Side passing!

Okay, so I have started training my colt to side pass. I taught him to do it from the ground when he was younger,
He is learning pretty good, having him face the fence and give him leg pressure till he moves out.
My question is, removing the fence element. When he responds well on the fence, is there any step after when he moves good on the fence, to just doing it out in the open?

Mango,this topic was discussed deeply a few days ago.and imo,you should have never used the fence for a guide or a training tool to begin with.

I've been watching my horse, Buster Brown, do a perfect side pass away from me while facing his new manger when I'm working on one side. How does it help you translate the forward cue to sending the energy sideways if you do NOT use a fence?

All in experience.its the way you control the front end with your hands and the proper use of leg pressure.

I've been reading and watching lots of videos and program with our American USET Dressage trainers/ team members. I used to sidepass with my horses nose bent away from the direction they were side passing. Now I know the the body must stay aligned straight. My QH is showing me the correct way to move--body straight, crossing legs over to go sideways, front is blocked. Every trainer I see or read about suggests teaching cross over front, cross over back, repeat, then ask for both at the same time on the ground. In the saddle I hold the shoulder with the outside (direction I want to go in) and use my inside leg behind the girth. I have always practiced this in an arena and moved towards the inside, then switched and side-passed to the outside. I use the wall for both. Explain how this is wrong.

It's not wrong,but why do you need the wall?

The wall is for reference, just like dressing to another rider is done touching stirrups while you ride next the them. You KNOW that the horse is truly moving sideways either perpendicular or parallel, rather then the horse ducking out. When you've ridden a side pass enought you can feel that it's right, but when you start out you don't know for sure.

First...you should never block the front.

Second what you are describing is a leg yield...not a side pass. A side pass is more a western movement where the horse goes completely sideways with no forward movement. This movement in English (dressage) is called a full pass and is higher up the scale of training than the leg yield. A leg yield will be a sideways..and forward movement where the horse is not looking in the direction it is going.

It would be considered a serious training error to block the front doing this movement.

Not sure what you mean by this. Hold with the outside...what ?

Sorry, Spyder, I edited this so I guess I didn't make sense. =d
I MEANT, travelling right rein, I use my outside (left) leg behind the girth, and use my inside (right) leg in front of the girth to prevent my horse from turning on the forehand, or just performing haunches in. I've never done or considered sidepassing facing the wall. I used to teach my horses to do this by turning their nose to the wall, when performing towards the inside of the ring, and I'd shift my weight towards the inside with the leg cues. Gotta study up and retrain MYSELF, too.
I've just practiced so many manuevers in an arena that it makes perfect sense to reference the wall for pretty much every movement. This is why I responded to this thread.
To tell the truth I need to really study up on this bc my little (15'2hh) adopted from a rescue unregistered QH is doing some beautiful dressage manuevers at libery (in my back yard)--he often sidepasses and has a gorgeous suspended trot--that I want to ride them on command in the future.

I use the wall/fence when I first start them.

After that I take them to the open and they do great. I just slowly work more and more off the fence as we go. I.e., the first time they are snubbed nose-to-rail, eventually they are a foot off, then two feet, then three feet, etc until they can sidepass all over the place with no problems. I think the fence is a nice training tool. I also use it to train rollbacks and haunch turns by asking the to turn into the fence, forehand turns too by putting their nose to the fence and pushing the hip to parallel the fence.

It doesn't take very long for my horses to understand these cues and move out to the open.