GAH!!! Sooooo frustrated!

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bex1984

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A while ago I posted about having some troubles getting my pony to go on the right leg in canter...

...well I am still having trouble, and I just can't figure out what the problem is.

Basically, his "good rein" in canter just swapped over, overnight. I never used to be able to get him on the correct leg on the right rein, but always got it on the left rein, and it is now the other way round.

I have had more experienced riders try, and they can sometimes get it. I can occasionally get it, but more often than not he goes on the wrong leg. I've had his back checked, no major problems, few things "realigned" but it made no difference. I had a lesson - instructor can't see anything that I'm doing wrong to cause the problem.

Asking on a bend/circle makes no difference. Asking over a pole helps a bit, as long as I can get him to go in to canter just as he goes over it.

At the back of my mind I'm really worried about what's causing it
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....but the only thing I can think of is that the surface of the school is really, really bad - deep, heavy and boggy.

Could it be the surface? Or something else? any ideas?

Has anyone had any experience of their horse doing this? I got so frustrated this evening I gave up altogether
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How old is he? how much has he done up to now? i know how fustrating it can be. my IDx had the same sort of problem, and we decided that he couldn't sort himself out for canter because his trot was too long and fast and then his canter was unbalanced.

Sounds to me like you need to be doing lots of half halts and transitions within the trot to get it steady and balanced then ask for canter as you leave a corner onto the long side. have a few strides of canter (regardless of which leg he's on) and come back to trot. do this a few times so he learns not to tear off in canter and it can stay balanced.

Once you have the transitions sorted you can start to be more insistent on the right leg, work on a 20m circle and if he gets it right canter go large and canter a bit further, come back to trot, give him a pat and try it again. if he gets it wrong just calmly come back to trot and try again in the next corner.

have a few goes on one rein, and when he's got it right a couple of times have a walk and change the rein before trying again. you do have to be patient, but i'm sure he'll get there. he will find it hard work too if the going is very soft.
 
he is 8 years old, and was just a kids' fun pony before I had him. Team that up with a novice, rather useless rider and you've got a slightly unschooled combination!!

At the moment I'm struggling to keep his trot steady. He is very good at canter transitions and will go from walk to canter with no problems (although still usually on the wrong leg on the right rein)

I have had 3 lovely weeks off work, so have been riding in the day, and he did get a bit better (the school also dried up a little, it has since got worse again). I am now back to riding at night, on my own, and he is taking a while to settle in the school, especially as it's so windy. He is jogging away from the bottom of the school and being a bit daft. I can't do circles because of the state of the school. the two long sides along the edge are just about Ok to canter on, the short sides and anywhere in the middle it's very difficult and i worry about him hurting himself
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Chloe took 5 years to learn how to canter on the right leg, so I've been through pretty much every trick in the book. She had my RI baffled, and very frustrated!

1. He needs to be on your leg and rein aids. He should be cantering when you ask him, not a couple of strides later!
Use the pole if it helps, and as soon as he goes on the wrong leg, stop him, get the trot established again before asking again. This is easier said then done!

2. Work on suppling him and straightening him, especially his forehand. If the school is bad, then maybe don't canter until it dries up.

Lots of leg yielding in trot helped Chloe. We'd go on the left rein on an inside track, and leg yield to the fence, and then ask for canter whilst she was on the correct bend.

3. Make sure your saddle fits!!! Sounds silly, but Chloe's fitted ok, but we had a major breakthrough when it went for restuffing and whilst wearing the loan saddle I managed to canter on the right most times.

4. Try not to do too much yourself. Canter became a real bugbear for me, and I was unintentionally throwing my body behind the tranisition and twisting in my efforts to get the right lead. On the left rein I'd just sit, use my legs and off we went. On the right it was a major issue!
I enlisted my RI's help (with a lunge whip as Chloe isn't lungeable!) and she stood in the corner, and used the whip to make Chloe jump into canter. Probably not a good idea if you're novicey though... However a lunge lesson for you, on a horse that canters ok may well help.

5. Have you been doing lots of work on the right rein? If so you might have inadvertently neglected the left rein, which is why he's now finding it harder.

Hope this helps a bit!
 
Also, are you still doing the carrot stretches? He's not very flexible and these would really help him if you kept up with them. Lots of circles and flexing left/right to help supple him and get him more flexible/responsive would help, too.
 
I'm still a bit wonky so it could be that - although in my lesson M said she can't see anything that I'm doing, any shifting of my weight etc, that could cause it, and I asked one of the other liveries to have a look the other evening, and she couldn't see anything. It's just as though he's got it in to his head, for some reason, that he wants to go on that leg. If he does go on the correct leg he's fine cantering round....it's just getting it in the first place that's the problem
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I agree with jencash, it could be the quality of the trot. My mare had a million and one problems with left canter when I got her. We're 99% certain that she had previously torn a tendon in her left foot, which went un-diagnosed, creating pain when ridden which was not picked up on as she's such a willing girl and will do anything for anyone. She was perfectly sound when I bought her (had her 5* vetted) but she just did not want to canter left. I went on holiday shortly after buying her and my friend took her on for the week for me and was in the school with her every day, in and out of canter all the time. The number of transitions in the trot and from trot to canter and back really balanced Maiden and not only did her left canter problem diminish, her trot also improved loads. In the end as long as I had a really good trot beforehand I could get any canter I wanted, although occasionally she would change her preferred lead and for a week or so she would not canter on one rein (either right or left). The good cantering only stopped happening when she tore her tendon again (same place) and she was in pain.
I'm not saying your horse may have done anything as drastic as mine did!! But I am saying that there may be issues from before you had him, and that perseverance is the key as long as you know (which you have had checked out anyway) that there are no physical problems.
As for changing the lead - I always just put it down to my mare being a mare and awkward, but obviously you can't! No suggestion there, sorry!
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have stopped doing carrot stretches, because I kind of forgot about them, but was thinking last night that I should start doing them again. I was trying to get him to flex to the inside on his "bad" rein last night, but was struggling, but he is betetr flexing to the inside on the other rein if that makes sense?

Can't really do circles due to the state of the school at the moment.
 
Maybe I can put it down to him being a rather awkward pony?

I'll try working on his trot, as if I'm honest we don't do that much trotting in the school, so maybe that is what's causing it...
 
Well, I'd pick the stretches back up again. Can you not do small circles in walk? Failing that, ask him to flex from one side to the other whilst still walking in a straight line. Progress to trot once you've got him doing it nicely in walk. You will need plenty of leg and it will probably be quite tricky to start with.

I think your problem is that he is not very flexible or responsive, so although you are applying the correct aids, he is not really responding correctly to them. Practise getting him sharper off your leg, and listening to your hand as well. If you get him responding well it will make it easier for you to get the cante right.

Oh, and don't panic if it doesn't all go perfectly the first few times you try - it will take a while
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Thanks, some helpful advice there, will try some of that out. Quite like the idea of having someone there with the lunge whip (murphy doesn't do lungeing!!), have done this when my (very) novice friend rode him and he wasn't listening to her, and it did get him going exactly when asked - i guess it's similar to the pole idea.
 
I can do circles in walk, so will do that - any faster than walk and I worry about his little leggies.

Another thought I had late last night was that I might try changing his bit again. When I was trying different bits in the summer, the one thing that was always affected most was his canter. I really like the pelham, but I'm wondering if it's worth trying something else for a few weeks to see what happens? What do you think?
 
The thing is, there is only so much a bit will do - it won't make up for a lack of schooling. So I think, however many times you change his bit, if his schooling/suppleness/flexibilty doesn't improve you are only going to get a very limited change. Also, it's quite possible that you will see a difference to start with, but then he will revert back, or evade in a different way. At least you can stop in the pelham
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