Dressage riders collected canter help please? Keeps changing leg!

[milliepup]

A bit of background on the horse, German bred and trained up to advanced medium, 11 years old. Sold to new owner approx 1 year ago who is currently competing at Elementary/Medium and hoping to go up the grades as such.
Horse great in every other way and works well, lessons once a fortnight with her instructor. Good bond between horse and rider.
The problem lies in collected canter on the left rein. Everytime you ask for collected canter on left rein he constantly thinks you are asking for changes. Working canter no problem. Right rein collected no problem. Does this with instructor and owner. Instructor (German trained) has now said that when he puts in a change to halt him and rein back 8 steps. She says that anything more that 6 steps rein back is punishment. Has anyone else heard this and also any tips for stopping him changing leg in collected canter as not sure the rein back is a good thing? He will canter left rein in working no problem but then when you collect and either circle or come across diaganol he keeps throwing in changes.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.

 

[Bossanova]

Ride shoulder-in in left canter when you collect with a very clear right leg back, left leg forward on the girth.

I would never rein back as punishment, teaches them to rear imho.

 

[Hollycat]

I wouldn't rein back either. I would verbally let him know this is not what you require, come back to trot and ask for the correct canter lead again. It sounds like an evasion of some sort, possibly because he finds collection difficult on that rein. So really you need to look and see why it is difficult for him - for example he may not be as supple on that rein so may have difficulty stepping under and taking more weight on the inside hind when collecting.

 

[JLav]

It's also worth bearing in mind that this could be the start of a physical problem that means he is starting to feel uncomfortable in collection on the left lead so changes to relieve the pressure. I would suspect this is possible as he only does it when he's collected and the hind legs have to work harder with the joints having to show greater articulation.

Although it could be a load of different things this is the sort of problem that is sometimes diagnosed down the line as a subtle hindlimb suspensory desmitis.

 

[Partoow]

i only use rein back to get a horse to sit this is not a one i would use it for.[ agree with boss on this]
To me he is struggling with the connection so would probably 'straighten him with [gentle] flextion and counter flextion giving and retaking the rein while opening and closing the canter thinking more about the fluency of the working canter and only bringing to the collected canter for a moment and then riding forward again[ on the left rein it is important to ensure that you have really got that right shoulder , so shoulder fore with very little to no bend in the neck, this means you will be able to direct the inside hind forward to the outside rein rather than the tightening that he is doing to get the change. ] this sounds like it is a suppleness and connection issue, reinback will not help this this horse does not need punishment but releasing from his own tension!!For me rein back is used to help teach tension[ in the energy sense] in a floppy horse!

 

[Petrie]

The fact that he does it on one rein and not the other, and only in collected canter, and with other riders including the trainer, suggests to me that there might be a physical problem.

He sounds like a fantastic horse, and they must have paid a lot of money for him, so if I were them, I would get him to a really good vet (referral to somewhere like Rossdales in Newmarket, perhaps) and get a thorough examination. It could be something minor they can nip in bud.

 

[kerilli]

rein back as a punishment will only make him tenser. he's changing because he's tense already, poor boy.
i'd try him in a different saddle, see if that helps, for starters. agree with Dibbedy, i think it might well be physical. does he do clean changes or just change in front or behind? does he just change once to the right lead, or keep flip-flopping back and forth?
agree with partoow, ask for just a few steps of collected, then ride forward to reward. he's struggling with the engagement on that rein in canter for some reason, he's not changing because he thinks he's being asked for it imho, he's changing because he finds it easier to change than to engage.