Dressage at Devon
Devon PA
2010

What the leg yield is: Walking or trotting, your horse moves forward and sideways by crossing his inside legs in front of his outside legs while he keeps his body straight (except for a slight flexion at the poll and jaw away from the direction he's going).

The Rule Book describes the leg yield as a movement in which “the horse is kept almost straight, except for slight flexion of the poll away from the direction in which he moves, and the inside legs pass and cross in front of the outside legs with the forehand slightly in advance of the quarters.” A well-ridden leg yield maintains “throughness” and impulsion of the horse while refining the rider’s correct and effective use of the half halt. Leg yield is not a lateral movement, due to lack of bend, but it does prepare the horse for the true lateral movements in Second Level.