Haunches-in (also known as Travers) is a fundamental dressage movement where the horse's hindquarters are brought in from the track, while its forehand remains on the track, creating a uniform bend in the direction of movement.
Haunches-in is a foundational lateral movement ridden on three or four tracks. It involves the horse bending in the direction of travel, with its hindquarters positioned inward from the rail, usually at an angle of about 30 to 35 degrees. This exercise is crucial for developing the horse's suppleness, engagement of the hindquarters, and collection.
Benefits of Practicing Haunches-In
- Improved Suppleness: Encourages the horse to bend uniformly through its body from poll to tail.
- Hindquarter Engagement: Promotes strength and activity in the hind legs, leading to better collection and impulsion.
- Increased Control: Sharpens the rider's ability to control each part of the horse's body independently.
- Preparation for Advanced Movements: Lays the groundwork for more complex collected movements like pirouettes and canter pirouettes.
- Balance: Helps the horse distribute weight evenly over all four legs, improving overall balance.
Aids for Haunches-In
To execute a successful haunches-in, precise and coordinated aids from the rider are essential. The goal is to encourage the horse to step sideways with its hindquarters while maintaining forward momentum and a consistent bend.
| Aid | Action | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Rein | Maintain light contact, slight leading rein action to establish and maintain the desired bend, encouraging the horse to look in. | Controls the bend of the neck and poll, guiding the horse's direction. |
| Outside Rein | Maintain light contact, act as a supporting rein to prevent the shoulder from swinging out and to regulate the bend. | Controls the outside shoulder and prevents excessive bend, framing the horse's forehand. |
| Inside Leg | At the girth, maintain impulsion and encourage the horse to step into the bend and maintain forward momentum. | Ensures forward movement and supports the inside bending of the rib cage. |
| Outside Leg | Slightly behind the girth (a hand's breadth or more), apply gentle pressure to encourage the hindquarters to step in from the track. | Moves the hindquarters inward, creating the characteristic angle of haunches-in. |
| Seat | Follow the horse's movement, slightly weight the inside seat bone to encourage bend and support the movement. | Guides the horse's balance and encourages engagement through the back. |
Step-by-Step Execution
- Preparation: Begin on a straight line along the rail or on a large circle. Ensure your horse is balanced, relaxed, and moving forward with consistent impulsion in a good working pace.
- Establish Bend: Use your inside rein and inside leg at the girth to ask for a slight inside bend, as if you are about to ride a small circle or a turn. The horse should look slightly to the inside.
- Bring Hindquarters In: As you maintain the forward impulsion and inside bend, bring your outside leg back slightly behind the girth (approximately a hand's breadth). Apply gentle, rhythmic pressure to ask the horse's hindquarters to step in from the track.
- Control the Forehand: Your outside rein is crucial here; it acts as a supporting or indirect rein to prevent the horse's shoulders from drifting away from the track. Keep the forehand aligned with the rail.
- Maintain Impulsion: Your inside leg remains active at the girth, pushing the horse forward into the outside rein and ensuring the hindquarters continue to step across.
- Adjust Angle: Aim for a consistent angle of about 30-35 degrees relative to the rail. The horse's hind legs should cross, with the outside hind leg stepping in front of and past the inside hind leg.
- Transition Out: To finish the movement, smoothly straighten your horse by bringing your outside leg back to the girth and riding forward on a straight line, ensuring the horse remains balanced and supple.
Distinguishing Haunches-In from Other Lateral Movements: Understanding the Reference
It's important to differentiate haunches-in from other lateral movements, particularly the leg yield, which is sometimes confused with it due to both involving sideways movement and leg crossing. The provided video reference, titled "How is your Haunches-In?", actually describes a leg yield along the rail:
- Reference Description of Leg Yield: "[With my horse's head to the wall.] So you can see here how his head and his front end are on the rail. And he's going down the rail at a 45 degree angle in a leg yield. So his legs are crossing."
This description highlights a key difference between the two movements:
- Leg Yield: In a leg yield, the horse moves both sideways and forward, often angled away from the pressure of the rider's leg. The horse's body is relatively straight, or slightly bent away from the direction of travel (counter-bend), and the forehand (head and front end) often leads or stays on the track while the horse yields the hindquarters away from the pressure. In the scenario described in the reference, the horse's head and front are on the rail, and it's moving down the rail at a 45-degree angle, implying the hindquarters are moving away from the rail.
- Haunches-In: The horse is bent in the direction of travel, with the forehand on the track and the hindquarters brought in. The bend is longitudinal throughout the horse's body, maintaining a consistent arc from poll to tail.
While both are lateral movements involving leg crossing, their purpose, the horse's bend, and the primary leg aid differ significantly. Haunches-in requires a higher degree of collection, engagement of the hindquarters, and uniform bend, while a leg yield focuses more on basic lateral responsiveness to the leg and overall suppleness.
