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When you do a side pass your horse will move sideways as a response to your leg and rein aids. Teaching a horse to do a side pass will make him more obedient, fun, and safer. Obedience to the leg aids will make it easier to despook your horse. A side pass can have many uses in many events and even simple tasks on the farm.

The first step in training a horse to do a side pass is to make sure you and your horse has all the groundwork down and memorized. This includes moving sideways with the cue of a finger or an object. Your horse should move sideways when you tap him on the side where your leg would be. If he does not do this willingly then you should keep working with him. The next groundwork step you will need to know is turning on the forehand. to do this your horse will need to be wearing a bridle. First you hold on to the side of the bit facing the horse's haunches, then you cue him to step sideways but keep his front end at a stopping position so his hind legs move around his front legs. When your horse starts doing this willingly then you are ready to move on to the next step.

The next groundwork step you will need to know is turn on the haunches. This move is rather difficult for some horses to learn because they have to step off of their forehand which some horses don't like doing. Your horse will still need to be wearing a bridle, this time you cue your horse at the girth area and walk around him, making sure his front feet make a circle around his hind feet. After you master this move, you are ready to move on. Make sure that with any and all groundwork moves, you practice them to the right and the left.

Now you are ready to start riding these moves. Make sure your horse knows how to half halt. The first thing you should practice is the turn on the forehand. To do this to the right, you half halt and hold your horse back while cuing your horse with your left foot slightly behind normal position, your right foot should be relaxed at normal position with no pressure on your horse's right side. If you did this right your horse should have moved a few steps around his front feet. To do this to the left, you do everything opposite from when you do it to the right. Next is turn on the haunches, as I said before, some horses don't like this move but they have to get over it sooner or later. To do this move to the right, you need to sit back, half halt on the left rein, and cue with your left foot in the girth area.

Sometimes it will take a little more than a half halt to keep your horse from walking foreword when you cue, also sometimes it is hard to get far enough into the girth area for your horse to understand whats being asked of him, so make sure you are far enough into the girth. If the horse understood whats being asked of him, he should have leaned back off of his forehand and stepped around his hind feet. When doing these two moves you don't have to make a full circle, even just a step is good enough for being rewarded. After your horse masters these two moves, you are ready to side-pass.

You should start teaching this move by facing a fence. To do this to the right, first you gently pull on the right rein until the horses head slightly faces the direction you are going, make sure on the right side of the horses neck there is a gap between the rein and his neck, on the left side of his neck, the rein should be touching it. Then you cue your horse with your left leg at the girth area. Your horse should move to the right, facing the direction slightly with his head. Start with only a few steps, then you can do more steps each time. This move is very valuable and so is ground training, so have fun teaching your horse, old or young, some new tricks!

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