Can't gallop in a straight line

[sam72431]

I have a 8yo old Irish sports horse mare very tb looking! Her left hind is her weak spot she will always be lazy with this leg nothing wrong with it (vet checked and regular physio) but if worked correctly and asked to bring weight back on to it she will otherwise she will throw weight over the right shoulder and drag her bum behind her! I've got her pretty straight in walk trot and canter now mainly by asking her to be more upright through transitions and using the right rein to **** the door of allowing her to fall out (instructor helped me) and she has made a massive improvement. She is pretty straight out cross country in the canter between jumps. But we went out with bloodhounds yesterday and she was not straight at all in gallop I really struggled to keep her straight when going over the stubble fields I'm not sure if this was due to downward sloping camber on the straight parts as she seemed pretty straight going straight up hills? Most of the time she was pretty straight just a couple of times she was throwing weight over the right shpulder? Is there anything I can do at all to help? I would say she's maybe slightly behind physically for an 8 year old but physio and saddle fitter happy with everything and dentist out today and never had any issues? Tia

 

[sam72431]

Should say shut not **** lol!

 

[be positive]

If she is genuinely weak and there is not a lameness issue underlying that is preventing her using that leg properly then it is just a case of time, building her up until she is totally straight in the slower gears and trying not to put her into a position where she reverts too often to going how she finds it easier to cope, the faster she has to go the worse the weakness will be and the less time she spends being crooked the stronger her muscles will become until she is working evenly all the time but it will probably take a long time to fully correct.
All horses are one sided just like people they favour either the left or right and need to be reminded to work evenly, we tend to use our dominant hand almost exclusively and if allowed from the start of their training a horse will do much the same, I would be doing a lot of straightness work with her including in hand to build up the muscle memory, polework is useful, hillwork where they are really pushing from behind, lots of lateral work, correct rein back and turn on the forehand but they must be correctly performed if they are to help, I would avoid anything where she may struggle too much as that is when she will let the strong leg do more of the work so if you go xc or hunting try and keep her a bit more steady and balanced when you gallop so she is encouraged to remain straight rather than get onto her forehand and drift through her shoulder, you should find it gets easier.

When I was bringing an injured horse back into work, he was very weak in one hind, I also played about using different boots on his legs to try and make him more aware of it, sometimes using just one on the weak leg, sometimes an odd pair so they felt different, I had a sausage boot that also get used two or three times a week and my physio lent me a light chain that went round the pastern that was also used alternate days, no idea if it helped but anything that can contribute is worth trying, I am also a fan of proper strapping to tone them up, he was ridden every morning, did in hand work most afternoons and had a good groom with his exercises every day, he ended up level although it did seem to be a long time to get there.