Turns

As well as being useful training exercises these turns do have practical application in, for example, opening and closing gates.

Turn on the Forehand

In turn on the forehand the horse pivots about his inside front leg.

In this example the horse is turning to the left and will have slight left bend through the neck.

His hind legs crossover as he turns - in this case the left rear crosses in front of the right rear (left over right).

There seems to be some controversy about this manoeuvre as to whether it puts unnecessary weight onto the horses forehand when we spend a lot of time trying to get it off the forehand.

Turn on the Haunches

In turn on the haunches the horse pivots about his inside rear leg.

It is also known as the pirouette. The illustration shows a half or demi-pirouette to the right. The pirouette is a full circle and can be performed at the collected walk or canter (very advanced).

Next - lateral movements.