Consistently on wrong lead.....why??

[Monty]

Willow consistently goes off on the wrong lead in canter, on the left rein. Why do horses do this, and how do you correct the problem, and its underlying cause???

[Tootsie4U]

Monty,

Are you timing your aid with her stride?

[Monty]

Sorry, meant to say,this is on the lunge, Toots. She needs an awful lot of work on her canter, before I put my unbalanced derriere to it!! We're not even going to start, until after my competition next Saturday, when I don't need canter anyway.
We just thought we'd have a look at her canter today, as we've never really seen her do it. She went great on the right rein, expect rushing like mad. Left rein, she also rushed, but went off on the right lead every time!
Any bright ideas??

[nix]

Hi Monty

Just an idea, but have you tried lunging her in one end of the school with a pole in the two corners? This worked well with Harve as it is very difficult for them to canter over them on the wrong lead (in fact H had to change leg if he was on the wrong one ;) ).

You could start off with walk and trot over them and when she's settled and balanced ask for canter as she's approaching the corner.

Hope this helps.

Nix

[Tootsie4U]

When you ask for Canter, are you bending her to the inside? If she's stick straight or even out on the butt end, it will be harder for her to pick it up.

[Mehitabel]

they're like people - left or right 'handed'. so they bend easier one way, are stronger on one side, and thius translates into finding one rein easier to strike off correctly on.
so the underlying cause with willow will be that she hasn't had sufficient schooling to even her muscling and bring her stiff side up to the level of her bendy side.

how is she in walk and trot on the left rein? i would imagine she will find it harder to bend evenly on that rein, and perhaps rising trot is les comfy for you.

the answer is lots of schooling to build her up so that she has even muscling on both sides - all work in walk and trot will help towards this, not just canter.

[galadriel]

Also stretching will help. Don't extra-stretch the stiff side, you'll end up with the other side stiff ;) just ask her to stretch to both sides.

http://www.todayshorse.com/Articles/HorseCarrotPractics.htm

It'll help loosen the muscles that make it easier to canter on the right lead than the left. It'll also help keep the muscles loose in general.

[Heather]

Some horses definitely seem to have a stronger preference for one side than the other, and it can be quite difficult to correct, if it is happening even on the lunge. As has been said, make sure she is incurved slightly to the inside, by shortening the inside side rein a little. Nix advice is good too- to use a pole to encourage her to strike off on the correct leg.

Try this and see, and let us know.

Heather

[intouch]

I had a horse like this - even when she learned to strike off on the correct leg she would go disunited after a short time. I wish I had had the Equine Touch technique when I had her, I'm sure it must have been discomfort that caused it. If yoy get her checked out at least you will know if that might be the cause.