STRAIGHTNESS

To ride the horse forwards in the correct rhythm and make him straight should be one of the main training aims. Straightening the horse means to even out the natural crookedness in his body. The rider should do this by adjusting the forelegs to move on the tracks of the hind legs. The horse will move better when it is straight, and later will be able to collect correctly with the hind legs directly behind the forelegs. A crooked horse can never collect correctly.

To straighten the horse the rider needs to be able to ride with a good contact with the horse's mouth. The horse must understand the diagonal aids (inside leg to outside rein). When a horse is straight the hind legs follow the tracks of the forelegs. Therefore he is straight on straight lines, and slightly bent from head to tail along the line of a curved line. To straighten a crooked horse, the shorter muscles on his hollow side have to be lengthened gradually. Forced bending of the neck achieves nothing except resistance and tilting of the head.

To achieve straightening of the horse it is necessary to use the shoulder-fore and shoulder-in exercises. In trot, the shoulder-fore exercise should be used first and later the shoulder-in. In canter, the shoulder-fore is sufficient to achieve a truly straight canter with the inside hind leg taking more weight under the body. The straightening work should be worked on gently and gradually over time. Obsessive straightening will impair the quality of the movement of the horse. The horse's muscles need time to become less stiff and develop correctly on one side of the body. Many horses are stiff on one side and hollow on the other, and this is something which is dealt with on a daily basis. A horse can not truly bend from head to tail if he is not made to go straight at first. In essence, a horse must be straight before he is able to bend equally on both sides.