Cantering on the wrong leg

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xbuzzx

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My boy lately has been going onto the wrong leg in canter when on the right rein, he will strike of as soon as i ask him but just not go on the right leg. He does anticipate things and in every corner will speed up if we've already done some canter so my instructor said to do lots of circling on trot then surprise him into canter, this was working untill a few nights ago when in a 40 min schooling he only went onto the right leg once. By the end of this schooling session we were both started to get frustrated so i decided to stop before i made it worse. I'm now worrying that i've changed my signals or something even though i don't think i have :S Any advice would be useful. Thanks x
 
You can try putting a pole on the floor in the corner, then ride a 15m circle in that corner and ask for canter over the pole. The circle makes it clear to the horse that he has got to turn and the pole should make him land on the correct lead.

Once you are on the correct lead got large around the school. Then come back to trot, 15m circle, go over pole, canter and repeat. You can then try without the pole, but still with the 15m circle, when you feel your horse has mastered going off the correct lead. Then try without the circle before and see if he will go off the correct lead when going large around the school.

Good luck :)
 
Thanks, I am just about to go down there now so will try the pole today and hopfully it will help :D
 
It's the only way my ex racer will canter on the correct lead! She does flying changes from the correct lead to the incorrect :S

Hope it goes well :)
 
In my experience a bit more feel down the outside rein helps to get the horse in balance and strike off correctly if they are struggling.

You have to fight the natural urge to ask them to bend to the inside - doesn't have to be a strong hold on the outside rein, but just a bit more than perhaps is normal just before you give the aid and during the transition.

Good luck :)
 
I tried today with the poles in the corner, it went better than it had been before and i did get him going onto the right leg a few times, but when he did go in he felt really unbalanced and like he wanted to go onto the wrong one :S strange thing is it's just been really sudden he's decided not to go on the roght leg :S Thanks for the advice! :D
 
If he has always been OK with this and it is only a recent problem, I'd get a vet to come and have a look (or recommend you a physio or similar). I know it's often the first thing people ask (teeth/tack/back) but if he has always been OK with this before, then it is entirely possible that he has tweaked something.

My mare went a bit stiff in canter on one rein a couple of months ago - fortunately I have a vet physio on my yard and she gave her a once over, and found a few sore spots and tight areas that were making it hard for her to canter correctly on that rein. Turned out the saddle was causing it. Get him checked over :)
 
Ok i will get his back checked. There's always something wring with his canter..too fast..unbalanced...etc and just as one thing beomes right the next goes. But we do think he was driven in the past and been told that they don't really learn to canter..?
 
Well being driven may well not have helped his canter ;) but he should still be able to canter on the right lead if he has done with you in the past :)

Ask your vet to recommend someone to come and look at him if they are not a horse specialist themselves, or ask on here for someone in your area. It may not be in his back, just saying my mare's issue was. Best of luck.:)
 
My ex racer had a block a few months back about canter leads (things do tend to fall out of his brain from time to time :) ) and along with plenty of leg yields into canter transistions - the main issue was me ! Not saying in this case and it was hard for me to admit but I was over restricting him in the hand and not enough leg so he was becoming more and more backwards. I had a really good clinic with a dressage rider who had me riding really forwards (thought we were going to disappear out the school at one point ) and trying not to concentrate so much on what the front end was doing and it did work. We did loads of transitions to really sharpen him up and had a much firmer contact than I had been riding with and for him it seemed to do the trick.
 
Ditto, get him checked over by dentist, vet, saddler, back man etc. If all is clear, try some lungeing in canter maybe? It can help build up their muscles, teach them to balance themselves, and you can see him working from the floor so you can see if anything else is going on. Maybe also try some lateral work? This is also great as it reminds them of what your leg aids mean. I would originally start with a turn on the forehand, this is great for reteaching the leg aids, and getting them comfortable with bending. Then progress to leg yield, which many horses find easier in trot. And also as toomanyhorses says, sometimes coming in from a leg yield in trot and then directly asking for canter is also good. Also just practicing pole work and circling and bending correctly does wonders for their balance and everything. Good luck and keep us posted! :) xx
 
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