Ian Millar’s Shoulder In Exercise:
Spend the first and last 10-15 minutes of your ride on a leisurely walk/trail ride. Let your horse stretch and enjoy himself. In a proper shoulder-in, your horse's footprints should travel on three tracks. A good rule of thumb for this exercise is that you should NOT be able to see more than the bulge of your horse's inside eye - if you do, there's too much bend. Another great way to navigate the actions of this exercise is by going through The Three Basket Analogy.
🌟 The Three Basket Analogy 🌟
1️⃣ Define the task at hand
2️⃣ Know what your horse brings to the table
3️⃣ What you bring to the table
Be sure to complete this exercise on a long, straight approach (ex: along outside rail) for roughly 15-20 minutes, allowing your horse plenty of breaks in between. Start by doing this at the walk and if your horse responds and executes the task well, you may move on to the trot. Remember: Do not graduate too quickly. Accuracy and technique is more important than quantity of gates you can complete the shoulder-in at.
What’s the benefit? 🤔
The shoulder-in is a wonderful suppling exercise that will challenge new muscles in your horse while reinforcing your inside leg. We want our horses to be strong and fit, but supple as well, so we have to be able to bend and shape their bodies.
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