Grabbing/holding the left rein

[MillionDollar]

My horse used to really hold the left rein in canter, to the extent that if i let go of it he would fall on his head

well now he is fab in canter, I can give and rtake and his outline and rhythm stays the same...............but now he does it in trot

Also if I give the reins on the left he just seems to hollow........he never did this before

So exercises please to get him to let go of the left rein??

 

[thumperbos]

On a circle on the left rein, try raising your right rein and keep asking for left bend with your inside leg. He will probably not like this one bit to begin with, but keep persevering and encouraging him to go forward.
It sounds to me like you need him to rely on your outside hand more and soften on the inside rein, which this should help with.
Eventually you should be able to slacken your left rein, keeping tension in the outside rein with him lovely and soft on this circle, which you should then extend out til you're going round your entire arena.

 

[Nats_uk]

My horse does this sometimes, one of the exercises my instructor taught me which does help is to ride on the right rein and flex him to the outside (i.e.) to the left and ride a 20m circle with outside flexion. This helps to release his left shoulder and it does stop him doing it.
It got to the point where as soon as he leant, I stuck him on outside flexion for a couple of strides and as soon as I was straight he would have stopped

 

[MillionDollar]

Thanks both sound great, I shall have a go. The 2nd on I already do, which helps a lot