horse hold head to the left??! why?!!!

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el_Snowflakes

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Hi all,

My mare has a tendency (both in school and out hacking) to hold her head to the left. This causes me to hold her right rein tighter in a bid to keep her straight. Sometime my right arm aches as I have to use it so much. When cantering on the righ rein she doesnt bend as well as on the left rein. She isnt stiff and I regularly do carrot stretches with her which she is very good at!! Iv tried a few different bits and she does it no matter which bit i use. Her health is good and she has her back/teeth/tack etc checked and tended to regularly with no problems......any ideas or experience of this???

many thanks ;)
 
Basically she is leaning on one hand. You need to try and even up the contact.
A good instructor can help you with this as it is very easy to over use the other hand to correct it when infact, in time, she will be turning her head to the right! You want that happy medium!
Lateral work such as leg yield and shoulder in can make her go into the correct outside contact, and use her bum more to straighten her up!
If you lunged her in just a headcollar does she still keep her head to the left side?

ETA: It could also be the way you are sitting. If you are crooked she may feel the need to compensate. Again a good instructor can point this out and help you with it :)
 
You say she isn't stiff, but I'd be inclined to say she is, or at least reluctant to stretch that side. What is she like on the lunge, just so you can at least judge if it's her, or her AND you. Not a criticism! Just some horses are very good at putting their riders exactly where they want them so they can go how they want to go.

Eta - cross posted with the person above me, basically ditto what they said!
 
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I had a horse that would hang his head to the right, but only when he was a bit tired. Oddly, if I put more contact on the RIGHT rein he would straighten up. As he got fitter he stopped doing it.
 
Cob use to do this and I use to cross my reins to stop my arms aching, even it up? But I dont remember him being this bad..he use to curve and lean to left as well but not badly.
 
Thanks for your interesting replies! :D

just to add, she is very fit and supple and definatly not stiff.

To the poster who said try putting more weight in the right stirrup- I actually try to but i find it difficult to hold weight in that stirrup and funnily enough I have a tendancy to have to correct my foot position in that stirrup as it tends to slip through the stirrup. I have back/hip problems mysefl and I wonder if this may be the cause???? Hmmmmm........

PS. I dont lunge her in a headcollar as she can get very strong but when i have done in the past I havent noticed a difference on that side (not saying their osnt one- maybe i just havent noticed!)
 
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Are you sure you are sitting straight? Most riders tend to be one-sided, and it can be that a rider is very one-sided without realising (I myself was, and until someone pointed it out to me I had no idea, I felt just fine).
 
elsazzo said:
Thanks for your interesting replies! :D

just to add, she is very fit and supple and definatly not stiff.

To the poster who said try putting more weight in the right stirrup- I actually try to but i find it difficult to hold weight in that stirrup and funnily enough I have a tendancy to have to correct my foot position in that stirrup as it tends to slip through the stirrup. I have back/hip problems mysefl and I wonder if this may be the cause???? Hmmmmm........

PS. I dont lunge her in a headcollar as she can get very strong but when i have done in the past I havent noticed a difference on that side (not saying their osnt one- maybe i just havent noticed!)
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get yourself sorted by a good chiro. if your foot is swinging through the stirrup its you that iseffectivly pulling the horse over to one side with your weight.
 
elsazzo said:
Sometime my right arm aches as I have to use it so much.
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Think what her mouth must feel like! If your arm is aching you have way too much contact and its not working to solve the problem, just addressing the symptom.

Are you symmetrical? Could you be sitting or riding unevenly? I think your back/hip problems may be worth investigating as it is quite possible they can cause the problem.
 
Check her right hind leg.
Also get someone to lunge you quietly at the walk and the trot with no stirrups.
With stirrups, your feet should not come out of stirrups, so you must be lifting your leg , you could do a few laps with short leathers, cantering with your bum out the saddle as though for jumping,, always check your position when you get on your horse, and keep straightening up all the time, you have been doing this so long you will find it difficult to adjust your position.
Has your instructor got so fed up with telling you the same thing over and over, that she has given up?
Ride on a loose rein and / or ask for light contact all the time.
 
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MrsD123 said:
Check her right hind leg.
Also get someone to lunge you quietly at the walk and the trot with no stirrups.
With stirrups, your feet should not come out of stirrups, so you must be lifting your leg , you could do a few laps with short leathers, cantering with your bum out the saddle as though for jumping,, always check your position when you get on your horse, and keep straightening up all the time, you have been doing this so long you will find it difficult to adjust your position.
Has your instructor got so fed up with telling you the same thing over and over, that she has given up?
Ride on a loose rein and / or ask for light contact all the time.
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has my riding instructor got so fed up with telling me the same thing over and over?....excuse me? :o Really not sure what makes you ask that.
 
elsazzo said:
has my riding instructor got so fed up with telling me the same thing over and over?....excuse me? :o Really not sure what makes you ask that.
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I am asking that because if you have a very obvious problem and the instructor has told you about it, and has told you how to stop doing it, but you still have the same fault, and if you make no effort to correct the fault, then she might give up.

Anecdote number one: I told my [substitute] rider how to ride my young horse at a canter out hacking, she ignored my advice, he was a bit confused, so he ran off with her, well ran off twenty metres downhill, back to his friend!

Anecdote two: I was having my coffee with a few trainee instructors, one of them said, in all seriousness, "I don't like my riding being criticised"!!!! ..... I do wish the BHS or LAntra would discourage people who are not suited to the job of instructing.
 
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elsazzo said:
Thanks for your interesting replies! :D

just to add, she is very fit and supple and definatly not stiff.

To the poster who said try putting more weight in the right stirrup- I actually try to but i find it difficult to hold weight in that stirrup and funnily enough I have a tendancy to have to correct my foot position in that stirrup as it tends to slip through the stirrup. I have back/hip problems mysefl and I wonder if this may be the cause???? Hmmmmm........

PS. I dont lunge her in a headcollar as she can get very strong but when i have done in the past I havent noticed a difference on that side (not saying their osnt one- maybe i just havent noticed!)
Click to expand...

If you have back and hip problems then I certainly think this has a bearing, it would probably be worth seeing a chiro, as, from what you say it may be that you are not sitting straight.

Difficult to say without actually being there, but, it could be that you are applying too much pressure with the right hand without realising it. The other option is that she is not actually accepting the right rein properly and if this is the case, keep hold of the right rein, encourage bend with the left leg and the left rein. Does she throw her shoulder in at you (to the left)? If so this is a matter of straightness, or lack of and you need to gain control of the shoulder to fix this, a soft tap with a short stick on the left shoulder will help, once she has given and you have the shoulder, praise her, only reapply the stick if the shoulder comes against you again.

I hope this makes sense, difficult to write down what I mean :)
 
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