Laterality in Horse Training: Psychological and Physical Balance and Coordination and Strength Rather Than Straightness.
Authors: Krueger Konstanze, Schwarz Sophie, Marr Isabell, Farmer Kate
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary Krueger and colleagues conducted a comprehensive literature review challenging the longstanding equestrian paradigm that "straightness" should be a primary training objective, proposing instead that natural laterality in horses reflects innate asymmetry and should be managed through balanced development rather than forced correction. Motor and sensory laterality—encompassing limb preference, body asymmetry and sensory organ dominance—emerge as normal phenomena in horses, with research indicating that feral horses display equally distributed motor laterality until domestication introduces training, age, breed factors and ridden work that typically establish left-sided preferences. Notably, pronounced left-sided motor or sensory preferences serve as indicators of heightened emotionality or chronic stress, suggesting that exaggerated laterality may signal welfare concerns stemming from inadequate housing, handling or training practices rather than representing a defect requiring correction. The authors propose redirecting training focus from enforcing straightness towards developing psychological and physical balance, bilateral coordination and symmetrical strength development, whilst recognising increased laterality as a measurable welfare indicator. For practitioners, this reframing suggests that training should prioritise even loading and muscular development across both sides through systematic, balanced work rather than aggressive straightening protocols, whilst marked lateral asymmetries warrant investigation into underlying stressors or management deficiencies affecting individual horses.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Stop prioritizing 'straightness' as a training goal; instead focus on developing balanced coordination, strength on both sides, and psychological stability.
- •Use increasing laterality (especially left-side preferences) as a welfare indicator to identify problems in training methods, housing, or handling—not as a defect to force correction.
- •Design training programs that accept natural body asymmetry while systematically building equal strength and motor control bilaterally to improve responsiveness and suppleness.
Key Findings
- •Body asymmetry in horses is innate but does not prevent high-level ridden performance.
- •Motor laterality is equally distributed in feral horses but domestic horses may develop left leg preferences due to age, breed, training, and carrying a rider.
- •Most horses initially observe novel stimuli and threats with left sensory organs.
- •Pronounced left-sided motor and sensory laterality preferences indicate increased stress, emotionality, or welfare insufficiencies in housing, handling, and training.