Shoulder-in

For the rider

As with leg-yielding, shoulder-in is an exercise on several tracks which teaches the rider to move the horse laterally whilst retaining control of the pace, the overall attitude and the direction to be followed. The difference is the additional difficulty of obtaining a certain bend. The rider’s aids are dissociated, thus helping to work on the independence of the aids.

For the horse

Shoulder-in is both a physical and educational exercise for the horse, and helps to work on the horse’s physical and mental capacities (suppleness, coordination…). By teaching the horse to bend around the rider’s leg, it helps to make more flexible and reinforce laterally the most rigid part of the backbone (dorsal vertebrae from the withers to behind the saddle) and the shoulders (through crossover movement of the legs). Top-line muscles (especially in the lumbar region) and abdominal muscles are also made more flexible and reinforced. Shoulder-in also mobilizes adductor and abductor muscles in the legs, muscles which are a lot less active during a normal walk. The requested flexion of the joints, particularly the hip joint (between the pelvic bone and the femur), and the sacroiliac joint (haunches), promotes collection and upward movements. Regarding locomotion, this leads to hind limb engagement and lowering of the haunches, as the horse transfers his weight from the front towards the hindquarters (lightening of the shoulders).

Stage 1: Preparatory exercises

Small circles around the rider’s inside leg

Later on, you can prepare your figures by using a small circle to determine the degree of bend, and/or go back into a small circle at the end of the movement to check that the horse has maintained his bend.

Shoulder-fore and counter-shoulder fore

For inexperienced horses, start by asking for counter-shoulder fore, which is the equivalent of a shoulder fore but facing the wall or arena fencing. This helps to control the horse’s shoulders and makes the exercise easier.  Mechanically the exercise is identical to shoulder fore, you just have to imagine that the wall or fence has been moved to the other side of the horse (closest to his head instead of his hindquarters). The movement and the bend remain the same, it is just a question of spatial representation… Take care to bring the horse to an inside track before asking for counter-shoulder fore, so as to flex him and bring the shoulder on the inside of the bend to the track. For example when tracking to the left, move your horse to an inside track, request a slight bend to the right as you move the right shoulder back to the track. The rest of the horse’s body remains on an inside track and the horse moves along the wall or fence.

Counter shoulder-in

This follows the same principle as counter-shoulder fore, except that there is the additional difficulty of more bend with both shoulders moved back to the track. It is still easier to begin with than a shoulder-in, as the wall or the arena fence helps to control the horse’s shoulders. The aids remain the same. As in the previous exercise, bring your horse to an inside track before requesting counter-shoulder-in, so that you can bring the shoulders back to the track. For example for a right counter-shoulder in, walk on an inside track to the left, bend your horse as if you wanted to circle out of the arena through the fence, and once the shoulders are on the track, travel along the side of the arena.

Halt in a shoulder-in position

This exercise is useful to ensure that the horse has understood the request. Halting, or very slow paces are a good pedagogical tool: halting the horse in a correct attitude enhances his comprehension of what you’re asking of him. Repeat this exercise several times and only move on to the next exercise when the horse remains calm at a halt.

Stage 2: Shoulder-in along the side of the arena

How to begin the movement

Everything is a question of decomposing the movement:

1) Bring the shoulders away from the track.
2) Lighten the forehand so that you’re not pushing on a dead weight (horse leaning on the bit)
3) Request lateral movement with the inside leg at the girth, and keep looking in the direction in which you’re traveling.
Shoulder-in is only of any use if the horse is supporting his neck and is light on the bit.

Stage 3 : shoulder-in round a corner

Stage 4 : Shoulder-in while traveling on a diagonal

Taking a diagonal line brings the horse naturally back to the track which favors maintaining impulsion. For example: Draw a small circle track to the left as you come out of a corner, then change rein on a diagonal line in shoulder-in. When you reach the track to the right, you will be on a left counter-shoulder-in.

Stage 5: shoulder-in on a serpentine

Orientation and attitude of the horse

• Sustaining regularity of the bend and oblique attitude throughout the movement.
• The horse is stable on the bit (quality of contact)
• Correct attitude (rounded, but carrying his neck, nose slightly  in front of the vertical)

Locomotion and quality of the movement

• Impulsion : active horse in a constant pace.

• Balanced horse, carrying himself, lightening of the shoulders.

• Rhythmical pace, i.e regular and elastic.

• Inside foreleg, crossing over in front of the outside foreleg

• Engagement of the inside hind leg which comes down in front of the outside hind leg (which itself remains parallel to the track)

Listening to the rider’s aids

• Reactive response to the rider’s aids
• Maintaining an oblique frame and regularity of the bend throughout the movement.

Following the track desired

• Movement with a curved horse, but traveling in a straight line

Horse badly oriented or irregular bend

• No bend or irregular bend.
• Variations in the obliqueness of the movement.
• Neck over-bent, shoulders either not in enough.
• Shoulders too far in.

Lighten the forehand and bring the shoulders away from the track to orient your horse correctly before starting the movement. In order to keep the degree of obliqueness and a regular bend your horse must be listening to your aids. Come back to the preparatory exercises if this is not the case. You can execute a small circle to prepare shoulder-in and check that the bend was maintained by circling again at the end of shoulder-in.
The horse should be curved from poll to tail, and not “crooked” in his neck with the rest of the back remaining straight. In this case the movement would merely be on one track with a neck bend to the inside. The success of the exercise begins with a correct curve throughout the horse’s body, which will promote balance, collection, and hind  leg engagement.

Impulsion and balance problems

• Loss of balance and regularity in the gait.
• Losing impulsion, irregular or insufficient tempo.
• Head tilted.
• Insufficient suspension time

If your horse loses impulsion and “leans” on the rider’s leg, it is due to a lack of responsiveness to the rider’s aids. Take the horse back to the preparatory exercises, and to successive transitions close together so as to get a reactive response to the leg demanding impulsion. You can only shoulder-in correctly if your horse is responding to the leg aids.

Horse moving away from the track

If the horse attempts to escape the lateral movement by traveling forward, it’s because he doesn’t understand what you’re asking of him. Try to get a better dosage of aids; make sure you dissociate your hand and leg actions as mentioned in the first part of the fact sheet, you will gain in accuracy. Take the time to decompose the movement, and be progressive in your demands, especially with a young horse.