Horse slightly off in canter, not sure if I should be concerned?

Nickles1973

Nickles1973

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 April 2009
Messages
540
Visit site
Rode my boy in the school today for the first time this week. We've hacked mostly in walk every day from Mon to Thursday, day off on Friday. He seemed to be his usual self in walk and trot but when cantering on the right rein he seemed a little stiff and was going disunited and dropping me at one corner. I asked my Yo to watch me for a minute and she said he look to be slightly quarters in when coming down the long side. She said to try riding 15 mtr circles and then go straight on the quarter line and to concentrate on keeping him straight. After doing this a few times she said he looked better (deffinately not lame)and left me to it but I cut our session short and cooled him off in walk. I checked him all over for heat and there was nothing noticable and deffinately no swelling. So is this likely to be a schooling issue? He is usually worse on the right rein and I have neglected riding in the school for a while mainly due to the school being frozen. Or could it be physical? I'm a terrible worrier (after a horse on our yard had to be pts at the end of last year because of a cyst on his stifle which showed up as slight hind leg lameness, also an ex racer) Any ideas will be gratefully recieved as this has been bugging me all day. Thanks x
 
My lad was similar a few months ago, chiro came and he was sore in his loin, obviously messing around in the field (again) He was right as rain next time I rode him in canter, and has been fine since.

Last horse also sounds similar, with him it was a schooling issue.

So I guess it all depends on what YOU think. when was the last time you schooled him? What was he like then? how well schooled is he? How long since he had his back/saddle checked? (altho Micah had only been about 6wks since last done but he had still hurt himself)

Answering those questions might well help you decide which it is
 
It's a fairly common schooling problem and if you haven't schooled him for a while he is bound to be a bit stiff. Has he been seen by a physio lately? It could be that he has tweeked something that's also making it a bit more difficult for him to work straight.
 
A lot of horses tend to canter slightly quarters in on a straight line.

A good schooling tip is to think of cantering slightly shoulder fore down the long side.
 
This happened with my share horse, he was reluctant to canter on the right rein and would go disunited. Although it was his right hind he was stiff on, it was his back that was the problem

ETA : This was unusual for him as usually he would work better on the right than the left rein.
 
All good points thanks. He was looning about a bit in the field on Friday but whilst I was there he wasn't acting as mental as he can do! (could've kicked off after I'd gone) I hadn't schooled him since last weekend and he seemed to going fine then but his schooling is still very much a work in progress. And I wouldn't put it past him throwing me a curve ball like this. He was seen by a Mctimmony lady in October and Saddler just after that but I had thought of giving my Mctimmony lady a call if it carries on. Not really sure whether I'll ride tomorrow or give him a day off, I just wish I wasn't such a worrier. But I guess that's what horses do to us lol!
 
eggs said:
A lot of horses tend to canter slightly quarters in on a straight line.

A good schooling tip is to think of cantering slightly shoulder fore down the long side.
Click to expand...

i have this problem, but his canter work has never been ballanced so it's an improvement on how we used to be. I tried to think slightly shoulder in to compensate for it, not really expecting much, and we got a fab canter shoulder in! More than i wanted but was a nice surprise lol. So i might try asking slightly more subtly to see if it countaracts it a bit. We both find straightness difficult, good job we don't compete.
 
I recently had canter troubles on the right rein with my boy after years of no problems....whether schooled frequently or not....and he suddenly went all flat and disunited......after getting everything checked........it turns out it was his back. After two Oesteopath visits he was fixed and cantering fine again even after a break due to the snow.

Good luck and trust your gut instinct... xx
 
like Superstar said, trust your gut instinct. It sounds like you think there's something wrong, so get your back lady out.

at this time of year they don't even need to be really hooning in the field to tweak something. the ground is so slippery that it's so easy to over extend/fall over etc.

i'm seeing an awful lot of it in the last few weeks - maybe also because people were keeping horses in when it was snowy/frozen so they've got a little bit more energy when turned out ~(also if they've been in, they may have seized up a bit).

good luck! i hope it gets sorted out soon xx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top