lateral movement

Question
just bought a wonderful 4 yr old (unbroke)Standardbred/draft cross gelding.  
All three gaits seem to be very lateral, especially when lunging. is this
something i can work on to help him get rid of his lateral movement or am I
dreaming?  At times it seems to be a balance issue, especially since he came
from a barn where he got no turnout except for a few hours. I have gradually
been bringing him along. I have been ponying him on hills iwth my other
gelding. I have been lunging him fairly regulary for a few hours a day.  He is
incredibly good natured and agreeable to everything asked of him.  Should i
pursue trying to make his movement less lateral or is there hope?  what are
some training exercises i can do to help him? thanks a ton i am not looking to
make him a dressage star but it would be nice to make it to the ring once in a
while.

Answer
A horse knows how to be a horse and knows how to move.  Lounging for three horses is not helping.  That is teaching him to only move when rounded or curved, which probable helped cause the problem you are describing.  

It sounds like you, like lots of people, are busy finding fault with the horse and blaming the horse.  It is never the horses fault.  What ever a horse does, it is because of what we do to cause it.  When the horse does something right, you caused it, when it does something wrong, YOU caused it.

Understand him more and see the world as he does and a lot of your problems will go away.

Rick