working patiently and progressively we ensure the horse 28. b a r o q u e h o r s e
will develop a willing and tensionfree attitude towards lateral work. This will eventually results in lateral movements that show great rhythm, freedom and expression. To start the shoulder-in, the horse must have reached the stage where he is well-balanced under the rider’s weight. He should be finding it very easy to do eight, ten and twenty meters circles as well as loops and serpentines. The horse should clearly understand all leg aids and by this stage these should be subtle and refined. When we are confident we have all these elements in place, we are ready to begin introducing lateral work with a little shoulder-in. In the beginning there was the shoulder-in Between shoulder-in and travers we have the foundation for all higher movements. These two movements compliment each other very well. Shoulder-in is one of the most useful training exercise because it
produces suppleness and collection, encouraging the horse to take more weight on his hindquarters and freeing up the shoulders. The shoulder-in helps the rider develop a feel for fine-tuning his aids and get increasingly refined responses from the horse. The horse has fifty-four vertebrae from the poll to the end of the tail, and the body should bend equally in the shoulder-in and travers. With a young horse, we start by asking for a slight bend around the inside leg, and school up to the movement on three tracks. There are different ways to introduce the shoulder-in to your horse. You can do it on the track or on a 20 meter circle which I use to secure the flexion before I introduce the shoulder in. I begin all introductions in walk first. Introducing the shoulder-in on a 20 meter circle We can begin by teaching the
Manolo Mendez was the first Head Rider, and one of six founding members of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. Based in Jerez, Spain, the school is one of the four classical schools which also include the Cadre Noir in Saumur, the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art in Lisbon. A master horseman with over forty years of experience spanning classical dressage, doma vaquera and jumping, Manolo is dedicated to a soft, sympathetic and thorough training method which prepares horses physically and psychologically for each stage of training from training to Grand Prix and Haute Ecole. For more information and more articles visit: www.manolomendezdressage.com