Your dexterity isn't use to making lateral stretches... Once you practice more you will notice that you'll be able to stretch farther and farther... keep practicing... You can do a few excercises though.... a made up a few that I do at work everynow and then when I have nothing to do... One that works well to keep my hands strong is to take a rubber band... one that you can put around your finger.... put it on so that all your fingers are inside the rubber band... You may need to wrap the band around a finger or two so that it provides enough tension... Now what you will do is spread your fingers apart and resist the rubber band as it tries to pull them back together... Do this as many times as you can until you feel like you can't do it anymore. wait ten minutes or so and do it again. Your hand may be a little sore but this will help you be able to stretch your hands out... it will also strengthen the muscles in your hands and allow you to fret a lot easier... You should do this everyday... obviously you'll want to do this after you play... or if there's a day that you're away from your guitar... It will whip your dexterity right into shape. Good Luck and welcome to the boards.