THOUGHTS ON WHY LEG YIELDING (NOT YIELDING TO THE LEG) IS NOT A CLASSICAL EXERCISE

This came up on a thread and this was my post, which I've added Fritz Stecken's thoughts to at the end. This is based on Seunig's thoughts on the subject. Leg Yield was never used by the masters apart from teaching the horse to Yield to the leg it is not a classical movement and has little value IMHO - they went straight to SF etc. The master I studied with Schmit-Jensen (a pupil of DeCarpentry and Beudant) taught horses to Yield to the leg but never to leg yield - nb - He was a key member of the FEI Olympic Committee that designed the rules - before the 60's it was NOT in the tests - and for good reason. My advice, skip it - go straight to SF then SI and lateral movements which are suppling - LY is not. Here is Seunigs take on why not to do Leg Yield -: It's purpose is preparation for two tracks but the argument is that the advantages of this can be achieved by what Seunig and other masters call "less dangerous exercises - the disadvantages are - The horse is moving only indirectly forward on 3 tracks WITHOUT being bent the full development of impulsion is hampered and there is a threat to loss of correct movement - the hindlegs move too much in a sideways manner and therefore do not carry their share of the weight - causing the horse to scramble more to the side than move forwards - loosing his carriage and cadence he falls onto the shoulder, normally the outside shoulder. This falling away is hard to prevent as it and also to be watched is an unwanted loosening of the base of the neck. In such a crooked movement in which the forehand does not precede the hindquarters there is the danger than the inside front legs cross over the outside ones are apt to interfere resulting in splints and similar injuries. * Reference Waldamar Seunig - to quote him directly "This exercise except as an introduction....is long overdue for a first class state funeral". One of Fritz Steckens students (John Winnett) said of him - Stecken made me aware of the correct lateral and longitudinal exercises and the influence they have on a horse's development. He pointed out the dangers of counter bending on curves and circles, which places the horse out of balance on his outside shoulder. He was not a proponent of leg yield, and pointed out its harm. He used leg yield, as the Spanish Riding School does, at the walk in the very beginning of training to teach the horse to move off the rider's leg.