Ekidemy

A horse is straight when its hind feet follow the track of its forefeet, on straight lines and on curves alike: on a circle, its spine follows the curve. Its shoulders stay in front of its quarters, with no twist, and it accepts an even contact on both reins. So straightness does not mean “stiff and dead straight”: a horse correctly bent on a circle is a straight horse.

Why horses are not straight

• Their sidedness: just as we are right- or left-handed, every horse has a softer side, which it happily hollows, and a stiffer side. It bends easily one way and leans more on the rein on the other.
• Their conformation: their hips are wider than their shoulders; along a wall, they tend to bring their quarters in to line their flank up with the wall.
• The rider: one hand stronger than the other, an off-centre seat, eyes looking askew are enough to make a horse crooked. Before you blame the horse, check your own symmetry.

Signs of a crooked horse

• The quarters swing in off the track, especially in canter.
• On curves the horse falls onto one shoulder: the circle bulges out on one side and cuts in on the other.
• The contact is uneven: one rein heavy, the other slack.
• Halts are crooked, canter strike-offs come more easily on one lead.
• Over a fence, it drifts in the air or always prefers the same side.

Straightening your horse

You straighten a horse by putting its shoulders back in front of its quarters, not by pushing its quarters. Start on the easy rein, limiting the excess bend there; never force the stiff side; and always keep the horse relaxed and going forwards, because only what is relaxed can be suppled. The most useful exercises:

• circles and serpentines, with frequent changes of rein;
• shoulder-fore and shoulder-in, the best straightening exercises of all;
• straight lines away from the wall — the centre line, the quarter line — where the rider can rely on nothing but the aids;
• transitions, which engage both hind legs.