Three- and Four-track Movements
The shoulder-fore, shoulder-in, haunches-in (travers), or haunches-out (renvers), place the horse's body in such a way that he makes 3 or 4 tracks with his feet, instead of the usual two seen when the horse is straight. This can best be seen on footing after it has been dragged: a horse moving straight forward will produce two "lines" of hoofprints. A horse performing shoulder-fore will make 4 tracks (one track per hoof). A horse performing haunches-in or -out, or shoulder-in, will make three tracks. Haunches-in and haunches-out vary only in the direction the horse is bent relative to the arena wall.
The shoulder-fore is an elementary step toward the more advanced shoulder-in, while haunches-in and -out are generally considered the most difficult exercises. Shoulder-in encourages the horse to engage his inside hind leg and to raise his back. Haunches-in and -out also encourage engagement of the inside hind leg, as well as the transfer of the horse's weight back to his hindquarters (collection).
- Flexion and Footprints of different Lateral Movements
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Leg-yield
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Shoulder-in
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Travers (Haunches-in)
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Half pass
Read more about this topic: Lateral Movement
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