From nature, the horse is used to walk in a herd:

• The leading mare walks in front and decides the direction of the entire group.
• The stallion walks behind and decides on the tempo.
• Additionally, the horse reacts to the horses that walk to his left and right.

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• Shoulder in can be ridden on the straight line along the wall of the arena, but also in a circle

• To test whether the horse is properly responding to the outside rein and is not falling on the inside shoulder, halfway through the long side a little circle can be added to the exercise.

• By making a shoulder in in every corner of the arena, the horse is prevented from “cutting the corners”.

• The exercise can be done is walk, trot and finally also in canter. Especially when doing  straightness training in canter, the shoulder in is extremely valuable.

• To prepare for the shoulder in, the horse can be ridden in a small circle or through a corner.  This will help  get the proper lateral bending for the exercise.

• The exercise can be ended by making a circle or by placing the shoulders back in front of the hips.

Hindquarter-in is already mentioned by Salomon de la Broue (1600) and François Robichon de la Guérinière (1733). Both gentlemen had some doubts about this exercise.

Guérinière states that the horse, with its head next to the wall, will move more automatically forward-sideward than move between the riders’ aids. When the wall is then removed, the horse will not respond as well because the horse is used to the support the wall provided.

De la Broue has the same opinion and recommend the hindquarter-in only for horses that are heavy in the hand, but in a way that there is always 1.5 meter between the horse and the wall. Both gentlemen recommended the renvers rather than hindquarter-in.