depressed- can i not ride???

annunziata

annunziata

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I am feeling very down in the dumps at the moment. I have an ex racehorse and I seem to find he is hanging on the right rein, my friend rode him and she did not seem to find this an issue so it must be me? I dont know!! I rode again last night an my trainer says for me to give the rein away when he grabs it. so i did in canter and he tried to run off, maybe it is because we jumped yesterday, I dont know i just felt like I could not ride at all yesterday!managed to get it in the end but we both got wound up about it. any advise re a horse hanging on the right rein??
 
I've been through this with my dressage horse who started hanging on my left rein - turns out I was being heavy handed with my left hand. You have two options- you can either match your right hand to your left to get an even contact (not ideal but a quick fix) or you can retrain yourself to be less heavy handed with your right hand which takes longer but is obviously the better option. Try using a balance strap that you can loop one finger through to make yourself more aware of when you are pulling back with your hand. Keep to walk & trot for a bit until you get your horse really soft again as obviously the faster the pace, the more inclined you will be to pull back. As your instructor says, if he starts to pull on the right you need to soften your right hand more - a horse can't pull against a contact that isn't there. I was really disciplined with myself and made myself keep giving the rein away with the offending hand to encourage my horse to come very soft - and then you have no need to pull back anyway. It isn't easy but it can be done
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Don't forget that no rider is perfect and we all have our faults - the reason your friend didn't have the same difficulty as you is because she has different faults from yours!
 
If, as you say, your horse did not seem to hang on the right rein when your friend rode him, I would say that there is probably something you are doing that is causing it. But never, ever despair of 'not being able to ride' - we all go through these phases, and there is always light at the end of the tunnel!
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When I started having lessons again last year, Ellie was falling in a lot through her right shoulder, and was heavier on the right rein. To counteract this, I had started bringing my left hand out in an (unconscious) attempt to balance her. My instructor was horrified, and quickly made some makeshift handcuffs out of baling twine for me to ride in! It was hell at first, for Ellie felt like a motorbike going round the corner - but what it showed me was how inneffective my leg aids had become.

I would say it sounds like your problem is something similar - you are perhaps compensating for a lack of leg with your hands, and that is causing him to hang and become heavy. This would explain why he didnt do it with your friend - my guess is that she is used to riding another horse and so is not used to your boy's way of going!

Next time you ride, just take a note of what your hands are doing - are you bringing one out further than it should be? I may be on the wrong track completely, but it just sounds quite similar to what I had to work through!

Hope that gives you a few ideas!
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One of my horses used to (and sometimes still does) hang on the left rein. it was proberbly worse for me as he is a massive 17.3hh dutch wb and was bloody strong. The problem wasn't acctually that he wasn't in the left rein as you would expect, but it was that he didn't want to move off my left leg and as a result would hang on my left hand, which makes you want to pull the rein even more, which isnt a good thing to do. I would ignore the front end, and try leg yealding off both legs(your right leg in particular). lateral work is invaluble when trying to get a horse soft on both reins.
 
I have this problem with the left rein but it's acually because of an old back injury that caused me to grip with my left hand. I didn't even realise the problem until I had a lesson with a new instructor that noticed something was amiss. Might be worth getting checked out by a chiropractor just incase.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've been through this with my dressage horse who started hanging on my left rein - turns out I was being heavy handed with my left hand. You have two options- you can either match your right hand to your left to get an even contact (not ideal but a quick fix) or you can retrain yourself to be less heavy handed with your right hand which takes longer but is obviously the better option. Try using a balance strap that you can loop one finger through to make yourself more aware of when you are pulling back with your hand. Keep to walk & trot for a bit until you get your horse really soft again as obviously the faster the pace, the more inclined you will be to pull back. As your instructor says, if he starts to pull on the right you need to soften your right hand more - a horse can't pull against a contact that isn't there. I was really disciplined with myself and made myself keep giving the rein away with the offending hand to encourage my horse to come very soft - and then you have no need to pull back anyway. It isn't easy but it can be done
smile.gif
Don't forget that no rider is perfect and we all have our faults - the reason your friend didn't have the same difficulty as you is because she has different faults from yours!

[/ QUOTE ]

Spot on advice!! My instructors been doing exactly the same with her own horse and getting us to do this with our horses, Its hard work but the results are worth it!!
 
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