Horses, just like people, tend to have a dominant side – a side that they are stronger at. Horses need exercise, just like humans, to strength the less dominant side of their body – for people, this is time in the gym with a trainer; for horses, this is lateral work.
No matter the age or level of training, every horse needs practice and exercise in lateral work. At the 2018 Charlotte Dujardin clinics held in Calgary and Toronto, Charlotte used a set of lateral work exercises to not only work on specific movements for dressage tests, but also to improve the gait quality, suppleness, straightness and transitions. In addition, lateral work improves a horse’s attention, helping with any spooking or nervousness.
In this Horse Sport article, exercises for each level of horse – from the training and first level to the developing Grand Prix – are provided.
To read more, go to: https://horsesport.com/magazine_articles/charlotte-dujardin-lateral-exercises-horses
