Turn on the forehand is a

lateral movement Lateral movements or lateral flexions within equestrianism, have a specific meaning, used to refer to movements made by a horse where the animal is moving in a direction other than straight forward. They are used both in training and in competitio ...

in equestrian schooling that involves moving the horse's hindquarters around his front legs. Although a basic movement, it is an important training tool for both horse and rider.

Movement made by the horse

It involves the horse's inside fore marking time on the spot. The outside foreleg moves forward very slightly and the hind legs move in a semicircle around the inside foreleg. A clear walk

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

and sequence should be maintained throughout. During the turn, the horse's forehand should be prevented from moving forwards, sideways or backwards. When first beginning to teach this movement, the horse bends in the direction away from the movement of the hindquarters (so he bends to the left if the hindquarters are being pushed to the right). When he advances, he may be asked to have a very slight

flexion Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative ...

in the direction of movement.

Prerequisites

Turn on the forehand can only be of good quality if the horse is on the bit while maintaining clear walk steps in the 'lead up' to the halt that precedes the turn. In the halt he must be attentive, as if anticipating the rider's next commands. The only exception to this rule is for corrective purposes or if the horse is ready for collection. If the horse understands the

leg-yield The leg-yield is a lateral movement in which a horse travels both forward and sideways at the same time. The horse is fairly straight through his body in the leg-yield, although he may have a slight bend opposite to the direction of travel. It is o ...

, a review of that movement can be helpful in reminding him to move away from leg pressure, before he begins the turn on the forehand. In an indoor school, the rider should choose a suitable place to execute the turn that is clear obstructions and not too close to a wall, as this will influence will hinder the horse as he makes the turn.

How to perform the turn on the forehand

To ride a turn on the forehand, the rider should encourage a square halt by moving the horse leg-to-hand with proper

riding aids Riding aids are the cues a rider gives to a horse to communicate what they want the animal to do. Riding aids are broken into the ''natural aids'' and the ''artificial aids''. Natural aids These are the aids which the rider possesses on their bod ...

, creating energy with the legs and containing the energy with the hands. When asking for the turn on the forehand, the inside and outside

aids Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

switch in relation to the new direction of the bend. If bending the horse in the direction of movement, the rider switches his weight to the inside (direction of the turn) seatbone and, may ask for slight flexion toward the direction of travel with his inside

rein Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband. Use for ...

. The outside rein prevents any forward movement and helps maintain proper bend. The rider's inside leg comes back slightly behind the

girth Girth may refer to: ;Mathematics * Girth (functional analysis), the length of the shortest centrally symmetric simple closed curve on the unit sphere of a Banach space * Girth (geometry), the perimeter of a parallel projection of a shape * Girth ...

to encourage the horse's hind leg to cross over. The rider's outside leg should be on the girth, receiving and regulating each step. When the turn is complete, the horse should be ridden forward with

impulsion Impulsion is the movement of a horse when it is going forward with controlled power. Related to the concept of collection, impulsion helps a horse effectively use the power in its hindquarters. To achieve impulsion, a horse is not using speed, b ...

. It is important for the rider to sit tall, with his balanced centered in the saddle. The aids should be relaxed slightly after each step, before asking for another, to reward the horse.

Uses of the turn on the forehand

The movement can be beneficial to the horse, in that it improves form and encourages stretching and flexion of the inside hind leg. It teaches sideways movement from the rider's leg, introducing basic lateral concepts, from which more complicated

s may be introduced, such as the

half-pass The half-pass is a lateral movement seen in dressage, in which the horse moves forward and sideways at the same time. Unlike the easier leg-yield, the horse is bent in the direction of travel, slightly around the rider's inside leg. The outside hi ...

. It also provides a good way of releasing stiffness and tension from the

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

s. For the rider, this exercise improves both

coordination Coordination may refer to: * Coordination (linguistics), a compound grammatical construction * Coordination complex, consisting of a central atom or ion and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions * Coordination number or ligancy of a centr ...

and application of the aids. It has practical use for helping the rider to open gates when

trail riding Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and ...

or otherwise riding across rural lands.

References

{{Reflist Dressage terminology Riding techniques and movements