May 2008 • VOLUME 33 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

Our special thanks to Charlotte Wittbom for sharing this training video of her horses. Charlotte shares this video not to show the perfected and end result of training but to show the training process. It is with such incredible contributions as this that we all can learn more. Many professionals find may find it difficult to show their work underneath such a microscope but a true horseman is eager and excited to learn more. Charlotte is one of those incredible horseman that we are so lucky to have contributing to our magazine.

This month we look at the shoulder-in walk. Examining and exploring the elements that compose this incredibly invaluable exercise. In the process you might discover some surprising facts. The more we understand the better we are able to help our horses.

The shoulder in walk is first and foremost a walk.

Which we can clearly see from the pattern of the legs. Left front followed by right hind.

The right hind followed by the right front.

The shoulder in position to the left helps the right shoulder by freeing the shoulder from the weight of the neck and the head.

But the walk is comprised of more than just the sequence of legs,