Bending advice please!

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G3mma

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My cob works great on the right rein. - he is very supple, rounded and forward going. My problem is that although he will work in a rounded outline on the left rein he just won't bend around my leg to the left. I'm not asking him to overbend that way - just a little bit of bend- but he seems to grab hold of the bit on that side and won't give at all. He is getting very strong and although I'm lungeing him with a pessoa twice a week (25% on the right then 75%) on the left and making a conscious effort to work him to the left when we're out and about I'm just not having any luck.

Does anybody have any ideas of exercises I can do to help? He is in a sprenger WH ultra at the moment with a flash noseband. Would a fulmer snaffle help at all? His teeth have been done very recently.

Any advice appreciated!Thanks
 
My boy was quite similar and when I had the Physio look at him she said he was much more developed muscle wise on the right than the left which made it hard for him to stretch his right side when I asked him to tbend left (hope this makes sense!)

So I have been doing exercises with him, plus massage and the improvement is fantastic.

Here's what I do every day:
1. 5 minutes circular massage on the left side using a infrared maasager (for human use) in a circular motion from behind his withers right along his back onto his hind quarters.
2. The same massage onthe right side but for 2 minutes
3. Carrots stretches, 3 on each side making him hold the position for a count of 3, plus 3 getting him to stretch down and back between his front legs.
4. tail stretches, 3 to each side and 3 straight back.

Marie
 
Thanks for that. I think a physio might be a sensible step. I had quite a few problems having a saddle fitted to him because his right side is more developed. Bit silly really I should have thought. How do I go about fiding a decent physio?
 
Have yo uhad his back/teeth checked? Carrot stretches help with flexibility - get the horse to stretch right round to his hip. Marie_L's exercises sound pretty good, too
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Word of mouth is usually the best way or you can ask your vet who they recommend. I have found there is a HUGE difference in standard between physios.
 
Everything Marie_L said.

If he is more developed on the right side, be careful that his saddle is not slipp and twisting on the left rein making it physically impossible for him to give you the bend.

Also on the lunge, does he throw a shoulder and is bent to the outside on this rein? What is he like without the pessoa (I personally do no like this gadget!)? You need to make sure that he is actively using his inside leg on the left rein as well, to support himself. If a horse is reluctant on 1 rein I always check the inside leg as it may be that he is reluctant to use this leg, hence has developed the other side more over time.
 
Couple of other things to consider...

1. is the horse predominately right handed (as opposed to sore on the left front or back legs and therefore taking more weight to ease the strain). Many horses are right side dominant, a bit like us. This means that the horse likes to step right and over load the right fore leg. On a circle he will fall in on the right rein and fall out on the left. There is an excellent book called Correct Movement in Horses by two Germans that explains this in detail and tells you what to do about it. Well worth anyone reading who has problems with bending.

2. If the rider sits left of centre, which many, many right handed riders do, their weight pushes the horse slightly right so even on a right bend the weight distribution of the rider is making it difficult for the horse to bend. Combine this with a right sided dominant horse and it feels difficult to unravel where the problem is. In addition, a horse that is permanently slightly bent left will encourage the rider to sit left compounding the problem.

So difficult to sort these problems out as you have to go through the whole teeth, back, saddle, shoeing, lameness stuff but it may be just a horse who needs to load his legs 50/50, not 30/70!

ETA I have mentioned the right side dominant horse as this seems more common but if the problem is on the left bend, and it is a left side dominance situation, the horse needs to place more weight over the right foreleg so he can bend at the ribcage and soften to the inside hand because he is taking a correct bend.
 
Thanks to you all for helpful advice. I've tried some of Marie_L's exercises this evening so will see how we get on over the next few weeks.
 
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