Side passing... can anyone help?

[lollielala]

I would like to teach my horse the side pass. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how I can start teaching him? Anything would be helpful. I thank you all so much. and I'd appreciate your help :) :)

[utahcutter]

Well there's another post somewhere that hit this topic but I can't find it now, guess I'll have to type it all in again. I usually start teaching my horses to sidepass with the aid of a fence. I'll walk them up at a 45 degree angle. Say I want to sidepass to the left, I'll walk them up to the fence with their front end farthes left and their rear end 45 angle to the right. Then use a slight pull on the left rein to keep him headed in the right direction, and push with the right leg. I apply the leg pressure back a little bit to cue the hind end, but I don't reach any farther back then where a back cinch would hang. At this point you will probably have to use some pressure from your indirect rein (right) to keep him from simply turning and going straight. Just use what is necessary to keep his nose pointed at the fence, and the rest of the body shouls stay in line with your leg pressure. I will look for a couple of side steps, mostly with the front legs. When I get the response I am looking for I drop the reins and let him walk out of it nice and relaxed, so he is being rewarded for doing it right. The fence is mainly only there as a mental block for the horse. He knows your are asking him to go somewhere, but he knows it can't be forward, and he knows it's not back as the cues are all wrong. He's only got two choices left sideways right or sideways left. Eventually you can get his hole body 90 degrees from the fence, then pull him off the fence. When he's comfortable sidepassing in the center of the ring, or wherever else you may place him, you can start asking for more spead. Teaching the sidepass is also a good foundation for a spin, as it teaches the horse how to step his front feet over eachother. HTH

[cvb]

you can also teach it from the ground first - which will mean they have the basic idea when you get in top. "Sideways" is one of the parelli games and is a good lead in to a "full" sidepass - and I know the 7 games are available on the web so go have a look for that, as it should help !