Leaning on the Leg - advice?

[JOJOBA]

Im having a schooling problem and Id like your advice.
The two horses I ride regularly both lean on my right leg. By that I mean that on the right rein they keep their bend slightly to the outside and curve towards my right leg, and on the left rein they overdo the right bend slightly and bash my leg on the fence :p.
On the youngster it's only very slight - usually a little flick or a nudge with the right heel and a 'dont lean on me!' corrects it and so long as I stay thinking ahead of him I can keep putting it right. However with Hector he leans quite hard - trying to get him to go straight is quite a strain on my leg!
So far to work on it I have been trying the nudge or flick, which doesnt work on him. So I started doing lots of work on the left rein but making him flex to the right, or working straight on the right rein. Im also lunging him on relatively small circles on the right rein to encourage him to step under and across and use his back a bit more.
However the problem is it takes me a LOT of work to get him to work properly. If I make him flex right then instead of lifting and curving his whole body in a nice soft true bend, he 'tilts' his front end, throwing all his weight down onto his right shoulder - have I explained that okay? By 'tilts' I mean if I look down the middle of his neck then his mane wont be central - it will be tilted right and more neck will be showing on the left.
For this reason he finds taking his right canter lead hard - I think it's because he cant lift his stomach and back on the right and lift his forehand, and therefore cant push that right hind through properly. He finds it difficult to contract that right hand side and stretch his left side, and instead just curls round the left leg.

Anyway I think Im rambling now - any ideas?


xxx

[nutkin]

Is it possible that either your weight is slightly to one side or maybe your rein contact is not quite even. It could be that there is such a slight difference it is not noticeable to the eye but is noticeable enough to the horse you are riding to make a difference.

[JOJOBA]

Im aware Im one sided but try my best to sit on both seatbones. I had my visiting instructor who is a dressage coach sit on him and she noted how much he leans on the right leg - she said she was having to sit much harder on her right seatbone just to get him straight.


xxx

[raingodz]

If you are one sided then it might be a good idea to see an RI who also specialises in Alexander Technique for a few sessions. I saw an alexander technique specialist (not riding related) to get me physicaly evened up after my climbing accident and to improve my balace back to what it had been and it helped tremendusly.

[tasha]

The fact that both horses do it suggests to me that it is something you are doing - maybe Hector is the main 'problem' and he is teaching you to sit funny on the youngster!

Have you tried leg yield on circles to shift the weight and bend over? This always helps Kally when she is bending the wrong way or falling out/in.

[chewitmonster]

If it is you being one-sided then maybe over the however-many years you've had Hec he's learnt to accustomize himself to you so leans more than the other horse who you haven't been riding as long. I'd definately think it must be something to do with you rather than just a coinsidence that they both have the same problem. Or like someone else said, its something to do with Hec and he's making you sit funny on the other horse causing the same problem.

Don't know what to suggest myself because I'm having a problem with a weaker right side at the moment making Silver very left sided. :rolleyes: xxx

[JOJOBA]

Im willing to accept it's me but according to my RI most horses lean on one leg or the other - Bailey leans on the right leg, Senator leans slightly on the left, King leans on the left, Baxter just leans everywhere as he wobbles along :p.
Horses are one sided just like people I think - perhaps with me and Hector it's a case of us both being so one sided that it gets really OTT :p

xxx