Advice on new unbalanced horse

Bay TB

Bay TB

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I am after some advice if possible to see if I am on the right track or whether I need a new approach.
I got a new horse in February, a just turned 6 year old TBxWelsh Dxsomething else!! who is a great chap with a wonderful temprement and very brave although fairly green in his schooling.
At first we did just a fair bit of hacking which was great, the only thing I noticed is that he constantly turns his head to the right side. I obviously try to keep him straight but he will tend to lean on my left rein.
Moving forward a bit to school work and he does seem stiffer on the left rein and he is quite unbalanced still especially in his canter which we are working on.
On the left rein however, instead of wanting to bend to the right as I would expect he overbends to the inside and swings his back end out - is this still just a sign of this being his stiffer side?
Occassionally when he has had enough of our schooling sessions he will set his neck to a right bend and nap sideways. I can either battle to bring him back round or turn his to the left and it seems to unlockhis neck and bring him back round.

Any help or advice appreciated :)
 
Darcy was very unbalanced and stiff necked. My instructor advised lots circles turns counter flexing so when you ask for correct bend its easier,increasing and decreasing circles ,leg yield ,carrot stretches all work and a really good warm up before and if like darcy if he hasn't been worked for a while the muscles were not strong enough. As for balance in canter we started of with any leg will do as long as it it was not disunited but had rhythm,with you opposite leg slightly back offering support and stopping the back end swinging . We are getting there but it takes time. Rhythm is the key for balance. This works for us anyway .:)
 
I would personally have a physio check him over to rule out any physical problems/discomfort before starting work on improving his balance. Try him on the lunge - how does he move then? Is he better (looser) on one side than the other?

Def get him checked out - it could be purely a case` of needing to supple him up with some careful exercises but it could be he physically is uncomfortable with what you're asking him to do.
 
Physio and then see if physio recommends vet.
Just had one at ours provisionally diagnosed with arthritis of the spine (9yrs old). It always went oddly and unbalanced but not lame. Symptoms always attributed to other things(greeness,lack of consistent schooling,laziness,weather too hot,horse tired,mild virus,unbalanced rider etc) Now awaits scans and xr's,so please get it checked out:)
 
I'm working through a similar issue. Had her checked and some minor issues to correct with physio. Now it's carrot stretches, half passes, shoulder in, leg yields and me working on improving rhythm and position. We're definitely improving!
 
Dentist first I have 4 1/2 year old only managed to ride him 5 days before he injured himself badly but found he had terrible teeth ,setting himself was a way of avoiding discomfort in mouth. I was told dentist had been out so pleased I had it done again poor boy was struggling to eat hay and he was on box rest :(
 
Dentist first, then physio, then tack check, then if needed vet.

The fact that he will bend neck left but swing the hind to the outside when on a left bend tells me that there is something blocking the movement. Whether it is him or something on him/in him (bit) is what you need to find out.

After that and when all is ok, just use suppling exercises, try to get him to relax and introduce some light lateral work on circles to help him use himself without getting too hung up on frame or containment in straight lines.

Just see how you get on with all the checks though as he doesn't sound right to me.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.
He had his teeth checked by our equine vet only 5 weeks ago when he had his jabs and they were all fine bar a few rough edges that were filed.
He had a new saddle fitted for him in March / April shortly after he arrived.
I will arrange to get our physio / chiropracter to come out to check him over as the next step then to see what she thinks before we carry on with schooling.
If she gives the all clear I will carry on with the exercises sugggested to try to balance and even him up.
:)
 
Bay TB said:
Thanks for the responses guys.
He had his teeth checked by our equine vet only 5 weeks ago when he had his jabs and they were all fine bar a few rough edges that were filed.
He had a new saddle fitted for him in March / April shortly after he arrived.
I will arrange to get our physio / chiropracter to come out to check him over as the next step then to see what she thinks before we carry on with schooling.
If she gives the all clear I will carry on with the exercises sugggested to try to balance and even him up.
:)
Click to expand...

If he's been in work and building muscle, it is not impossible that the saddle fit could be compromised as muscle builds...worth getting checked if nothing else throws up results.
 
One thing I like to do on a horse like this is see how much tension they're holding in their poll. Whether that in and of itself is your problem or it's symptomatic of something else is for your vet and/or physio to figure out.

What I do is stand next to the horse, put one hand on the neck, just behind the ears and the other just on the bridge of its nose (assuming horse isn't massively headshy or anything). I then gently ask the horse to turn its head by putting a little bit of pressure away from me on the neck, and very lightly bringing the nose towards me. If the horse is loose and supple in its poll and neck, it should be able to turn its head about 90 or so degrees while keeping its face more or less on the vertical. If it's stiff or tight or sore, it will either tip its nose in so the head isn't vertical any more, or actually resist the pressure and toss its head or some such behaviour. Most will be better on one side than the other. Horses who have a lot of tension or soreness here will often feel stiff as a board to ride or show "nappy" behaviour when asked to bend in the weaker direction.
 
I tried him on the lunge last night to see how he went as I've not lunged him before (not much of a fan) and he was exactly the same on the lunge, unbalanced and worse on the left rein. We did get some nice steady trot on the right rein but on the left he did not bend too well to the inside and would rush in trot and then get unbalanced and have a buckaroo moment so was obviously struggling with the tight circles on that rein.
I have booked our physio to come out next Friday so will see how we go from there.
Thanks for the help :)
 
Update:
Had our physio out to him on Friday and his pelvis was quite far out, much higher on one side apparently. She said she has straightened him out and there were no other issues, his muscles were all fine and quite symmetrical so we will see how he goes. He had a day off on Saturday after this and I just gently hacked him out Sunday. He did appear to be alot more level and there was no leaning on my left rein so hopefully we've cracked it. I'll see how he goes when schooling later this week. :)
Thanks to all for the advice.
 
Once cleared by dentist and Physio you need to ride on a circle on right rein and flex him with a smooth pull on left rein until he flexes left. If he listens and follows the rein then release the rein. If as is more likely he doesn't pull harder(using your left rein in short spongy movements keeping him on the circle) flex him out more giving a stronger rein aid until he does submit( this can take a while) then when he does submit release the rein as before. A horse can not lean on a rein if there is nothing to lean against and the second this happens increasing the rein aid til he gives it up ( even if he ends up with his head on your knee) but then releasing it helps to teach him that you are not going to carry him. It's his job to carry you not the other way round.
 
Just out of interest, how do you balance a lopsided pelvis?

My horse is very crooked (my physio shakes her head as she studies him from behind) at a skeletal level. This makes it difficult to fit a saddle and has led to muscle wastage. He get unbalanced very easily if I don't get his saddle adjusted minutely and have the physio out to prod him on a regular basis!

I am just confused as to how a pelvis can be put right if there is nothing (other than working on muscle and suppleness) that I can do to correct permanently my horse?
 
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