How can you teach a horse to turn on its haunches???

[NatalieR]

would like to know as my riding instructor was asking me to try riding squares using it to turn but i ended up using turn on the forehand:o

[Keket]

It starts on the ground. Face the shoulder and turn the horse away from you. A tap on the shoulder may be necessary to teach the horse which part of it's body you want it to move and you can take hold of the halter and move the horse's head away from you to show it what you want. Do not turn the head so much that you bend the neck though. The neck must remain straight or close to it. At first, you're just looking for the front leg closest to you to cross in front of the other front leg. Always look for a cross-over and praise the horse for every cross over.

You also need to transfer the weight to the hind end. A slight pull back on the lead will do this. It's a balancing act: too little, and the horse walks out of the turn, too much and the horse backs up. Once the horse is crossing over properly in front, start looking at the hind feet. One should remain planted and not move at all (I can't remember which one though...). Practising near a rail can help with this to prevent the horse from backing up.

[poohsmate]

iv'e found with Barney when hacking if a pheasent gets up from under his feet he can turn on his haunches from canter with both front feet in the air without being taught how to.LOL:D :D :D
Sorry not much help really:)

[Wally]

Isn't that a canter pirouette? sorry, I'll go away!

[NatalieR]

well yes basically wally, but i just want this horse to do it at walk/halt:D

[Bay Mare]

Isn't that a canter pirouette? sorry, I'll go away!

:p :D :p :D :cool:

Depends if the front feet touch the ground at all between strides .... it could also be a levade pirouette which is Saffy's speciality (aka too lazy to spin properly :eek: ).