I have two passions: reining and dressage.
People need to realize they’re not that different, though the horses might look different. Shoulder-in is just one of the exercises that can be done with your horse to help supple him, whether you ride a reiner or a dressage horse. It works to strengthen the haunches and topline, and frees up the shoulders so the horse can perform higher-level maneuvers such as sliding stops and rollbacks, or canter pirouettes.
In a shoulder-in, as the horse tracks along the rail, you bend his body slightly so that just his shoulders move off the rail to the inside, right or left, depending on your direction of travel. His hindquarters stay on the rail.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article by AQHA Professional Horsewoman and Certified Horsemanship Association master instructor Carla Wennberg with The American Quarter Horse Journal
