Cutting Corners !

[Danni]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can help me out with a problem. I'm not quite sure if this thread should be posted here or on "Training of the Horse".

My regular riding school horse (who I love to bits) has the most annoying habit of cutting corners when we canter in the indoor arena. It is worse when she is on the left rein through a course of jumps. It's almost as if she knows exactly where she is going and just want's to get the job done in the shortest time and on the quickest route. I try so hard to keep her out on the track with my inside leg but she just does not respond. She is 10 years old now and her owner says that she is just "set in her ways". I hate to give up. She is a joy in every other way (at least for my skill level - only two years riding but loving every precious minute of it). Any tips would be gratefully received !!

[Laya]

(First off, this would have been in Training of the Horse is you were asking for tips on training the horse not to cut corners. Then again, it can be in Training of the Rider if you were asking for advice on what you can do.)

My horse does the exact same thing. After a line of jumps, he'll instantly cut left or right depending on where we're going to approach the next fence. This is aggravating, since I lose my balance since it feels like he's turning barrels!! Then, with these tight turns, I have a million thoughts and corrections to do to get him and me collected for the jump. Usually our take-off isn't centered and it's an awkward take-off.

Well, I've been trying to steer him right over a fence to the end of the arena in a direct path, then gradually signaling him to turn. This makes the turn more gradual instead of a sharp and small turn around.

If you look to use your arena, usually looking will help you ask the horse to use the arena. Remember that you are the one in control, not the horse you are riding. Steer the horse where you would like to go and not ride the horse with your inside leg only. Some horses don't move away from leg pressure on the inside, but tend to follow the leg pressure around - as if they're bending around your leg.

Good luck.

[horselover]

Like Laya said. the horse might be bending around your leg, which is what i have been taught to do with corners. If this is the case. then you want to be using your inside leg as support, placed firmly against the horse's side. Use your outside leg a little behind where you normally have it (I was taught this method western, so I would normally say behind the girth) and push with that leg. This causes thehorse to move away from your leg pressure on the outside, but since you have your inside leg quiet and firm, then he will bend around it. It really depends on the horse and how they were trained.

You could also try practicing with cones to get your horse to move into the corners so that she learns to listen to you.

Laya- with the jumps- Rascal did that too when we were first starting out. Try going back to riding a jump then riding off from it in a staright line and halting. turn around and ride it again, making sure to do a straight line. Soemtimes, the horse starts to aanticipate the fact that they turn after jumps so they stop listening. It's realluy important to break this habit, as I am sure you know.

You could also place a poles on the jump to make a chute after it. Thsi forces the horse to ride it stright because the poles are there. Do you know what I mean? It's kinda hard to describe. It works REALLY well though.

[Laya]

It isn't that Justin only anticipates the turn, it's that (blushes) I actually taught him to turn tighter by barrel racing!!

[horselover]

oh, well that does cause a problem. Do you still Barrel race him? If not, I would still tyr some of the stuff I suggested b/c you can always retrain him.

[Laya]

I don't compete in barrel racing as of yet. I still jump him, as much as I can and take lessons in jumping with him. However, I was only teaching him to barrel race for the games at a 4-H show that hasn't yet happened yet. Shouldn't he be able to know when we're going to barrel race/the turns to take then and when we're going to jump/and the turns to take then?

[Meghan]

I ride a 31 year old mare in my lessons. Some days are better, but she likes to cut corners. I am just walking and trotting, by no means I am ready to jump.

Today was one of her worse days. She would start the corner about 10 feet too early. Or halfway down the long side, she would swerve in toward the center. Especially, if I have just cued to trot. I talked with my instructor. She told me part of it is that I am probably uneven and leaning slightly to encourage that direction. She also tends to get more of an attitude some days. She had me work on shortening the outside rein and then giving as soon as she headed back to the rail. I still had a very struggles, but she was better for me.

Part of my problem is that I am too polite. I ask for something, but I don't follow up firmly if I don't get what I asked for. So she takes advantage of that and does what she wants.

Today, I worked more on actually insisting that we go the direction I said.

My instructor also had me carry a crop today. I only used it lightly a couple times, but she seemed more cooperative in general since she knew I had it. I think it was more of a sense that I meant business, so maybe she cooperate more.

Overall, I had a great ride, did better at both posting and sitting the trot. More confident as well. And I rode through a good spook today. I have finally seen what would make a 31 year old been there, done that horse actually spook. My instructor was also riding today, and her horse tried to bite my horse. I saw a good view of the income mouth, and then we lunged to the side and forward. I was quite pleased to remained balanced the whole time.

[horselover]

Laya- i wouldn't think that a horse would realize the differnce between a turn for a jump and a turn for a barrel. But he does recognize what you tell him to do. It's kinda not his fault that he is taking the turns sharp if you are practicing barrel racing and doing jumping on and off. It's easy for a horse to get confused. I would think that if you worked on riding him straight after the jump it would help. I go back to this every few weeks or so just to keep rascal on his toes and listening to me instead of anticipating. Also, use your rein to hold him out over the jump. If he has a tendency to go to the right after a jump, then shorten your left rein in the air.

[olympicprincess]

ride like a hunter, use all the space available. I was always told by my instructor- "Take the scenic route"- when my eventers would get rushy.

[jillaroo]

I often have this problem too with the school horse I ride. Some days when we are jumping she rushes the jumps and hoons around the arena just to get it all over and done with ASAP. Keeping her in the corners so that we can approach the jump straight-on rather than at an angle becomes a real battle of wills and yet I feel as though I am doing everything my instructor tells me to do to get her into the corners and against the wall but to no avail. It's as though she sets her mind to it and just will not do it any other way and all my cues and requests are of no consequence since in her mind none of this is negotiable! Mind you, having said that, carrying a crop seems to help a bit. Also another instructor told me his way of dealing with corners in a situation like this is to keep the inside leg on, the inside hand firmly against the neck and then raise the outside hand a little (in jumping position at the canter). This worked like a treat.

[Danni]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Laya,

I read your reply this morning with interest. As you suggest, I do try to look where I go when riding through a course of jumps - it has just occurred to me that maybe I look too early when anticipating the next jump, particularly one after a corner - because I seem to remember that I have seen the topic of "looking where you ride" somewhere on the NR Message Board and how this influences the rider's weight (i.e. seatbones tip slightly forward) and this acts as an aid in steering the horse - am I making any sense ???

Jillaroo,

I hope this does not sound like a silly question, but when your Instructor said to "keep the inside hand firmly against the neck", did he actually mean the hand, or did he mean the rein?

[Sarah]

hello!

Your weight and seatbones can be used as a very effective aid. If you want to turn left, push your left seatbone forwards, and do the same with your right one to turn right.

With regard to corner cutting, if you are busy concentrating on where you want to go, you often end up leaning that way by mistake. If you try to keep weight on the outside of the horse, push down on the outside stirrup, that can really help. It is far to eas to get into a skiing or motorbiking postion near corners and start leaning in which encourges the horse to move in to get under your weight.

I hope that might help.

bye!

[Danni]

Yep Sarah, It makes perfect sense. Thanks!

[Meghan]

Thanks Sarah.

That actually clarified what my instructor said that confused me.

[jillaroo]

Hi Danni,
This is done in 2-point/jumping position, so your hands are about a third of the way up the horse's neck and pressing firmly into the neck with the reins lying alongside the neck. Keeping your inside hand exactly where it is just raise your outside hand up a little off the neck making sure that your shoulders are back and square.

[Danni]

Thanks for the clarification Jilaroo. I will definitely try!