Canter Lead

monters

Ive just got an ex point to pointer on loan and am reschooling him. But he will only strike off on his left canter lead, even on the right rein - and when I do get him on his right lead he spontaneously switches leads, no matter how hard I try to keep him on his right.
Any tips on how I can rectify this?
Thanks

Wicked

hours and hours and hours of repetitive work, not to the point where you sicken him but it'll just take time,

i doubt the horse was too worried about which leg he was on when he was galloping 30 mile an hour into a solid fence

just keep working on him, it'll take alot of time.

convert

Is his right leg ok? The fact that a horse does not want to lead on a specific leg may suggest that there could be an old injury or a problem with his leg or hoof. He could also have a problem with his balance or he could be holding his head at an awkward angle which means that he leads off on the left leg only.

If he is sound and there are no problems with his back, then it will just take hours of patient schooling and encouragement to teach him that it's not ok to strike off on whatever leg he chooses. If you have access to a smallish arena, it's better than working in a large arena or field as the corners are tighter and it's therefore easier to get him to strike off on the correct leg if you ask him to canter in the corner.

liah

If nobody corrected him on his leads on the point-to-point previously then it makes sense that he only picks up his left lead.

Most horses are like us in terms of that kind of thing, like how we have people who are right-handed and left-handed. Horses are like that too. So he probably just picked his most comfortable lead to go on, his left one, and stuck with it since nobody really cared which lead he was on. This would lead him to get more muscle on the left lead, it probably just feels strange to him to go on the right, like how it would feel strange to you if someone made you write with your non-dominant hand, you'd probably unconsciously switch back to your dominant one too.

Also like humans, he can be taught to use the other (eg. if someone broke their dominant arm/hand and was forced to write with their non-dominant hand). It just takes time and patience to build up the muscle on the opposite side and make him comfortable with alternating.

Patience, patience, patience. Just keep doing what you're doing and keep trying to force him to put his weight on his right side. Try cantering small circles so that he's forced to go off-balance and switch. Just keep doing what you're doing.

fits

Will he pick up the right lead on the lunge?

convert

A well-balanced and well-broken horse will usually strike off on the correct leg, regardless of what they've done in the past. I know any of the race horses I've ridden have always worked on the correct leg, even while racing, though if they're on a relatively straight course they won't have to be on the correct leg as much as they would if they were on a course with tighter corners.

If the horse will lead on the correct leg on the lunge, but doesn't if he's been ridden, then you'd need to take the rider's balance, position and aids into consideration.

byhookorbycrook

a pole on the corner of the arena, raised about six inches will get a horse to lead correctly, ask the horse to canter just before the corner and as they reach the pole they will lead correctly.

finbarrk

He could have a shoulder injury too even though he mightn't show any signs of lameness.

biomech

finbarrk wrote: »

He could have a shoulder injury too even though he mightn't show any signs of lameness.

its quite common for race horses to become totally out of shape from riding the same direction on the gallops every day... its not always possible to vary these things.... my advice is get him checked out for any injury and if you get the green light just split his work, half on one leg and half on the other. best person to diagnose your horses prob would be a physio....not a vet..