Lateral Movements

Traditionally, the lateral or sideways movements have always been seen as the ultimate proof of the necessity of reins when gymasticizing horses: only with the aid of the reins you would be able to flex your horse on the circle, in shoulder-in and -out, travers, renvers and the appuyement. However, that of course doesn't stop us from trying nonetheless, ) as we tend to see these dressage exercises and collection as something that is the most natural form of self-expression there is for horses. Something which they are quite capable of without any human contact at all, so why not restrict that human contact only to a few suggestions and a lot of rewards in order to let the horses rediscover these movements on their own?

What you see in this video is work in progress, nothing more, nothing less. But it just might inspire people to look outside the box and see what is possible when you have captured the enthusiasm of your horse for his own movements.