Being able to have your horse effortlessly perform a correct spin on the ground is an essential exercise for many reasons. Firstly, you're gaining control of the front end of your horse's body. This ensures safety while handling your horse, as you can move him out of your space whenever needed.

Once this exercise is taught correctly, you don't have to worry about your horse spooking into you or pushing you around with his head/shoulders! It's extremely practical, and comes in handy all of the time when I handle my horses. 

The impact on under saddle work 

Another reason I love this exercise is that it translates to under saddle work as well. By gaining control of your horse's shoulders on the ground makes getting control under saddle much easier. I find that exercises like spins and rollbacks are much easier after this is taught on the ground.

Yielding the forequarters is a key part of my pre-ride checklist. This is an exercise I always run through with a horse every. single. time. before I get in the saddle. It is so great to get your horse tuned into you and respectful before the ride, setting the tone for the entire lesson. 

Tools needed: A high quality clinician halter + lead set. This is extremely important because it provides the right feel and weight to effectively communicate your cues to your horse. I love these because they're the highest quality sets I've ever used (and I've tried almost all of them), they're extremely affordable, and they come in so many awesome colors. Check them out here.

Understanding the cues 

So how do we teach this awesome groundwork exercise to our horses?

Your cues are to 

1. 1: crouch down to an active body position, and
2. 2: tap the air with your hand/clinician stick.

You're looking for his inner front foot to cross in front of his outer front, and 1 back foot to stay pivoted. Make sure you achieve all of this before releasing the pressure. 

Remember that once you get 1 or 2 good steps, release the pressure and reward him for his effort. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be correct. We're looking for an energetic and soft response. 

To keep your horse from anticipating before you give him a cue, it's important to desensitize between every time you ask.

Once you release the pressure, pet his face. Before you repeat the exercise, be sure to pet his face. Many horses will try to move before you've asked, so just calmly follow them until they stop.

This is an exercise that takes a little more studying to "get". I highly recommend you watch my quick video tutorial on this to see how I position my body. Most horses will try to back or move forward instead of move to the side, so make sure you're setting him up for success with your body position. 

Your end goal is to be able to get a perfect and responsive 360 spin while just tapping the air with your hand. 

Technique in a nutshell 

So in a nutshell, I love this exercise. It teaches respect, safety, and softness, which is why I included it in my "Essential Groundwork Training Series". Thanks for reading through this, I hope this information was helpful and understandable to you :) I am so excited to help you and your horse establish an unbreakable bond built on trust and respect, you're already on the right track!