06/12/2026
This is why I am such a fan of slow walk and lateral movements. Great for preparing young horses for harder work but also, although he doesn’t mention them, great for keeping older horses supple and strong without doing faster work.
In some equestrian circles, there is a tendency to ride whole school and 20m circles on a single track for years before you begin with lateral movements in the widest sense, because they believe that the horse should be perfectly balanced, straight, and supple before being allowed to do any lateral work. However, this is very difficult to achieve without any sidestepping.
On the contrary, if the horse is never asked to engage a hind leg by sidestepping, the risk is very high that he will become stiffer and stiffer in his rib cage and hind legs. He won’t, therefore, swing through his back as much as he could, either.
On the one hand, it is true that bending and turning on a single track (circle, volte, corner) is a precursor to lateral work, but on the other hand, sidestepping and bending will improve the bend, i.e. the lateral flexibility of the rib cage and hindquarters.
Simple exercises form the stepping stones to the more advanced movements - but very often more advanced movements improve the basic movements, too.
When you start riding lateral movements in the widest sense, you will notice an improvement in the horse’s suppleness, straightness, and back activity.
Sidestepping can be used to improve the horse’s body awareness, his attentiveness to the rider’s leg and rein aids on both sides of the body, as well as to the rider’s pelvic position.
Crossing with one hind leg in front of the other is also a good way to transfer the body weight into the direction of travel, which makes it a very useful tool when you are addressing a lateral imbalance that is caused by crookedness.
Sidestepping is one of the 6 basic movements that should be introduced relatively early in the horse’s training, at least in its most basic forms. It is an important gymnastic tool to develop the horse’s bend, functional straightness, as well as the lateral and vertical flexibility of the hind legs.
