My pony and I can leg yield pretty well along the rail but whenever we try to leg yield across a diagonal even for a short while I can't keep him straight. Any tips?
So first off, I am having one of those days where I can’t visualize anything-- thus I am not totally sure if you mean you’ve been leg yielding from the quarter line to the rail (or center line to the rail) but are struggling with say a leg yield that starts along the rail at H and ends on the rail at F (i.e. leg yielding across the whole arena) OR if instead you mean you can leg yield ALONG the rail (with a 35 or so degree) point toward the direction you’re traveling.
Basically even though leg yield on the diagonal is technical term used by the FEI, I never use it so when I hear people use it I seriously don’t ever know if what they’re meaning to refer to!
For straightness issues with the leg yield there are a few ways you can go about training to correct it.
1) The Preemptive Fix (also known as the “Huh Maybe If I Do This It Will End Here and We Can All Go Home Happy)
“Counter bend” (in parenthesis because obviously you want your horse straight) for a few steps before asking for the leg yield, straighten and proceed with asking for the leg yield. Hopefully, tadaa! every thing is fixed and we can all call it a day, good job everyone! The idea is that your horse has been leaning toward the inside so we are pulling him off the inside and then allowing him to be straight prior to asking for a straight lateral movement. In a perfect world this very small correction can solve this problem and depending on the schooled level of a horse at this movement this could be all you need to do!
1) The Correction (also known as “Wow I Didn’t Know Being Straight Was So Hard) ((shitty sexuality joke my bad))This is a two part, because hooray a two part!
For Schooling purposes-- Make a 10m circle in the corner where you plan to ask for the movement. Ensure you’ve got enough impulsion to complete the circle and move into a yield afterwards. The circle may not clearly seem to help with straightness, but the idea is similar to asking for counter bend, you are asking for the horse to bend in a direction before presenting them with the opportunity to go straight. Not to mention we want the circle to develop our horse stepping under because a major issue in horses over-bending when learning the leg yield can be traced back to a lack of forward momentum. In fact, as you come out of the circle I would even ask for a few steps of counter bend before asking for straightness. Once your horse is straight, ask for the leg yield. (WHAT IF THE YIELD ISN’T STRAIGHT?! HOLD ON I SAID THIS WAS A TWO PART)
For the Movement itself-- when riding the leg yield and noticing an over-bent quality to the yield or a lack of proper straightness apply a large half-halt to the outside rein (the side the horse is traveling toward) then promptly give to the horse largely. Each time you give, you should get a nice proper step sideways and the half-halt itself should be straightening your horse. Before even going into the yield and after achieving your moment of straightness prior to asking, give the horse a good half-halt from the outside. Widening your outside rein can sometimes be a benefit, but ideally avoid schooling the movement that way as it’ll really only continue to make achieving true straightness with little hand interference very difficult.
3) The Step Back (also known as “The Step that is Secretly Forward Because This Will Help You More Than Worrying Over a Full and Correct Leg Yield”)
When you really lose the straightness of the leg yield you lose the movement, the shoulder is thrown out and leads too much letting the ass drag and you just have a messed up jack-knifed pony with little to no cross-over just doing whatever from one side of the arena to the other. Therefore it’s more important to take a baby step back sometimes rather than trudging forward. Try this exercise instead-- Going from the quarter line to begin with (you can move farther out as the quality of your leg yield improves), yield toward the wall for a few steps and then straighten for a few steps (and on and on and on until you’re on the rail again). The aim here is to never ask past losing straightness, once the straightness is lost-- just drop the yield, move forward, attain straightness of the body, and yield again. Doing this will also help you and your horse attain more refined aids for the yield! HARD MODE (or is it?)-- from the center line, yield a few steps to the right, have a step of straightness, leg yield a few steps to the left (and so on until you run head first into the rail). This isn’t going to give your horse the time to lean or over-bend to a certain side. Ideally you should be able to eventually leg yield off the wall onto X and then back onto the wall. All while straight!
The inside leg drives, the outside leg controls. (Give and take the pressure of the inside leg in tempo with the horse moving off the leg & keep your outside leg dropped back to prevent the haunches from leading)
You can post if need be. (Some people can develop better tempo and greater forward drive by starting out with posting the leg yield)
Your weight is on your side. (While ideally you want to be sat straight, in schooling you can shift your weight to encourage your horse to follow your weight SO DON’T FORGET HOW EASY THIS IS TO DO)
While I am a nice internet person 100% willing to offer advice (because I like doing it!), I can’t give you the 100% best answer for you and your horse because I haven’t seen you two riding this movement. For the best results possible, always consult with a paid professional IN PERSON!
