Getting a horse to canter on the right leg.

[HorseManiac]

Percy cant canter on the right leg on one rein, only seems to strike of on the right leg after going over a jump:rolleyes:

How can I school him so he canters on the right leg?

Anneli x

[CurlyWurlyRach]

ask in a corner, outside leg back and bend him to the inside and practise!

Curly always used to strike off wrong and I used to get off her back slightly an it seemed to help as shes perfect now .

[~*sugarlump*~]

right bend, right leg on girth, outside leg behind girth.
do it on a corner, slow him down and get impulsion in his trot.

[Tango<3]

and if he does strike of on the wrong lead bring him back to trot get the rhythem bck and then ask again :D

[sharpsky]

put up a tiny crosspole in the middle of the school and get him to strike off over that, then keep him on that leg so he can build up the muscle a bit

[go max!]

Also get someone on the ground to have a look at your position - most of us sit slightly lopsided, and it may be that your position makes it easier for him to canter on the right rein in one direction and not the other.

[eml]

Set him up really carefully for canter, possibly ride a 10m circle in the corner and then ask for canter just as you come off the circle.

We have an ex racer in our RS who is difficult on one rein, I always suggest, half halt to collect trot, sit, create bend with lots of inside leg, apply outside leg (squeeze not on off nudge) and hold until canter is established.

Make a habit even when hacking to ask for and insist on the weaker leg.

[HorseManiac]

Wooo thanks for the great advice guys, will report back tommorow! He should find it easier on sunday as we will be at a jump clinic so i will try and maintain that canter to build his muscle up:)

THANKS AGAIN!!:D:D:)

[JamesJackson]

Make sure you're not blocking the inside (i.e. right) shoulder. Ask for the flexion, as others have said, through the corner. Not too much or you'll overload the inside... Anyway, before you ask for the transition make sure you free up the leading (inside) leg - soften the rein, lift the hand slightly and ask when the inside leg is on the ground.

I also completely don't agree with this 'outside leg back' business when asking for canter. I school mine to go on inside leg forward. Think about it - we ask a horse to move away from a leg, so an outside leg back will just have the effect of pushing the hindquarters in. Guess what the number one problem with most horse's canter is? You guessed it - hind quarters drifting in, and therefore losing the quality of the canter as the inner hind isn't doing its job properly...