Why is the shoulder in so important, and why is it so hard?

I can’t tell you how many different versions I see of the shoulder in every time I get a new student. It’s amazing how easy it is to do it wrong and actually end up throwing your horse off balance or building stiffness when you are trying to do the exact opposite.

To make it uber simple, there are two things you are looking for when you are training the shoulder in.

1.     Bend

2.     Angle

This seems simple enough, but it isn’t.

What is shoulder in?

The shoulder in is an exercise that bends and collects the inside hind leg and should be trained in both directions. The hind leg is sent forward and under the horse, supporting the forehand and lifting the “up and forward” movement of the outside front leg.

In the shoulder in, the weight of the horse is on the inside due to the bend. The horse is balancing on his inside front leg and carrying himself forward in the direction of travel with the inside hind leg. The inside of the horse will therefore have a downward rotation as the hind leg steps forward and under, and the outside of the horse will have an upward rotation as the hind leg lifts it. This means that the outside foreleg/shoulder should always be lifted and light in the shoulder in.

If your horse is falling toward the outside shoulder in the shoulder in, the exercise is being ridden incorrectly and you are putting the horse on the forehand.

The aids of the shoulder in should be as follows:

If the shoulder in is performed with a left bend whilst traveling right, then both reins must be moving left to ask both shoulders to turn and bend to the inside. Since the haunches remain straight on the fence, the hips of the rider remain almost straight to match them; however, the head, shoulders and torso of the rider turn to match the angle of the horse’s shoulders.

When this happens, a slight twist travels from the torso into the hips of the rider, causing the inside leg/hip to open to the inside slightly whilst still staying at the girth, and the outside leg closes on the horse from the hip to the knee and the upper thigh can naturally move back a little due to the twist. You should feel as if the twist is causing you to sit slightly more on your inside seat bone but still able to distribute your overall weight equally/centered on both sides of the horse.

The shoulder in can be ridden both 3 track and 4 track:

In the 3 track the horse has his inside front leg on one track, outside front leg and inside hind leg on the same track and then outside hind leg on a separate track = 3 tracks. The 3-track shoulder in is great for creating a big forward stepping inside hind leg, which you need to make any lateral movement beautiful.

I just want to emphasize the forwardness here.

Anytime it feels like your shoulder in, haunches in, half pass or leg yield isn’t traveling well, and you feel the urge to kick the horse to get more sideways, just realize that most likely it’s not the sideways stride that your horse isn’t doing well, it’s the forward. To fix this, practice riding a lateral movement mixed with a few strides of regular straight forward with lots of impulsion. Soon the horse will understand that he needs to combine the two for the movement to really flow.

The shoulder in 4 track is where all 4 feet are on their own track. This exercise is great for gymnasticizing the horse, getting bigger more open lateral strides from both hind legs and building strength in the quarters. It can be ridden both on the straight line or even better on a circle.

The Outside Aids:

The outside aids in the shoulder in contain the perimeter of the horse as well as create the angle needed for the inside hind to step under. The outside rein turns the outside shoulder off the track to the inside by laying the rein against the outside neck. It’s important not to pull on the outside rein in a way that makes contact with the bit as this will create the wrong bend. Only the inside rein must create bend and have direct contact with the bit. Therefore, the reins must always be used together but have two very different purposes so that both bend, and angle is communicated at the same time and in a correct way to the horse.

When the reins are used to turn the shoulders in, the amount of angle needed is determined by what it takes to place the shoulders on top of the inside hind leg to the inside through the combo of bend and angle so that the hind leg can do its job and lift the forehand and outside front leg.

Generally, the angle will be around 30 degrees for shoulder in 3 track. The shoulder in 4 track is closer to 40 degrees or more.

Bend and Flexion:

The flexion of the head should match the angle/turn of the inside shoulder and, if the bend is just right, it should cause the horse to reach forward relaxing itself down on the bit in the bend. The flexion should never pass the point of the shoulder. If it passes the point of the shoulder, the horse overbends to the inside and falls on the outside shoulder sending his haunches to the inside.

Troubleshooting 3 common problems:

1. Falling on the outside shoulder. – When this happens, the horse is overbent to the inside and the rider tries pushing the haunches back on the fence; however, the horse ignores the leg cue due to all the weight being on the forehand and the outside rein being inactive. The rider will then start pulling the shoulders to the inside but continues to drive the haunches forward without enough angle and very quickly ends up in the same predicament again.

To fix this, you need to stop the movement and re-create the correct bend and angle at a standstill before asking for forward movement again.

• Keep the horse standing still
• Bend the horse slightly to the inside.
• Lay the outside rein against the outside shoulder and neck and whilst twisting your inside wrist to maintain bend, move both hands towards the inside (inside rein must move away from the inside neck) without actually crossing the withers with your outside hand. This should cause the horse to bring the shoulders in.
• Although this is not a haunches out, sometimes it is necessary to ask with the rider’s inside leg for the inside hind leg to step out toward the fence, for the rider to understand that the haunches must stay on the fence and inside hind leg must step forward and sideways reaching for the outside front leg. The outside rein can assist this process by straightening the horse a little.
• Ask for the horse to continue in this shape and repeat the standstill whenever needed.

2. Horse and rider don’t maintain the direction along the fence and drift to the inside. – The horse has the correct angle and bend but due to the rider tipping forward or not applying the half halt into their body on both reins, the horse simply walks off as if it’s heading for the center of the arena. The rider will start trying to push the shoulders back on the fence by moving both reins toward the fence, but that puts us back into the first scenario.

To fix this, understand that the shoulders need to half halt and slowdown in order to get enough angle to allow the inside hind leg to step under and the half halt has to be into the body, not past the body into the fence.

• Direct the shoulders by keeping both reins to the inside and then half halt directly into your body in the shape of the bend towards the hind legs and tail to stop the forward push. Do not apply any leg at the same time. Once the shoulders have slowed enough and the bend and angle are good, then apply a light leg to the inside, half halting the outside rein (inside rein maintains bend) and continue along the fence. Half halt every time the front legs cross and open the hand every stride they open.

3. Finally, there’s the problem of too much sideways (angle) and no bend. This type of movement looks more like a side pass than a shoulder in. This is caused by the rider applying too much inside leg, causing the haunches to swing out toward the fence or too much outside rein straightening the neck too much, or both. When this happens the horse travels sideways, but no longer travels forward and there is no suppling or collecting/bending effect of the inside hindleg.

Just a little side note in case anyone is wondering what the outside hind leg should be doing in the shoulder in:

Because we are sending the inside hind leg forward and under, the inside hind leg should be reaching for the center of the horse, right in the middle longitudinally. We still need the outside hind leg to stay close by and support the outside curvature of the horse (the width). Therefore, the outside hind leg must continue to travel forward in alignment with the direction that the horse is taking. The shoulder in is performed on a circle, the outside hind leg must catch the outside of the body whilst still staying on a circular track. The outside hind leg must not deviate from the shape the rest of the body is in by taking a step out of the circle.

If the shoulder in is ridden on a straight line, the hindleg will continue straight along the fence, but still stepping forwards underneath the horse, not stepping sideways as it would in the side pass.

As you see, many things are needed to ensure the shoulder in is ridden well, and it can be pretty difficult until you get it right. Once you do, you will realize why it’s one of the founding exercises in classical training because the shoulder in repeats itself in anything you’ll ever do whether it’s circles, half passes, pirouettes, haunches in, etc. It creates the correct shape for all of them and trains the horse to bend both hind legs to increase the weight bearing ability of the quarters and lighten the forehand.

Here’s your homework:

Go practice shoulder in on your horse at a walk and see which of these 3 problems you run into. Apply the solution that matches that problem and try to feel how the inside sinks and the outside rises when you are riding it correctly with the correct bend and angle.

It’s a lovely exercise when you use it right!

Ride with Lightness

Celie xo

For learn more about Celie Weston, Artful Riding Academy, and for more awesome articles, CLICK HERE.