DECEMBER 2020 THE RIDER /29 Start the maneuver by Palm Partnership Training™ Building A Partnership With Your Horse Working In-Hand - Yeilding Right


By Lynn Palm. We’ve been discussing


tips for teaching your horse three in-hand maneuvers that are extremely important for the horse’s future from beginning work under sad- dle to advanced training. They are the forehand turn, turn on the haunches, and yielding. A “non-horsy” hus-


band of one of my students was perplexed with the no- tion of teaching horses to “go sideways” as in yield- ing. Yielding is much more than just going sideways. It teaches the horse to respond to our aids, whether from the ground when we are first teaching this maneuver or to our leg when we ask him to execute it under saddle. Think of yielding as an ex- ercise that encourages the horse’s hind legs (his en- gine) to be active under- neath his body. The more active and “engaged” his hind legs are, the easier it will be for him to balance himself and do what you are asking him. Yielding is a very good exercise for loos- ening the front shoulders as the horse “swings” his front legs. It also teaches us how to coordinate our aids to ask the horse for lateral move- ment.


As with all of in-hand


lessons, outfit your horse with a properly fitting hal- ter, with a longe line at- tached, and leg protection. For this lesson attach the longe line on the halter’s side ring on the side you are


leading. Like other in-hand les-


sons, I recommend intro- ducing it in a smaller secure area like an enclosed pad- dock or round pen. I’ll de- scribe this lesson as if teaching it in a small pad- dock. Once your horse is solid in this lesson, you will be able to execute it any- where. When starting this lesson, practice it in the same spot each time. By doing this, the horse will be familiar with what you will be ask- ing him to do. Once he is consistent, add additional spots until he can perform it anywhere within the train- ing location you are using.


In-Hand Lesson: Yield- ing-Right We defined yielding as


a maneuver where the horse stays straight and the fore- hand and hindquarters work together so he can move lat- erally.


This maneuver


builds on the lesson learned in the forehand turn, that is, moving away from pressure. Use the simple pattern


I’ve shared to properly posi- tion the horse for yielding, but this time to the right. To do this, find a section of straight fence line that ends in a right hand corner or bend. Stand so that you are leading your horse from his right side with him posi- tioned between you and a fence. You will be “track- ing” or moving to the horse’s right. Walk him straight


him through the right hand corner. Continue turning away from the fence, mak- ing a ½-circle to the right, until you are positioned in the middle of the paddock and facing in the opposite direction than you started. Ask him to whoa, making sure he is straight and square. Change longe line or lead and your position to the horse’s left side. You will be working from the left side for yielding right fol- lowing a diagonal line back toward the fence. Stand close to your horse, facing him, between the middle of his neck to his shoulder. Hold the excess longe line in your left hand. Extend your left hand


to lightly grasp the halter’s side ring, at the horse’s jaw, with just enough contact to guide the head. Do not hang on the halter or steer his head from underneath it! Remember the key to this lesson from last week’s newsletter— use this hand to encourage him to move FORWARD and very slightly flex his head toward you (away from the direc- tion he will be traveling). Remember, the bend to his head is very slight, his neck should remain in line with the rest of his body. Later, as he becomes more schooled in this maneuver, he will be able to do it with little or no bend. When yielding, the head, neck, shoulders, and back should stay in line with the hips. Extend your right hand


along the fence line and turn to apply the aid or “cue” for


this maneuver to move the hindquarters laterally. The “target area” for this cue is the lower half of the horse’s barrel within a zone approx- imately 10 inches behind his heartgirth. This is same place where your lower leg contacts the horse’s lower barrel when your foot is in the stirrup and where you will cue for leg yielding under saddle. Be consistent where


you apply this cue! The cue is not given up high on the flank, up on his sides, or back on his hip. Look at your horse and find the tar- get area before staring this lesson. If your horse is sen- sitive to this touch, you may need to gently stroke him from his withers down to his shoulder to get him accus- tomed to the contact. Apply the cue using a cupped hand with a pulsating pressure, rather than poking the horse with your knuckles or fin- gers.


extending your left hand and give a “cluck” to ask the horse to walk FORWARD and STRAIGHT—before any lateral movement is re- quested. When he is mov- ing forward and straight, very slightly bend his head toward you as you apply the cue with your right hand in the target zone. Use your peripheral vi-


sion to see if his left front and hind legs are crossing over the right front and hind legs while he stays straight in his topline. If he does not stay straight, bring him for- ward and straighten him using the right hand on his halter, before asking again. When the horse moves


laterally, lighten the pres- sure and follow his move- ment


as he moves


diagonally toward the fence. If he does not respond vi- brate the pressure with the left hand, to keep him mov- ing forward with a slight bend, and with the right hand to ask him to move his hindquarters


laterally.


When he reaches the fence, finish the maneuver by ask- ing him for a few steps for- ward and straight alongside the fence. Ask him to whoa and praise him. Teaching this maneu-


ver is as much about learn- ing how to coordinate your actions as a handler as teaching your horse to move laterally to your commands. Avoid the common


problem of standing too far away from the horse and not


moving with him. In this position the handler will lag behind her horse and pull him out of the straight-line body position. Be precise where the cue is applied. If it is given too far behind the target area or too high on the flank, the horse will have the tendency to swing his hindquarters out or re- sist, rather than move later- ally. Don’t look down at the horse’s feet, but use your peripheral vision to monitor the horse’s topline to see if he is staying straight at the same time you note if he is crossing his front and hind legs properly.


Your Next Step… As you and your horse


advance with yielding, you will be able to keep the head, neck, shoulders, back, and hips in alignment. The goal in teaching yielding is to get the horse moving more FORWARD and later- ally, then just going side- ways. This will help keep the neck more in line with his body. Once you and your


horse are consistent with the in-hand maneuvers we’ve covered over the past sev- eral newsletters, combine them to keep him fresh and responsive. Here is a se- quence of in-hand “pat- terns” that I demonstrate with clear visuals and more training tips at the conclu- sion of my instructional video Longevity Training Tape #3-Working In Hand. Try each sequence. When


your horse is responding consistently, link them to- gether, try them leading from each side, change di- rections, and add your own variations to create more challenging, fun exercises. Turn on the forehand


180 degrees- lead at the walk -increase speed to lead at the trot- whoa- back. Turn on the forehand


180 degrees- whoa- lead at the walk- increase speed to lead at the trot- whoa. Turn on the haunches


right 180 degrees- directly to leading at the trot in a straight line- trot in a medium sized circle- whoa. Turn on the haunches


90 degrees- whoa- lead at the trot through a ½-circle- whoa- trot on again- whoa. Yield to the left- stop


the forward movement and ask for the turn on the fore- hand to the left 180 degrees- whoa- walk forward- yield left a few steps. (Repeat on opposite lead) Turn on the haunches


360 degrees- whoa. (Repeat on the opposite lead)


Lynn’s Training Tip… Either on the ground or


under saddle, learning how to advance your training using my non-stressful tech- niques will help you de- velop a long lasting partnership and an obedient well-trained horse! Take the next step by visiting my website


at www.lynnpalm.com.


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