22/02/2026
The shoulder-in is often referred to as the “aspirin of dressage” because it has many benefits for the gymnastic training of the horse. It is a lateral movement in which the horse is bending against the direction of travel and the inside hind leg steps closer to the front legs and closer to the outside hind leg when the angle is relatively shallow. When the angle is steeper it steps in front of the outside hind leg.
It is a highly effective tool for bringing the inside hind leg closer to the center of gravity and more underneath the rider’s seat. Once the inside hind leg has arrived under our seat, we can flex it with the help of the combined weight of the horse’s forehand and the rider. This is why it is a great stepping stone in compound exercises.
The shoulder-in helps to bring both hind legs closer together, which is a prerequisite for collection, as the Duke of Newcastle discovered.
It improves the lateral bend and supples the horse’s hips and shoulders.
However, it can only be truly effective as a gymnastic tool when the outside hind leg does not swing to the outside and away from the body mass. It has to step forward towards the center of gravity and support the body mass so that the horse’s back is able to lift and rotate in order to produce the correct lateral bend. When the angle between the horse’s body and the line of travel gets too steep, the outside hind leg no longer steps under the center of gravity, which results in a loss of balance and a loss of bend. �From a practical riding point of view it is therefore better to focus on feeling the outside hind leg underneath our outside seat bone as well as the correct lateral bend, rather than the crossing of the inside hind leg.
There are specific uses of the shoulder-in to to solve specific training problems and develop the horse.
It is both a movement and a component of exercises. �
