Being able to get and, in fact, recognise a good turn, is an important skill for beneficial gymnastics later on.
A good turn sets you up for good lateral work.
A good turn helps you to create the bend, which brings the inside hind leg under the centre of gravity. At this position, the hind leg can carry more of the horse\u2019s weight, taking weight off the shoulders.
The tighter the turn, the more weight the inside leg has to carry, but only for 3-4 steps.
Remember that I said that with the Feldenkrais-inspired flexion, we focus on a small give at the jawline. It\u2019s not about flexing the neck.
In a turn, we start out with a give at the jawline and aim to continue this softness through the entire spine from the neck to the tail.
Let me bring back this image from \u200bAnja Beran\u2019s marvellous online course\u200b<\/a> material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/clickertrainingpferde.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gestellt-gebogen-1024x505.png\")
\u201cStellung\u201d (give at the jawline) and \u201cBiegung\u201d (bend through the horse\u2019s body) could be seen as a continuum. \u201cStellung\u201d is the beginning of \u201cBiegung\u201d, i.e. \u201cBiegung\u201d includes \u201cStellung\u201d. You can stop after getting \u201cStellung\u201d (a give), if that\u2019s what you need, but if you want the entire horse to bend, you must start with a give. You cannot leave it out.
This is less obvious than you might think. Horses can remain stiff in their poll and jawline and still bend somehow. It is a false bend, though. It feels like the neck breaks off at its base. Sometimes the horses look to the outside eventhough their head is pulled to the inside. They stick out their shoulders and are out of balance.
You can recognise it if the base of the neck is hanging low, the joints of the hind legs are stiff and the back is hollow.
A good bend, on the other hand, lifts the horse\u2019s withers and back. As the inside hind leg carries more weight, the horse appears taller and lighter in the front. You can literally see this effect in e.g., a good shoulder-in.
Let\u2019s look at turns
<\/strong>
A good turn is fluid, with enough forward movement. I like to add a mat on the straight line when coming out of a turn to encourage that forward movement. Otherwise it\u2019s easy to \u201ckill the engine\u201d as the turns can be tiring.
In a good turn, your horse does not fall on the inside shoulder. That happens quite easily on your horse\u2019s stiff side, especially in a tight turn. In that case it helps to use the flexion and your arm to shift the shoulders away from the inside of the turn. And you may want to make the turn a little bigger at first.
Let\u2019s look at a green horse\u2019s turn. She is a good girl but a little sluggish. We could use a little more forward. The mat behaviour was not strong enough to harness its \u201ctractor-beam effect\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n