Straightness — the natural crookedness and the path to evenness

Whoever observes a young horse unbiasedly rarely sees it go really straight. On one hand it positions itself willingly, bends softly, seeks the contact. On the other it seems stiffer, falls over the outer shoulder, does not like to accept the inner leg. That is no disobedience and no training fault — it is the natural crookedness with which nearly every horse comes into the world.

Just as humans are right- or left-handed, the horse too has a preferred side. One speaks of a hollow side, towards which the horse easily turns, and a stiff side, on which it stays firmer and straighter. This handedness shapes from the start how the horse distributes its weight and how its hind legs meet the ground.

What follows from the crookedness

The crookedness is more than a preference for one hand. It leads to the two body halves working unevenly. The horse loads the forehand and the hind legs to a different degree, and one hind leg steps less far under the centre of gravity than the other. Often the hindquarters push to the inside or outside instead of following the track of the forelegs.

It becomes palpable in the contact. On the hollow side the horse hardly accepts the outer rein and pushes over the shoulder, on the stiff side it tends to lean firmly. A steady, even connection to both reins — the goal of every contact — cannot be established against the crookedness. The inequality of the hindquarters carries on into the mouth.

Straightening means: gymnasticise both sides equally

Straightness does not mean to force the horse rigidly onto a line. It means to align the weaker and the stronger side to each other over time, so that both hind legs step equally far and equally carrying under the centre of gravity. The horse is then straight when the hind legs step into the track of the same-side forelegs — on the straight line as on the bent track.

This is achieved through careful, side-equal work: through consistent riding on both hands, through bending work on the circle and bent lines, and later through the loosening and straightening lateral movements such as shoulder-in and travers, which strengthen the hollow side and make the stiff side more supple. The classical riding doctrine therefore understands shoulder-in since La Gueriniere as one of the most important lessons of all.

This dictum, which in the German-speaking area is closely connected with Gustav Steinbrecht's Gymnasium of the Horse and his school, captures two thoughts in one sentence. The forward supplies the thrust and the diligence out of which straightening is at all possible — a hesitant horse cannot be made straight. And the straightening orders this force so that it flows evenly through both body halves. Both belong inseparably together.

In the training scale, straightness stands in fifth place, immediately before collection — and that is no coincidence. Collection demands that both hind legs take up equal load. A crooked horse cannot honestly collect, because one hind leg evades the carrying work. Straightness is thus the prerequisite for everything further succeeding evenly and without overloading one side.