In horse groundwork, a side pass is a way of communicating with a horse and being able to move the horse around. Find out how to get a horse's front and back end moving together with helpful advice from a reining horse trainer in this video on teaching a horse to do a side pass.
Hi. We've separated the two ends. We've got the front end, the back end, doing the right things that we were able to move the front feet, and separate the back feet with our legs, using our hands and legs in a certain order. Now we're going to tie the two together and teach this horse to move both ends, together rather than separately. That's basically going to be a side pass. It's another way of communicating with your horse being able to move him around and just get another level of control. Now I'm going to take my leg, right where it hangs and push. Remember when I was just moving the back end, I reached back with my leg. Now I just leave it right at the center and just push there. All right, now I'll bring it back the other way. Notice what I'm doing with my hands. I'm just keeping him straight. All right. Now I'm squeezing with that leg right where it hangs, and just pushing him sideways. So, the two are working together. I'll push him back the other way. So now we've tied the two ends together. And that's kind of fun because that's going to allow you to be able to open a gate and go right out on a trail. You know I would side pass up to a gate, open a gate, side pass and close it. Then I'd go out and have some fun. You know, and to take all those opportunities to learn from your horse and to teach your horse interesting things. You know, don't get off your horse, open the gate and then get back on. Stay on your horse, open the gate and go for a ride. Teach him something. Have some fun while you're learning.
on June 16, 2011, 9:55 pm